An Overview Of The Types of Globalization

Introduction

Globalization is at the forefront of many business owners' minds in a world that is more interconnected than ever, primarily due to advances in technology and social media. Globalization significantly affects economies, politics, business, culture, and the environment, forcing companies to learn how to navigate and benefit from these impacts. To do so, it’s essential for business owners to understand the main types of globalization and how they affect businesses. This article highlights everything you need to know about globalization and its types and how companies are directly involved in our rapidly evolving world.

What Is Globalization?

Globalization is a term to describe the global spread of ideas, people, and knowledge. This phenomenon results in the integration and interaction of global markets, institutions, and governments. In business, globalization envelops the way capital and trade move globally.

Globalization is more prominent than ever. The world’s economies, chain supplies, currencies, and cultures are greatly intertwined. In a globalized economy, production is more efficient, prices are lower, and all countries benefit from economic growth. Any disruption in the global economy affects the whole world.

When a business participates in globalization, it moves from operating in one country toward operating in multiple countries. This brings companies benefits like access to new markets, increased revenue, decreased employment costs, and expanded brand presence. However, globalization also has adverse effects, such as environmental harm, increased competition, economic destabilization, and an even higher risk of pandemics. A business needs to understand both sides of globalization when expanding globally. This includes the impacts on the company and the communities it is expanding into.

In addition, globalization may be categorized by type, and those operating in global markets should be aware of these types.

Types of Globalization

Three main types of globalization are distinct yet interconnected. The three types of globalization are:

• Political globalization
• Economic globalization
• Cultural globalization

Political Globalization

Political globalization is a type of globalization that involves countries’ policies that promote the globalization of governments, economies, and cultures. Political globalization has resulted in what we now know as the worldwide political system, in which certain nations' politics, laws, and governments directly affect other countries. Social justice movements and political unrest are also involved in political globalization, not only in how information about them spreads through global media but also in affecting economies elsewhere. To demonstrate, a war in one country often affects the rest of the world, disrupting the globalized economy, supply chain, and currencies.

Some examples of political globalization include:

• Organizations like the United Nations and NATO intentionally connect global governments, as well as mitigate international, political current events
• The Russia-Ukraine War and its effects on global economies, supply chains, and prices
• The shift of power from individual governments to international corporations like the World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO)
• Spread and homogenization of government types, such as democracy.
• Governments implementing free trade policies to promote a global economy
• Multinational agreements that allow for globalization, such as double taxation treaties
• Increased ability to immigrate to new nations

The benefits of political globalization include international cooperation, ease of movement for global citizens, and ease of trade. However, some downsides to these political globalization examples are unwanted government intervention, the influence of unelected leaders (such as U.N. members), and potentially fragile political webs.‍

Economic Globalization

Economic globalization defines the internationally connected free markets and trade, as well as the global movement of capital, business, goods, and people. Essentially, this term refers to integrating national economies to create a unified global economy. Economic globalization is evident in the presence of international banking institutions, multinational corporations, and the global supply chain.

Additional examples of economic globalization include:

• Individual parts for one product, such as a car, made in and distributed from various countries all over the world
• A large corporation like Coca-Cola with offices, employees, factories, and distribution centers located around the globe
• Interconnected global stock markets that are affected by global economies and current events
• A disruption in the worldwide supply chain affects the prices of goods all over the world
• The rise of decentralized cryptocurrencies accessible on the web

Today, the global economy is more interconnected than ever, with goods and capital being rapidly transferred. According to the United Nations, economic globalization is an irreversible trend. The unstoppable shift toward economic globalization has numerous benefits for businesses and people worldwide, including economic growth, while instability and cyber security bring more risks.‍

Cultural Globalization

Cultural globalization is another form of globalization marked by the spread and merging of individual cultures on a global scale. Cultural globalization is made possible by technological evolution like the Internet, social media, and advances in transportation. Cultural globalization has the potential to both bring the world’s cultures together, as well as homogenize and dilute unique cultures.

Some examples of cultural globalization that are evident today include:

• Movement of people, and thus their cultures, around the world through international travel
• Globally accessible social media platforms that allow people to spread and access culture, ideas, knowledge, and more
• International popular culture spreads through media like music, social media, film, etc.
• International groups like the United Nations unite cultures together in various ways
• Sports like football are gaining international prominence
• Influence and spread of multiple religions, such as Christianity, around the world

In addition to the three primary forms of globalization, there are sub-types, which include:

• Technological globalization
• Environmental globalization
• Social globalization
• Financial globalization
• Geographic globalization

While all the types mentioned above of globalization exist, they are all interconnected and influence each other. Political globalization can affect economic globalization with events like political unrest and trade laws. Economic globalization can coincide with cultural globalization as people, goods, and ideas move across borders. Cultural globalization can assist political globalization by homogenizing governmental and human rights standards. We can now understand how globalization affects local and global business operations.

Types of Globalization for Businesses

The same types of globalization – political, economic, and cultural – apply directly to businesses. Globalization looks like expanding one’s business globally through hiring international employees, establishing subsidiaries abroad, or working with foreign supply providers. All the types mentioned above of globalization impact and are shaped by business, as business involves the movement of people, capital, knowledge, ideas, and products around the globe.

Globalization has numerous effects on global business, which all business owners should consider. Some aspects of globalization that directly affect businesses include:

Increased Competition

Globalization fosters increased competition for businesses. For example, as companies can outsource labor and production to countries where employment is cheaper, they can lower their prices. Thus, companies in the same industries have to compete by also reducing their labor costs and prices. As customers have countless options to choose from, competition increases even more. Customers look for the lowest prices and have quality and customer service standards that they expect businesses to follow (which is another form of cultural globalization!).

Evolution of Technology

The rapid changes in technology associated with globalization impact business in numerous ways. The positive impact of this evolution includes more efficient production, increased audiences through digital marketing, and the flexibility of remote work technology. Some more negative effects include the challenging process of keeping up with rapid change, resources allocated to digital dexterity, and cyber insecurity.

Increased Exchange of Knowledge

While the increased exchange of knowledge brings more people the opportunity to become experts in various business fields, this also creates more competition for specialization among businesses. Additionally, companies must keep up with rapidly expanding knowledge, including cultural shifts, political events, and more.

Globalized Supply Chain

The ease of trade that comes with globalization has resulted in a globally dispersed supply chain. While this assists businesses in reducing costs and increasing profits, disruptions in the chain can affect them immensely. Thus, companies must keep supply chain changes in mind and prepare for them in advance.

Do the effects of globalization apply to all businesses? Let’s answer the question, “Which of the following types of companies are affected by globalization?”

• Large corporations like Coca-Cola and Amazon
• Medium-sized businesses like retail or construction companies
• Small businesses like brick-and-mortar restaurants

The answer is that all these types of companies can be affected by globalization. While larger corporations like Coca-Cola may drive economic globalization, both causing and being affected by the phenomenon, and even small businesses may be affected by globalization from events like global supply chain disruption.

Understanding how globalization can help and harm one’s business is essential in today’s globalized world. Overall, expanding to new territories brings numerous benefits to companies, and remaining aware of the difficulties is the first step to navigating them.

Go Global With Skuad

Skuad helps businesses expand and manage their global teams with ease. With Skuad, companies can hire top talent in over 160 countries without setting up local entities, making it easier to tap into global markets. Schedule a demo with Skuad today to see how we can help your business go global.