Globalization refers to the absence of the walls of matchboxes that every country had, between themselves based on suspicion,

mutual distrust and ambition. We were different countries, in fact divided into worlds, and therefore could never manage to deal with natural holocausts and deadly epidemics, which time and again challenged us. Globalization has strengthened the nexus and has helped us to know each other's need in a better way. It has helped to demolish those walls that separated us and curbed our natural identity of being fellow human beings. Globalization has primarily become a fiscal term but its impact is not limited to the economy of the countries only, the term globalization actually refers to every aspect of life-like cultural, social, psychological and of course, political. It is true that the impact of globalization is visible and affects largely the politics and the economy of the country but its effect on the mindset and the culture is noticeable gradually in the way people think and react. It's like the Iceberg theory wherein what we do and say are at the tip and what we think and believe is at the base. The base is not visible but manifestations at the top are conspicuous. It applies here as well where people do not change abruptly but may be after a decade the change starts showing and seems radical. World During the Pro-globalization Era Globalization is not a new phenomena, the base was laid long back when the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company started trading with India. In history, there were trade relations between different countries like Arab and Egypt and now in modern times that has translated into Globalization or Free Trade. It's true that ultimately all the free trade resulted in the white man taking the burden proactively but then globalization leads to more employment and higher standard of living, especially among the developing countries. Theories suggest that globalization leads to efficient use of resources and benefits all who are involved. According to libertarians, globalization will help the world to deal with crises like unemployment and poverty. It will help us to raise the global economy only when the involved power blocks have mutual trust and respect for each other's opinion. Globalization and democracy should go hand in hand. It should be pure business with no colonialist designs. The way we have developed in the last 10 years, globalization seems to have given us good returns. Globalization has made the life of the third world citizen completely a different story. There are so many foreign companies that have made way to Orient and have made India a brand name all over the world. Pros and Cons of Globalization There are many advantages and disadvantages of globalization. Some of these good and bad points of this worldwide phenomenon are discussed below: Advantages of Globalization The pros of globalization are many and they are as follows:

There is a worldwide market for the companies and for the customers there is a better access to products from different countries. There is a steady cash flow into the developing countries, which gradually decreases the dollar difference. Due to the presence of a worldwide market, there is an increase in the production sector and there are lots of options for investments for different companies. Gradually there a world power is being created instead of compartmentalization of power sectors. Politics is merging and decisions that are being taken which are actually beneficial to people all over the world. The influx of information between two countries increases, especially those nations who do not have anything in common between them. Cultural intermingling increases and every nation tries to know more about the other nations cultural preferences. In this process, we are actually coming across things that we like and in the course of time adopt it. Since we share financial interests, corporate and governments are trying to sort out ecological problems for each other.

Socially we have become more open and tolerant towards each other and these who live in the other parts of the world appear more approachable than before. There is a lot of technological development that countries have undergone over the years. Thus, helping in sharing of information and technology. This helps most of the developing nations progress at the same speed as the developed nations. Globalization helps in increase of demand of products. This in turn increases rate of production. Manufacturers thus, find this profitable and helps in availability of more jobs. Globalization makes the economy of one country dependent on the economy of the other country. Any change in economy one country will affect the other. Thus, governments become more concerned about one another to curb the economical imbalance between them.

Disadvantages of Globalization There are cons of globalization are as follows:

Many people from developed nations are losing jobs and that is posing a problem for them since the companies are outsourcing work to developing countries since the cost of labor is low and profits the company considerably. There is immense pressure on the employed people of developed countries who are always under the threat of their jobs being outsourced. Corporates are building up units in other countries that equally well equipped, thus transferring the quality to other countries. There are some experts who think that globalization along with the positive aspects is also leading to the incursion of negatives like communicable diseases and social degeneration. There is also a threat of corporates ruling the world because there is a lot of power and money invested by them due to globalization. For nations that are at the receiver's end are also giving up the reins in the ends of a foreign company which might again lead to a sophisticated form of colonization. Globalization may lead to loss of cultural identity as Western ideas are always imposed upon the Eastern thoughts.

Impact of Globalization Globalization has made way for free trade and business. It has also helped improve communication around the globe. It has potential to make this world a better place to live in. It is changing the political scenario thus deep-seated problems like unemployment; poverty and shift in power are coming to the picture. The marginal are getting a chance to exhibit themselves in the world market. The term "brand" is catching up in the Asian countries. It is not only modernizing but also westernized the native cultures. The power play is leading to the linguicide or linguistic, cultural and traditional genocide. That is probably where we need to keep a check and not let diffusion go wild. There has been significant de-localization that needs people to be more tolerant since face-to-face interaction is no more the order of the day. It so happens that an American is trying to sort out his billing issue of his mobile phone with an Indian call center employee who is not the direct employee of the service provider. Now that sounds complicated and has to be dealt carefully. Globalization cannot be stopped. But, one can always keep a check on its spread and outcomes. This was all about globalization pros and cons. Globalization makes the world better. The question is how prepared are we to face all the pros and cons of this global change.

http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/08/globalization-for-societyananalysis-of-the-pros-and-cons-globalization.html

Mahindra acquires SsangYong! A step to creating an international presence?

by Aseem Rastogi on November 24, 2010 |

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With more than 12 different verticals from real estate to retail to defence, Mahindra has been there done that in almost every field. But at its core even today lies the automotive sector. By core I dont really mean their success is defined only by this sector. But instead its seen one of their best R & D spending over the years in developing new models. Mahindra was founded on the premise of building utility vehicles. And today, Mahindra seems to have taken one of their biggest steps in building themselves as a global brand. They have acquired a 70% controlling stake in SsangYong, the South Korean auto maker for US $ 463 million.

So what is SsangYong?

SsangYong Motor Company was a part of the SsangYong Group, a multibillion dollar conglomerate in South Korea. The group was broken apart because of the problems during the South East Asian Crisis of 1997. SsangYong Motor Company initially became a part of Daewoo in 1998 and is now controlled by the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). The groups product portfolio comprises of a luxury sedan, four sport utility vehicles and a multipurpose vehicle.

What does Mahindra gain from this stake?

M & M will be able to strongly utilise the strong R & D capabilities of SsangYong. The fact that they have not been very good since 2003 in developing new models because of poor management is a problem. The fact that Mahindra is planning to launch 3-5 models in the next couple of years shows that they mean BUSINESS! They aim to improve on this by improving the entire management of the organization. One of the biggest gains for them would be the 98 countries strong dealer network of SsangYong which would help them to market M & M as well as SsangYong models in an amazing manner. SsangYong also has an edge in premium segment vehicles and this could help Mahindra to expand its profile into this particular segment. Mahindra therefore aims to combine its strength in sourcing and marketing with SsangYongs strong capabilities in technology.

Things looking good?

Mahindra has been performing fantastically over the last couple of quarters which has increased its liquid assets massively. Therefore it would be easily able to fund the acquisition with its internal accruals. Even SsangYong has been making operating profits since the beginning of 2010 and has even decreased costs as well as its workforce.

At 12:30 pm today, Zain Africa became a 100% subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal said, addressing a press meet in Delhi today. This indicates that Bharti Airtel has received all regulatory approvals. Zain brings with it, 42 million customers, $3.6Bn revenue, $1.2B EBITDA. The combined entities will have approximately 180 million customers, $12.4 billion in combined revenues, and $4.7 billion in EBIDTA. This makes Bharti Airtel one of the five largest mobile operators in the world, at 180 million customers, close to America Movil and Telefonica. Speaking at the press meet, Mittal said that they also hope the vendors will follow them to Africa, including tower companies, equipment suppliers, air conditioning companies, Value Added Services Companies are going to flock to Africa now. He also added that this deal is the largest deal ever across sectors in emerging markets, and it puts forth the notion that the developing world can do multi million dollar deals and not just the mandate of developed markets. Manoj Kohli will lead the Airtel saga in Africa, operating out of Nairobi. Airtel raised $8 Billion in financing for this deal, Akhil Gupta, Deputy Group CEO and Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises and a Director of Bharti Airtel Limited said. Africa Plans Speaking at the press meet, Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) & Joint MD, Bharti Airtel said that he has set the following personal targets for the companys Africa operations by 2012-2013: - 100 million customers (Zain Africa currently has 42 million) - $5 Billion in revenue (Zain Africa currently does around $3.6 Bn) - $ 2 Billion EBITDA (Zain Africa currently does $1.2 Billion EBITDA) The Airtel brand will be launched in Africa in October an overnight switch from Zain to Airtel in 15 countries. Kohli is flying out to Nairobi, where Airtels Africa operations will be headquartered, later this week. Within this week, well take charge, and we have a huge Africa leadership workshop planned. Arond 40-50 people from Airtels India operations will move to Africa, and in next few months, it is planned that around 20-25 from Africa will come to India, in order to initiate cross-market learnings. Kohli added that the addressable base in Africa is around 1 billion currently there are 500 million people in the continent of working age, and by 2040, this number is expected to exceed 1.1 billion. The median age of Africas population is 17 years, lower than that of India. The urbanization is 40% in Africa, and is expected to be 50% by 2030. As urbanization increases, need for telecom increases. There are 53 cities with more than a million people. Airtel is currently number 1 in 10 countries in Africa, and there are, on an average 2-3 telecom operators in a country. In the continent, Airtel-Zain is number 2 after MTN, and covers a population of 450 million. Nigeria Issues Bharti Airtel also announced that the issues that the company was facing in Nigeria have now been (partially) resolved. In a statement, the company said The long standing litigation on multiple

fronts by our main local partner, Broad Communications Group and its affiliates, owned, controlled and managed by Mr. Oba Otudeko and his family has been satisfactorily settled. Broad Communications will withdraw all its court cases in this regard. Mr. Otudeko is being appointed as the Chairman of our company in Nigeria. Mittal referred to Nigeria as one of the largest growing markets in the world. A deal with Broad was struck a few hours before this announcement, and no additional money was paid. It is in his (Otudeko) interest and ours to make this company grow, Mittal said. Broad is the largest shareholder in Zain Nigeria. Mittal said he was stunned by the pace of growth in the Nigerian market it is buzzing and reader for higher usage of minutes. The distribution of phones and SIM cards is higher than in India there are people there selling SIM cards at the roadside. Zain is number 2 in that market. He also said that the company had not had any contact with Econet Wireless, but were told that it is within the rights for Airtel to take over Zain, and we are satisfied. In any case, he added, the company is fully indemnified. Responding to a question, he also said that in Gabon, there is no issue, and payments will be made on the basis of some milestones that are met from Zains side. Zain versus MTN Mittal was quite categorical in stating that MTN, at both attempts, was the only opportunity at the time: MTN was the first opportunity, not the first choice, he said. He feels that this (Zain) is a better deal for Airtel since in case of MTN, Airtel would have had board control but not management control, so they might not have been in a position to replicate their low cost model, which they can do so with Zain. An out-and-out acquisition is a much better deal for Airtel. He also added that the company received overwhelming support from the Indian government, which supported and pushed Airtel to go to Africa Manoj Kohli was in regular touch with High Commissioners in the countries where Zain operates,