Driving Forces of Globalisation Notes

PHSS Humanities Department 2022 Secondary Four Social Studies Issue 3 Chapter 8: What Does it Mean to Live in a Globalised World - Factors that drive/ contribute to Globalisation? Globalisation: Globlisation is the rapid movement of products, people, services and information around the world that results in the world b ecoming more interconnected, interdependent. DRIVING FORCE EXAMPLES (E) OUTCOMES (O) Developments in Transportation ● Time needed to get from one place to another has reduced ● Size and speed of transportation has increased which enables more goods and people to be transported Example of improvement: ● Air transport: first engine plane in 1903 carried 1 passenger and in 2005 the largest commercial plane carried 853 passengers. Flights from Singapore to Japan take about 6 - 8 hours and a businessman travelling to Japan for a meeting can leave in the morning and return on the same day. ● Water transport: 9th century longships created by the Vikings move at a speed of 9-28km/hr but now in the 20th century container ships move at 37-46km/hr (also able to carry more products onboard such as cars and furniture) Example of increased interconnectivity and interdependence due to transport: ● In Singapore, 140,000 vessels arrive per year and Singapore is connected to more than 600 ports in over 120 countries Because of improvement in speed and size of transportation, more people can goods can be transported to various parts of the world within a shorter time and more places. This facilitates the process through which people’s activities and ideas become more interconnected. Growth of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) ● MNCs are companies with economic activities in more than one country Example of MNC creating interdependence and interconnections: ● MNCs such as Starbucks source coffee beans from 27 countries from North and South America, Asia and Africa ● Starbucks roasts their coffee beans in USA and India and then packaged to be sent to 21000 stores in more than 65 countries like Singapore and Japan. Due to the global nature of the MNCs operations, they increase interconnections and interdependence between goods transported around the world. The supply chain of the coffee beans (from South America and then roasted in USA and India) makes the economies of these countries to be interdependent as they are all involved in the operations of contributing to a final product. Example of MNC facilitating the exchange of ideas between countries: ● Foreign-owned pharmaceutical and biotechnology MNCs such as Norvatis and Roche established collaborations with local institutions in Singapore to conduct research and develop solutions to improve healthcare around the world. Due to the collaborations, it reflects on how different countries now need to work together even more closely with each other as they leverage on each other’s strengths and expertise in reaching their goals.

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