UNIT III: INTERCULTURAL

COMMUNICATION
Lesson 1: Communication and Globalization
 Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

a. demonstrate knowledge about globalization as an

economic phenomenon; and

b. demonstrate an understanding of the impact of

globalization on communication.
The Globalization
Phenomenon
 Globalization and Global

• associated with realities outside the territories of nation-

states
• all countries are engaged
• very few (if any) societies are unaffected by this
phenomenon
What is Globalization Anyway?
by Alex Gray (World Economic Forum, 2017)
How Globalization Works
• Globalization - the process by which people and goods
move easily across borders
- an economic concept -- the intergration of markets,
trades and investments with few barriers to slow the flow of
products and services between nations
- there is a cultural element -- ideas and traditions
are traded and assimilated
- has speeded up enormously over the last half-
century with the great leap of technology
 Storm in a Coffee Cup

• Starbucks - first outlet opened in 1971 in the city of

Seattle
- today it has 15,000 stores in 15 countries
- you can find it anywhere, whether
Australia, Cambodia, Chile, or Dubai
- a truly globalized company
- purchasing 247 million kg of unroasted
coffee from 29 countries
- provided jobs and income for hundreds of
thousands of people all over the world
• 2012 - disaster struck
- made headlines after a Reuters investigation showed
that the hain hadn't paid much tax to the UK government
How did Globalization
Happen?
• Silk Road - trade spread rapidly between China and
Europe via an overland route
- merchants carried goods for trade back and forth, trading
silk as well as gems and spices, and coffee

• Habit of Drinking Coffee - originates from a Turkish

custom
• Internet - revolutionized connectivity and communication
- helped people share their ideas much more widely
• 15th Century - invention of the printing press
• Email - made communication faster than ever
• Enormous Container Ships and Improvement of
Transport - have allowed us to move around the globe
much more easily
What's Good About It?
• led to many millions of people being lifted out of poverty
Example:
A company like Starbucks buys coffee from farmers in
Rwanda
• has not only allowed nations to trade with each other, but
also to cooperate with each other as never before
Example:
The Paris agreement on Climate Change, for instance, in
195 countries all agreed towards reducing their carbon
emissions for the greater global good
What's Bad About It?
• while some areas have flourished, others have floundered
as jobs and commerce move elsewhere
Example:
Steel companies in the UK once thrived providing work for
hundreds of thousands of people. But when China began
producing cheaper steel, steel plants in the UK closed down
and thousands of jobs were lost
• Computers have vastly improved our lives but cyber
criminals steal millions of pounds a year
• done wisely (in the words of the International Monetary
Fund) globalization could lead to “unparallel peace and
prosperity”
• done poorly, “to disaster”