Economic Interactions and Flows

Prompt: Choose and article and write a brief comment about why you found it interesting. End your post with a question about the topic you blogged.

Article: The Philippines: The world's hotline

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14149615

Filipinos working at call centers in the Philippines

     I found this article interesting especially because it talks about the Philippines. The Philippines has now become the place for call centers instead of India. According to the article, there are more call centers in the Philippines and there are more Filipinos working for call centers than Indians. The statistic the article provides is that 350,000 Filipinos work for a call center while there are 330,000 Indians doing the same job.

     One of the main reasons why the Philippines has had an increase in call centers is because the Filipinos are able to have the American accent in which most Indians may not. "In fact, to American ears, Filipinos often sound clearer than agents in India."The accent is so convincing that US caller might not even know that the agent is a Filipino. I found this point really interesting because it seems so obvious yet I overlooked this factor. 

     Another interesting point that the article made is that the Philippines is very much attuned to the culture of the United States, simply because the Philippines was a US colony. Therefore it wouldn't be a surprising fact that Philippines would be the leading country to answer phone calls from the United States.

     Lastly, I think the companies that have offshored to India have seen the advantages of having a call center in the Philippines. In fact according to the article, many of the call centers that have presence in the Philippines are also in India. "In other words, the Indians have started outsourcing some of their outsourcing."

However, since the industry is still growing in the Philippines, India's overall BPO (Business Processing Outsourcing) revenue was $70bn while the Philippines was only $9bn.

Question: What are some disadvantage of offshoring call centers in the Philippines, both for the country and/or the individual? 

Political Outcomes - Multi Government Organizations (MGO)

Prompt: Find a recent online article about one of the following multi-governmental organizations (MGO):

• European Union (EU)
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
• North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
• MERCOSUR (the common market of South America) 

Post an image from the article on your blog along with the link and highlight the main points from the article in no more than 3 sentences. 

Article: ASEAN Integration seen to benefit Phl banks
(http://www.philstar.com/business/2014/03/19/1302413/asean-integration-seen-benefit-phl-banks)

Banks in the Philippines are expected to benefit from integrating the ASEAN program in 2020 because it will lead to greater market opportunities and generate more competition in the market.

Local banks are still very small in comparison with other ASEAN banks in terms of capital and assets and the Philippine banking system's total assets only amounts to 70% of Singapore's DBS assets.

Philippine banks have been preparing for the ASEAN integration in 2020 by raining capital and aggressively expansing; these banks will become more efficient as a result of a greater exchange in technology and innovation.



The Philippines could have a loss of sovereignty as a result of the financial integration program of ASEAN which is set for full implementation in 2020. This is because the Philippine banks would have to abide by the rules which the ABIF (ASEAN Banking Integration Framework) has set in order  for the rules across the 10 countries in the ASEAN to be the same. This is so that ASEAN banks can operate as local banks rather than foreign banks. The ASEAN integration might be a challenge for the Philippines because the ASEAN only constitutes 17% share of its exports.










Anti Globalization 

- 9/11 made people feel that protesting was unpatriotic
- World Bank and IMF have changed their policies, people are then satisfied
- decline of the economy
- the World Bank and IMF have been less financially influential

Socio-Cultural Exchange

Prompt: 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.

      Transnational corporations around the globe intentionally spread consumerism through cultural diffusion. McDonald's is a transnational corporation that has presence in almost every country in the world. It is an American fast food company and is now globally known. McDonald's has adapted to this and intentionally promoted consumerism by having different and specific products in each country that is appealing to that country's taste. It tries to match the taste of the country's local cuisine.

    McDonald's has a different menu for every country, however, it has the same concept. It was famously known for Hamburgers in the United States and this has spread throughout the world. In the Philippines, the menu includes products that are unavailable in the United States. For example, spaghetti. McDonald's adjusted to the cuisine of the Philippines and made pinoy or sweet style Spaghetti that would be appealing to many Filipinos. As a result, there are able to spread consumerism because more people would be attracted to the food that tastes like their local cuisine. Another example of this can be found in McDonald's India. They have vegan burgers instead of beef burgers since many people in India do not eat beef because of their religion. This idea of adapting to a specific country's cuisine allows people to be more attracted to McDonald's because they know the taste is altered for them.

Products available in McDonald's India

Spaghetti and Chicken available in McDonald's Philippines

McDonald's Australia

     McDonald's also spreads the idea of consumerism and cultural diffusion by becoming more 'local.' This means that they have a certain name for McDonald's in a specific country. For example in the Philippines, McDonald's is commonly known as McDo while in Australia it is commonly known as Macca's. Not only do they have a different name in some countries but also translates their slogan to the local language. The slogan "I'm loving' it" is translated in the local language and the people are able to understand and connect to the whole idea of McDonald's.

     Another example of a transnational corporation is Apple. Apple does indeed spread consumerism through cultural diffusion. There are Apple retail stores in almost every country and it is possible to by an Apple product wherever you are on the planet. Apple spreads consumerism by releasing a new product every six to eight months.The iPhone has become an icon in which everybody knows about. People always want the latest generation while the previous generation was perfectly fine and only had minor differences. The availability of the product has made Apple spread consumerism throughout the globe.

   


 

Pros and Cons of Globalization

The PROS of Globalization

• Increased communication between people, organizations, and countries
• This can be done through email or social media networks such as Gmail or Facebook. 

• Corporations can work together to solve ecological problems 
• Every corporation creates their own ecological footprint. With the help of globalization, corporations can now work together to reduce their ecological footprint. This is done through communication between corporations. 

• Increase trade between countries because of the increasing demand of products
• With an increasing demand of products, the trade between countries increases. As a result, countries can increases their GDP. 

• Many products are available in many different countries
• People in different countries may now have access to products found in different countries. As a result, people will tend to spend more money and become knowledgable about products from different countries.

• Companies can be able to reduce labor costs
• Companies have a chance to be able to reduce labor costs by setting up factories in less economically developed countries where the wages are low. Since they are able to reduce labor costs, companies can increase profits. Companies are also able to reduce costs because they do not need to 'fly people around' to have a business meeting. The business meetings can be done through Skype or another form of communication. 
• An example of a company which practices offshoring is Nike. Nike has factories in Bangladesh and is able to take advantage of the low labor costs to increase their profit. 

• Increase awareness 
• People become more aware about different cultures since different cultures are being introduced to them through different products. Possibly, people tend to become more accepting and open minded about cultures not of their own. 
• People also become more aware and concerned about global issues and have a chance to help out. An example would be donations set up for the relief of Typhoon Haiyan or donate to charities around the world.

The CONS of Globalization 

• Loss of employment in developing countries 
• Since many companies are trying to reduce labor costs by outsourcing, the workers in the developed country no longer have a job. 

• May lead to loss of cultural identity 
• This is because ideas are traveling from one side of the globe to another. Western ideas have or can influence the Eastern thoughts, therefore it may be difficult for one to identify their own culture without the ideas of westerners. 

• Companies that offshore are able to exploit the local workers of less economically developed countries 
• Large firms such as Nike provide jobs for people in LEDCs, however, most of the time, the working conditions are terrible and there could be some issues with human rights because the corporations are basically exploiting the workers. 
• On the other hand, if large corporations chose not to offshore, people in LEDCs might have a lower paying job or might not even have a job. 

• Power is given to large corporations 
• Globalization causes large corporations to have more power because they have the ability to trade while small corporations have to compete with them. 

• Illegal or harmful activites 
• Globalization has made it easier to trade illegal items. For example, people can buy animals that are endangered or illegal in some countries, trading of drugs or other illegal substances, illegal downloading of music, movies, etc... Terrorists or others of the sort can communicate in different countries without being noticed or suspected. 

• Small firms can be out of business
• This is because globalization tends to focus on larger corporations. For example, a local clothing in the company might have a hard time competing against a large corporation from the United States. As a result, the local company might run out of business.