Philippines. Call agencies and outsourcing to gain economic advantage

The article talks about the Philippines' rise in market contestable nature. Having one of the largest populations in the world, the Philippines is able to utilize the high labour force and relatively cheap labour. India is one of those countries that are being threatened by the Philippines' rise in market power. India is a country that also has a large amount of labour force and relatively cheap labour. However, the Philippines has larger and cheaper labour force.
Although the Philippines is proving to become a competitive country, in regards to call center businesses, India still has the comparative advantage because of its wider range of technological advancement in communications, transportation and other such equipment. Therefore the only solution that the Philippines call centers can find is to attain these technologically advanced machines missing in the Philippines but available in other more economically developed countries. Also, to find a way where wages are kept low but, at the same time, maximize efficiency and profit.
The interesting thing about this article is that these local companies have to employ international help such as Avaya, which specialize in providing communication solutions. (outsourcing)
I find this particular article about outsourcing to be interesting because, I would never had imagined that the Philippines, a 3rd world country and an impoverished country, would be able to challenge India, a developing country but also a more economically developed country compared to the Philippines, over the market power on communications and call centers. The article enlightened me and made me see how the dense population, that is sometimes seen as a negative factor, can be used in a manner that can benefit the Philippines' economy.

What to do you think? Will the Philippines find a way that will allow it's power in the communications market to increase? What methods/strategies do you think the Philippines will be able to improve their power?

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Link to NAFTA article

Important points:

1. There are very high costs on the environment that have been caused by the free trade among NAFTA counties.
2. A report shows that the high jump in pollution in the world is mostly caused by NAFTA
3. Instead of making these deals that uses dirty fossil fuels, NAFTA could've used their time to invest on clean fuel instead.

I am not so surprised about NAFTA's involvement in the high rise in pollution. This is because among the countries is America. It is probably one of the most pollution-causing countries along with China. I also agree with the last quote by Alejandro Villamar. : “If only NAFTA countries could learn from the fiasco, but they are busy signing more NAFTA-like deals around the world, further taking away our ability to protect the environment and merely crossing their fingers that our ecosystems can sustain all this new growth,".

I cannot blame anyone for wanting power and money, however, in this year alone there have been many anomalistic weather patters such as the super typhoon Yolanda. Breaking even the highest range of winds, it is most likely caused by the rise in temperature and rise in pollution. It is sad that what could have been is one of the most wanted dreams. That "could have happened dream" is the dream of having sustainable fuel which allows the air to be cleaner and the temperatures to be normalized, resulting in regular and relatively controllable weather.

Choose either the concept of *cultural diffusion* (voluntary/consented change in culture) *or* *cultural imperialism* (enforced/pressured change in culture) and using specific examples explain how transnational corporations either intentionally or unintentionally spread consumerism through your chosen concept.

Cultural diffusion is the voluntary change in aspects of a certain culture.

As globalisation has increased TNCs have attempted to sell their products to an ever growing global market. This means that many countries have global brands beening sold in their shops and global franchises.

Volkswagen is a trans national company (TNC) that originates in germany; however, the aspect of globalization has resulted in a rise in Volkswagen's market. Spreading to many different countries such as Chine, America, Japan, Philippines, etc, Volkswagen is open to different consumers across the world.

In what ways has Volkswagen spread consumerism through cultural diffusion?

Volkswagen, as stated before, has placed itself in many different countries although it has originated in Germany.

Some methods Volkswagen has culturally diffused in through the adaption of consumer preference in the country. An example of this is the different cars Volkswagen has produced that is aimed to please the local inhabitants. In Japan and China, for example, Volkswagen mass produces vans, family cars, and fashionable cars. This is because there are 3 main aspects that Japan and China have, and one that China has that is different with japan. The first two is that both countries are either developed or developing therefore there are men and women who are in the higher class and have expensive taste in cars. The other is that vans are mass-produced to transport goods and people from place to place. The third one is that both countries have aims to become more eco-friendly and therefore a need to produce environmentally friendly cars. The only difference that China has that Japan doesn't have as much people in a household. Therefore, Volkswagen must be able to adapt and produce family friendly and family oriented cars.

If you go to google images and search "Volkswagen in China" or "Volkswagen in Japan" you will see the different, but almost similar car designs. However, never the same.

There are many different methods Volkswagen has culturally diffused into many different countries with different consumer preference. (adopting their cultural preference)

The same can be said with many other TNC's such as Kit Kat, Starbucks, and McDonalds.

The Pros and Cons of Globalization


The Pros of Globalization

1.     
Consumers are able to buy a wider range of goods. This is because of a worldwide market for the companies and for the costumers. Resulting in availability of buying goods from different countries, goods that cannot be bought domestically.

2.     
There is a steady flow of cash into developing countries. This causes a decrease the difference in the value of the many currencies. 

3.     
Companies and consumers are able to invest in a wider range of companies. Allowing a growth in production of any country.

4.     
There is a creation of world power instead of compartmentalization power. 

a.     World power in globalization is the creation of an influence that has a large significance in international affairs. 

b.     Compartmentalization power in regards to globalization is basically the variation of choices that are separated by each person's or society's cultural difference.

5.     LEDC's are able to quickly develop or reach the developing stage because of the information that can be shared between countries.

6.     Societies become more accepting of others cultures. Through globalization there will be, or can be, cultural intermingling. As social creatures, we become introduced to new concepts and may lead to either adding to the concepts or adopting.

7.     Globalization increases the production of goods because of an increased demand of products. This results in profit for both consumers and producers. It is profitable for consumers because the increase in competition results in an increase of efficiency. Each and every company fights against every other company to attain the most customers. It is profitable for the producers because there is an increase in the amount of consumers as well as a wider range of consumer preferences.

The Cons of Globalization 

1.     Many people from developed nations are losing jobs and that is posing a problem for them since the companies are outsourcing work to developing countries since the cost of labor is low and profits the company considerably.

2.     
There is immense pressure on the employed people of developed countries who are always under the threat of their jobs being outsourced. This is because countries who are either developing or underdeveloped have masses of unemployed workers who are cheaper to hire and might be able to work at the same efficiency.

3.     
Although globalization can lead to many positive factors; those positive factors can lead to communicable diseases and social degeneration. For example, people who do not have at least a high school education can become lost in technology. Loosing their ability to be diverse and ability to become multi lingual. This is because of English being a major language in the Internet. Because the Internet is a place where there people can remain anonymous, some may feel the urge to express themselves through the Internet and not socially.

4.     
There is also a threat of corporates ruling the world because there is a lot of power and money invested by them due to globalization.

5.     
Nations of greater influence are able to impose their cultural and social thoughts onto less influential nations. This can result in a form of colonization.

6.     
Globalization may lead to loss of cultural identity.