Globalisation represents a major trend and a potent driver behind the dramatic changes facing the world today. Few people will argue that today’s realities differ considerably from the way people lived five or ten years ago. For business owners, managers, consumers, and markets, globalisation has become a sign of transition to an entirely new lifestyle and mode of thinking. The emergence of multinational corporations marks a novel stage in the evolution of trade and markets, but it is only a product of the complex influences that have actually triggered globalisation. The main question is what factors are responsible for the rapid pace of globalisation in the recent years. It would be fair to assume that the elimination of trade barriers, labour migration, and the emergence and popularisation of new communication technologies have greatly contributed to the growing scope of globalisation in the past years.
Globalisation is frequently described as the process, which brings markets and consumers closer to each other. It also results in the rapid convergence of consumer tastes and preferences, thus creating particularly favourable conditions for market integration across the globe (Hill, 2009). Apparently, the relationship between market integration and globalisation is reciprocal: while globalisation facilitates the integration of diverse markets around the world, such integration also serves as one of the principal drivers of globalisation. The last decade witnessed the rapid decline of industrialised countries, which gave up their market position to technology- and service-oriented economies. According to the World Trade Organisation (2010), the emergence of China as a global economic power, the growing contribution of Africa to international trade, and the economic successes in the Middle East created a new global picture, in which economies operate as a single organism rather than a set of separate elements that pursue their own interests. The elimination of trade barriers has made it much easier for developing economies to advertise and sell their products to customers worldwide. Those trends were further accompanied by the sizeable shifts in the patterns of labour movement.
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Changes in how many people move from one country to another looking for a job have increased the pace of globalisation in the recent years. With the elimination of trade barriers that led to the growing interdependence of economies and states, more people decided to seek better employment in a foreign land. New labour movements created even stronger ties among countries and markets, making globalisation faster than it was at the beginning of the 21st century. Such changes can also be attributed to the growing flow of labour from India and Eastern European countries, which are known for high levels of unemployment and force their citizens into searching for more prospective workplace positions elsewhere (International Monetary Fund, 2007).
It should be noted that, when it comes to labour, unemployment can be fairly regarded as one of the major contributors to globalisation. The financial crisis of 2008 has created a new labour situation, which implies the need for workers to move across different sectors of the economy, acquire new and update the existing skills, or see what foreign labour markets can offer to them (Spence, 2011). Meanwhile, with the steady elimination of geographic boundaries and trade barriers, business owners develop creative strategies to reduce the costs of labour. In the last few years, outsourcing has become a distinctive feature of economic development in the developed world. It enables business owners to become more cost-effective. It also opens new job opportunities to thousands of the unemployed in developing countries. These decisions and trends have far-reaching effects on the pace of globalisation. They speed up the integration of labour markets, create new employment opportunities, and lead to major changes in the structure of the most prosperous economic sectors. Of course, such changes would have been impossible without advanced communication technologies.
Quality communication is at the heart of the latest globalisation trends. The unprecedented speed of technological advancement has become a salient factor of increased globalisation in the recent years. Wireless communications, the Internet, robotics, and decision making systems create a new reality, in which the boundaries of time and space are increasingly blurred. For instance, Apple has presented a new operating system that automatically identifies and switches between different sources of the wireless signal (Talbot, 2014). Television frequencies are becoming more popular as a medium for Internet communications (Talbot, 2014). Mobile gadgets acquire new sophisticated features. The remotest areas of the planet become available and easily accessible with the help of new telecommunications stations, which are particularly useful in rural settings (Talbot, 2014). As a result, business people do not need to travel, in order to establish new or maintain the existing economic ties. Customers become closer with the constant support of the Internet. Reaching a prospective customer in a remote location is no longer a problem. Multinational corporations represent a successful attempt to bring together capital resources and people, regardless of their physical location.
Altogether, the discussed factors have created a new mentality. Today, most customers and business owners no longer think about distance or time, as they seek to meet their product, service, or employment needs. Customers look for the most suitable product or service option, regardless of its physical location. Quality has become a top priority for customers and businesses. With the help of new trade policies, open labour markets, and advanced communication technologies, globalisation speeds up and conquers new spaces. Once can hardly imagine an area of human life or business activity that was not affected by globalisation. The rapid pace of globalisation in the recent years can also be attributed to these factors, and they are likely to cause similar changes in the nearest future.
