BUMGT 5920 Trimester 1: Globalization and Business Reflection

This reflective journal explores the impact of globalization on the business environment, drawing on course materials and personal experiences. The student reflects on globalization's influence on various aspects of business, particularly within the retail sector. The journal examines the positive and negative impacts, technological advancements, and the importance of sustainable global marketing techniques. It also discusses the application of Hofstede's cultural dimensions for understanding consumer behavior in a globalized market. The student intends to conduct a study on internationalization strategies to transform an organization into a globally competitive enterprise. The journal emphasizes the importance of understanding and adapting to the changing dynamics of the global market to succeed in the future.

Student Name
INSTITUTIONAL AFFLIATION(S)
MANAGEMENT IN A GLOBAL
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

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Globalization and its impact
Reflective Journal
Looking upon various topics taught under the course titled BUMGT 5920 along with
workshops conducted, one thing that has developed in me is my quest for learning more on
current trends of business and how globalization will change business environment in future
years. Although I am aware that learning sustainable development goals concept is equally
important, I could not hold myself in making further research on globalization impacts after
learning that it not only affect global governance and economy but also contribute towards
liberalization of market forces, conflict and peace resolutions, and international relations
(Okoye & Nwaigwe, 2015). I can see that cities have become more like consumption centres
instead of production houses where balance between business environment and development
cannot be accomplished due to unfavourable effects of globalization (Karataş, 2016).
Certainly, I came across many implications’ globalization has on future businesses, what
fascinated me the most is what opportunities I have to grab upon in the retail sector from the
process of globalization.
Technological advancements have made a revolutionary change which is known to all
however, what remains hidden is stiff competitions within several aspects of human
endeavour. It can be noted that technology has a very significant role in the globalization
process as it has amalgamated a wider, diverse and disconnected world into a massive land
known as the global village. I feel that the space created for me is much bigger where I can
grow beyond local markets and shores with the help of cyberspace (Edwin & Okpara, 2015).
Earlier my concept regarding globalization was limited to politics and international relations
but after my course study, I can say that age-long cultural practice followed by us have

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started changing and experiences impacts like never before. More precisely, “Globalization is
a worldwide trend, through which economies in the world lose their borders and connect”
(Katerina & Aneta, 2014, p. 85). This means, firms are no longer confined to their boundaries
and can develop a wider segment of business throughout the globe. Trade barriers are
diminishing and global trade within countries is growing faster than other domestic
production. I also observed that it has great impacts on those companies which cannot afford
luxury or technological innovations. Assuming that I may approach the domestic market first,
to gain long-term profitability, I will have to seek better financing opportunities to ensure
favourable return are acknowledged.
One thing I can say is that every individual specializes in one area or on single
product production and try to exchange the surpluses with others. With time, men multiplied
and formed groups due to which multicultural differences, languages and ethnicity separated
worlds. Such virtues not only created manmade boundaries between countries but also
restricted trade and free movement of people around the globe (Okoye & Nwaigwe, 2015).
However, with globalization, national identity has been impacted where national identity
remains disputed and increases cosmopolitanism. Some others argue that globalization works
in another direction and potentially reinforces national feelings similar to the form of a
backlash or by impacting different segments of society differently (Ariely, 2019).
One experience I would like to share here is related to my neighbour who owned a
grocery store in locality. I observed that gradually he reduced his time of working, the store
remained closed most of the times and my neighbour joined another company as an
employee. On asking about the reason, he said that online shopping apps made his sales
lowered and he could not meet the demands of his customers as the foreign apps did. The
incident shook me somehow and made me determined to learn how globalization can impact
a business environment in a way that can create negative consequences.

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Fortunately, my course had every answer to my queries related to globalization
impacts on the business environment and how we can address them. While making additional
research regarding my chosen topic, I found that most of the current literature states the
positive impacts of globalization. However, I wanted to comprehend how it might have
negative impacts especially after the incident mentioned above. I found an article which
documented globalization causes loss of control on economic development from
governmental hands since they depend largely upon world market situation and World Bank
activities alongside offshore zones used by business entities ( Shopina, Oliinyk, & Finaheiev,
2017).
Globalization has affected all three aspects including social, economic and political
where 'hyper globalists' argue that globalization has evolved a new human era where
governments and states become powerless to enhance life quality of their citizens. According
to them, globalization has turned to be a great threat and they strongly oppose getting into a
globalized world. Arguably, 'pro-globalists' believe that market integration and trade
liberalization have increased opportunities for increasing wages and productivity that have
led to an improved work-life quality of workers (Sapkota, 2011). Even I believe that the
negative impacts of globalization like the reduction of manufacturing jobs are overstated and
manufacturing declination is due to a swift change in technology and innovation rather than
globalization.
One thing from the workshop I learnt is that globalization has various implications for
almost every business sector. This made me research additional materials on how retail
marketing can be developed in a globalized workplace environment. Here I would like to
focus on the significance behind sustainable global marketing techniques essential in global
retail marketing and how it influences consumer base and lifestyle due to increased
migrations and shared cultural values. Afzal, Shao, Sajid, & Afzal (2019) documents that to

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develop a sustainable market, we must understand the role of individual customer value along
with materialistic thoughts held by people regarding product purchasing. Hofstede concept of
culture states that culture can be best defined as symbols, rituals, heroes and values.
Differences can be seen among people belonging to different regions and their needs can be
addressed by comparing the values of citizens belonging to different nations. Since five
dimensions of Hofstede is one of the most recognised and widely accepted frameworks to
analyse cultural impacts in international business, it would be used by me to conduct a
comprehensive study on cultural differences of my consumer segment ( Eringa, Caudron,
Rieck, Xie, & Gerhardt, 2015). I plan to conduct a study on internationalization strategies so
that my organization is transformed into a globally competitive enterprise successfully. I
would also coordinate marketing and online trading based on international activities to
integrate globalization and common processes effectively.
The above reflective journals expressed my views, learning from the course studies
and workshops along with additional research made on the web. Although I learnt about
several topics, this reflective journal could cover impacts of globalization concept since I
believe that globalization is one issue which has impacted the global business environment
immensely. I learnt that globalization has contributed greatly towards economic development
and impacts the business environment in several ways. It not only accelerates structural
changes but also alters the industry sector such as retail industry. My focus perhaps was
more on positive sides of globalization and how I can prosper in the retail sector in my future
professional life. After my course learning, I am confident enough to analyse every aspect of
globalization and reap the utmost benefits out of it.

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References
Afzal, F., Shao, Y., Sajid, M., & Afzal, F. (2019). Market Sustainability: A Globalization and
Consumer Culture Perspective in the Chinese Retail Market. Sustainability, 11, 1-24.
Ariely, G. (2019). The nexus between globalization and ethnic identity: A view from below.
Ethnicities, 19(5), 763-783.
Edwin, A., & Okpara, A. (2015). Strategic Review of the impact of globalization on the
sustainability of communities and business organisations. International Journal of
Business and Management Invention, 4(4), 55-62.
Eringa, K., Caudron, L. N., Rieck, K., Xie, F., & Gerhardt, T. (2015). How relevant are
Hofstede's dimensions for intercultural studies? A replication of Hofstede's research
among current international business students. Research in Hospitality Management,
5(2), 187-198.
Karataş, A. (2016). Environmental Impacts of Globalization and a Solution Proposal.
American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 6(2), 64-70.
Katerina, R., & Aneta, R. (2014). The Impact of Globalization. Economic Analysis, 47(3-4),
83-89.
Okoye, H. N., & Nwaigwe, L. C. (2015). The Impact of Globalization to Business and the
World Economy. International Journal of Business and Management Review, 3(5),
17-32.
Sapkota, J. B. (2011). Impacts of Globalization on Quality of Life: evidence from developing
countries. Retrieved from

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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/37506/1/Sapkota_J.B._GIARI_WP1_2011_Impacts
_of_Globalization_on_QOL.pdf
Shopina, I., Oliinyk, O., & Finaheiev, V. (2017). Globalization and its Negative Impact on
the Global Economy. Baltic Journal of Economic Studies, 3(5), 457-461.