Interesting globalization comic

Here is a comic about globalization that I thought were pretty amusing.























(Source: http://www.poghosyan.org/photos/gcoutsourcing.jpg)

From the comic above, the idea of outsourcing work to other countries isn't something new. The idea of globalization is underway to minimize production costs while at the same time trying to maximize profit. The girl from the joke attempts to outsource her homework to India. A country that has been receiving in-flow of production jobs from the US.

"So, what is outsourcing? Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a particular function. Almost every organization outsources in some way. Typically, the function being outsourced is considered non-core to the business. An insurance company, for example, might outsource its janitorial and landscaping operations to firms that specialize in those types of work since they are not related to insurance or strategic to the business. The outside firms that are providing the outsourcing services are third-party providers, or as they are more commonly called, service providers.Although outsourcing has been around as long as work specialization has existed, in recent history, companies began employing the outsourcing model to carry out narrow functions, such as payroll, billing and data entry. Those processes could be done more efficiently, and therefore more cost-effectively, by other companies with specialized tools and facilities and specially trained personnel." - Sourcingmag.com

Interesting reading on globalization

If anyone is interested in reading about Globalization, there is piece by Guillén titled, “Is Globalization Civilizing, Destructive or Feeble? A Critique of Five Key Debates in the Social Science Literature”.

Here is an except from it:

"The sociological, economic, political, and anthropological literatures are devoting increase attention to globalization. This chapter discusses the various connotations of the term and puts it in historical perspective. Existing theoretical and empirical research on globalization is organized around five key issues or questions: Is it really happening? Does it produce convergence? Does it undermine the authority of nation-states? Is globality different from modernity? Is a global culture in the making? A plea is made for a comparative sociology of globalization that is sensitive to local variations and to how agency, interest, and resistance mediate in the relationship between globalization causes and outcomes."

I read this for another class but thought it presented an interesting view on globalization.

Brazil Landfills

http://www.wastelandmovie.com/

This is a link to a documentary film that discusses how Brazil is home to the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho. It is located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The movie shows photographs of an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. These pickers have been hired to walk through the garbage dump and pick through everyones waste to find recyclable materials. This job was created because so much waste was in the dump that they were running out of space.

How have we as a society gotten to this point? How have we created material and then not have proper ways to dispose of them? We simply try to find places to put our waste, such as a landfill, the ocean, and even space. As consumers we avoid the responsibilities associated with the materials we use everyday. Many times not even giving a second thought to it. People toss there trash into the streets or pour liquids down a storm drain. Recycling is a great way to reuse materials and is slowly being implemented around the world. Communities in many cities don't recycle and as consumers we have a desire to use more than necessary creating waste. Instead of only consuming what is necessary and in the most manageable way, we throw out materials in order to get new, higher tech materials.

The effects of our actions are starting to show and therefor forcing us to reach. As we continue to urbanize our societies and expand we will have to address as a society what to do with our waste. People need to be held responsible and consciously think about were their waste is going. By not taking personally responsibility you are hurting society as a whole.

-Siera Miller

The CEO Water Mandate

         In 2007, a collaborative partnership between the UN Global Compact, the Swedish government and group of businesses and their leaders established the CEO Water Mandate that addressed water scarcity and sanitation issues. The mission of the initiative "represents both a call to action and an actionable framework for companies around the world to advance toward water sustainability in their operations and supply chains" (PacificInstitute.org). Some provisions of the mandate include direct operations, supply chain and watershed management, public policy, tranparency, community involvement/engagement and collective action. This partnership between the UN, in accordance with the Millenium Development Goals, and this group of buisness leaders is a step in the right direction to addressing how to reduce pollution and manage water scarcity. These buisnesses are not large multi-national corporations but they present an exemplary position on environmental management and sustainability.
           In the text of the CEO Water Mandate, the buisness leaders recognize how their companies have direct impact in the polluting of water throughout the globe and hold accountability when addressing how to reduce these pollutants as well as try to prevent it from reoccurring. This mandate has been endorsed by 50 companies so far, all of which seek "responsible engagement with water policy" (pacificinstitute.org) that affect surrounding ecosytems and communities in a positive way.
          Hopefully this trend among business leaders and companies will expand to corporations and large businesses to ensure that environmental sustainability can be attainable!

This Website describes the mandate in more detail and provides other intitiatives for environmental sustainability:
http://www.pacinst.org/topics/globalization_and_environment/ceo_water_mandate/index.htm


----Sophie Gardner

Funny Poem

INTERNATIONAL
THINKING AT ITS BEST!

Question: What is the truest definition of Globalization?
Answer: Princess Diana's death.
Question: How come?
Answer: An English princess
with an Egyptian boyfriend
crashes in a French tunnel,
driving a German car
with a Dutch engine,
driven by a Belgian who was drunk
on Scottish whiskey,
followed closely by Italian Paparazzi,
on Japanese motorcycles;
treated by an American doctor,
using Brazilian medicines.
This is sent to you by an American,
using Bill Gates's technology,
and you're probably reading this on your computer,
that use Taiwanese chips,
and a Korean monitor,
assembled by Bangladeshi workers
in a Singapore plant,
transported by Indian lorry-drivers,
hijacked by Indonesians,
unloaded by Sicilian longshoremen,
and trucked to you by Mexican illegals.....
That, my friends, is Globalization

Author: Angie

--Lauren Kelly

Santa Claus--Globalization MASTER

Does this guy look familiar?? In spirit of the holiday season, I thought this was appropriate.  

This guy is amazing. He's probably one of the most recognizable person in the world, and yet his image is totally different throughout the world.  Companies use him to promote their products and he pretty much takes over the winter season.  As Americans and in lots of other places in the world we know him as he is seen in this picture.  An old man with a fluffly white beard and an impressive belly.  But in other areas he's completely different....

For example....

Austria has "Krampus" which is a satan looking santa sometimes carrying a pitchfork that scares the crap out of children and tries to have his way with the ladies on Dec. 5th...(weird).  In Italy they have La Befana who is a witch who rides her broomstick and delivers presents 

Santa could teach us a lesson or two about globalization...

--Lauren Kelly

CNN - Obama on globalization

In 2008, Obama addressed an audience in Michigan about the changing global market and the need for domestic change in the American work force. Michigan is marked by high rates of unemployment due to competition within the world market and the exploitative nature of multinational corporations. Many US based corporations involve the practice of outsourcing and as an affect, leave American workers jobless and unable to compete on a global scale.
Obama encourages American workers to be adaptive and innovative in a rapidly changing world so as to compete in the world market.
( I am aware that this is a campaign speech that is aimed to uplift the spirits of American workers but the message is still painfully true: we cannot be stagnant, we must move forward because the world is constantly in flux and we cannot rely on the "old ways" !)

--Sophie Gardner