'Many see globalization as an opportunity for international business, Essay

'Many see globalization as an opportunity for international business, but it is clearly a threat.' - Essay Example On the contrary, some associate globalization with hostility and even fear believing that it raises the issue of inequality between and within nations that threatens employment and living standard, thereby thwarting social and economic progress (Wolff, 1998). Globalization has often been considered as a cradle of the global economic development. Globalization, a so-called ‘world liberator’, has not escaped controversies and criticisms as researchers, business officials, country leaders has often claimed that it has been the main cause of social evils and rising levels of poverty in developing countries. It cannot be denied that globalization offers wide-ranging opportunities for worldwide development. However, the development is not progressing evenly (Wellington and Zandvakili, 2004). Some countries have been able to integrate well with the global economy whereas some have not. The countries that are not being able to integrate well with the advent of globalization are actually being affected by the threats that the world liberator poses. During the 70s and 80s, countries in Africa and Latin America pursued globalization oriented policies that fostered the growth of international business. However, that led to adverse effects that the countries had faced. The economies of the respective countries either declined or stagnated to some extent (Abeles, 2001). The countries became poverty-stricken and high inflation became the norm. The adverse external developments in these countries made the problems even worse (Turiel, 2002). The crisis that occurred in the emerging economies during the 90s made it quite evident that the opportunities of globalization come with its fair share of threats and risks. The risks that arise are mainly due to the globalization of international business (Lloyds, 2010). These risks that countries have been getting exposed to are primarily because of unpredictable capital movements as well as due to social, economic and envir onmental degradation (Wall, Minocha and Rees, 2010). Globalization, which is thought to be the catalyst behind augmenting integration of local, domestic and international business/markets, is facing several headwinds which may reverse its course completely. This might decelerate the world economic growth and corporate earnings (Mourdoukoutas, 2012). Whether globalization offers extensive opportunities to international business or poses substantial threats to international business is a controversial issue and has often been associated with many debates by world leaders, researchers and economists (Buckley and Ghauri, 2004). Thus, this forms the ground work of this study where the threats posed by globalization to international business will be discussed in details in the following section/sections. Finally, an overall conclusion of the discussions will be provided. Globalization as a threat Threat to the workforce As far as the effects of globalization on international business are concerned, it poses significant threats to the development of the global business environment (Paul, 2008). The effortlessness with which individuals can move from one country to another has proven to be a threat to the scale of professional expertise and skill for businesses in developing countries. Professionals who are highly qualified and possess superior skills migrate to developed countries particularly because they are assured with better pay and incentives (IMF, 2000). As a result, businesses in the developing economies are now experiencing the scarcity of qualified and skilled professionals required to run a profitable business. This is a severe threat that