Globalization – A Harvard Business Review

Globalization

Globalization is nothing new. Centuries ago global trade routes existed from the West to the east and back.

Among notable trade routes was the Amber Road which served as a dependable network for long-distance trade. Maritime trade along the Spice Route became prominent during the Middle Ages, when nations resorted to military means for control of this influential route. During the Middle Ages, organizations such as the Hanseatic League, aimed at protecting interests of the merchants, and trade became increasingly prominent. (source Wikipedia)

In Modern Times

In modern times, commercial activity shifted from the major trade routes of the Old World to newer routes between modern nation-states. This activity was sometimes carried out without traditional protection of trade and under international free-trade agreements, which allowed commercial goods to cross borders with relaxed restrictions. Innovative transportation of modern times includes pipeline transport and the relatively well-known trade involving rail routes, automobiles, and cargo airlines. (source Wikipedia).

The internet revolutionized International Trade once again. For now more than twenty years the internet has evolved in a global platform where one can sell and buy almost anything, for good or for bad. The world has been negotiating free-trade agreements like NAFTA at increasingly faster pace and Europe united under the European Union with its Euro currency to increase member countries’ trade.

Unfortunately due to recent increasing terrorist threats and its resulting patriotism and in some cases nationalism  leaders are rethinking trade agreements, unions and borders. Whatever happens, the internet will not go away and still offers some incredible opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses alike.

Harvard Business Review is taking an in depth look at the fact that “changes in both technology and global political economy have vastly accelerated the pace of globalization in the last 40 years, eroding barriers that limited firms’ geographic scope and unleashing a seemingly unlimited set of new threats, challenges, and opportunities to create value globally”.

Abstract—Changes in both technology and global political economy have vastly accelerated the pace of globalization in the last 40 years, eroding barriers that limited firms’ geographic scope and unleashing a seemingly unlimited set of new threats, challenges, and opportunities to create value globally. Globalization presents managers with an environment to create value that is more complex, risky, and also more promising than ever before. Despite recent advances in our understanding of how locations impact the creation and appropriation of value by firms, the speed of these changes has often surpassed the speed of research on the connections between geography and firms. This volume draws together researchers working at the forefront of this area in a variety of disciplines—economics, geography, marketing, organizational behavior, psychology, sociology, and strategy—in order to explore the many ways that locations matter for firms. In eleven varied papers, the authors draw on newly available data, recently developed theory, and diverse methodology to understand the relationships between firm boundaries, firm activities, and geographic borders.

Publisher’s link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52688

Source: Harvard Business Review – HBS Working Knowledge

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 30

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