Globalization

Globalization refers to the increasing interconnectedness of the world. In stark contrast with prior times, when countries frequently found themselves in competition with one another (and often at war), globalization reflects their coming together to pursue common goals. This phenomenon is manifest most prominently, though not exclusively, through business. At the same time, however, the development of a world economy and global workplace has been accompanied by a general shift in thinking about social, economic, cultural, and political issues as well.

While globalization has arguably been taking place for centuries, the term was not coined until 1983, in a Harvard Business Review article by marketing scholar Theodore Levitt. In “The Globalization of Markets,” he argued that the world was moving toward a single “global” market and ...