Globalization and Changing Market Trends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Globalization and Changing Market Trends - Essay Example This may be assessed at present as already happening, in which the converging global market has created a conduit of goods and services available at almost the same prices for different countries. Stressing that the world is flat, as Levitt used it- figuratively, at least - opts to become competitive in a global market where regional, historical, and geographical divisions are increasingly becoming irrelevant. Globalization is suggested to have created a playing field in which the world is flattened, thereby allowing all participants to level off with one another and participate equally in the global market. Competitive playing fields are leveled between industrial and emerging markets, which is a product of a convergence of workflow software and of personal computer with fiber-optic micro cable, not known to human race twenty-five years ago. The surge of technology is likened to a jet plane that zooms upward, changing economic activities of domestic and global markets. Levitt indicates in his literature that the world is increasingly and inevitably becoming one, putting the multinational corporations into obsolete position, which were abounding at the time the literature was written. Levitt had a keen and clear foresight with his assumption that companies that do not adapt to the new global realities will become victims of those that do (p. 11). This has become a reality at present, in which products that do not cope with the demands of globalization and technological advancement will certainly find themselves in financial collapse. This is the reason why Kodak and Mitsubishi have to align their photo developing techniques with that of a digitalized method, since using the old film developing technique will surely assail the companies with lower income due to inability to keep track with new technology. Strategic management of firms should hence be congruent to the changing global markets. Currently, the world's needs and desires have been irrevocably homogenized as an outcome of globalization, a trend not existing in 1983, of which Levitt had been keen to make a foresight. In his views, he stated that this homogeneity makes the multinational corporation obsolete and the global corporation absolute (p. 3). This may have been true had the multinational corporations not kept up with the growing demands of a globalized market. However, due to their ability to keep up through market research, multinational corporations are still able to hold their positions strongly, updating their product lines and technology alongside current trends. Similarly, more and more European counties trail the path to offshore some or all of their operations with the advent of globalization. In this regard, foreign direct investment increases, which involve transfer of operating capacity for functions like production and transportation (Gampenrieder, 2006). Offshore strategies provide companies the capabilities to aim for distinctive, sustainable, and competitive advantages that require relocation of operating