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

1. present idea on communication and globalization using text and speech in multiple
forms;
2. explain the impact of globalization on communication and vice-versa; 3. prepare a
social media post concerning being a responsible digital citizen;
4. reflect on a learning experience.

ERCEIVE
Communication is essential for personal and professional effectiveness. Further, it helps establish
good relationships, creates a better working environment, strengthens collaboration and cooperation,
and unifies conflicting ideas.

Globalization on the other hand, is the process by which people and goods move easily across
borders. Principally, it’s an economic concept – the integration of markers, trade and investments with
few barriers to slow the flow of products and services between nations. There is also a cultural element,
as ideas and traditions are traded and assimilated.

Globalization has brought many benefits to many people. But not to everyone.
STORM IN A COFFEE CUP

To help explain the economic side of globalization, let’s take a look at the well-known coffee
chain Starbucks.

The first Starbucks outlet opened its door in 1971 in the city of Seattle. Today it has 15,000
stores in 50 countries. These days you can find Starbucks anywhere, whether Australia, Cambodia,
Chile or Dubai. It’s what you might call a truly globalized company.

And for many suppliers and jobseekers, not to mention coffee-drinkers, this was a good thing.
The company was purchasing 247 million kilograms of unroasted coffee from 29 countries. Through its
stores and purchases, it provided jobs and income for hundreds of thousands of people all over the
world.

But then disaster struck. In 2012, Starbucks made headlines after a Reuters investigation
showed that the chain hadn't paid much tax to the UK government, despite having almost a thousand
coffee shops in the country and earning millions of pounds in profit there.

As a multinational Company, Starbucks was able to use complex accounting rules that
enabled it to have profit earned in one country taxed in another. Because the latter country had a
lower tax rate, Starbucks benefited. Ultimately, the British Public missed out, as the government was
raising less tax to spend on improving their well-being.

HOW DID GLOBALIZATION HAPPEN?

We might think of globalization as a relatively new phenomenon, but it's been around for
centuries.

One example is the Silk Road, when 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, of course, coffee. (In fact, the habit of drinking coffee in a social setting originates from a
Turkish custom, an example of how globalization can spread culture across borders.)

WHAT DRIVES IT?

Globalization has speeded up enormously over the last half-century, thanks to great leaps in
technology.

The internet has revolutionized connectivity and communication, and helped people share
their ideas much more widely, just as the invention of the printing press did in the 15th century. The
advent of email made communication faster than ever. The invention of enormous container ships
helped too. In fact, improvements in transport generally — faster ships, trains and airplanes - have
allowed us to move around the globe much more easily.
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT?
Globalization has led to many millions of people being lifted out of poverty. For example,
when a company like Starbucks buys coffee from farmers in Rwanda, it is providing a livelihood and a
benefit to the community as a whole. A multinational company's presence overseas contributes to
those local economies because the company will invest in local resources, products and services.
Socially responsible corporations may even invest in medical and educational facilities.

Globalization has not only allowed nations to trade with each other, but also to cooperate
with each other as never before. Take the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, for instance, where
195 countries all agreed to work towards reducing their carbon emissions for the greater global good.

WHAT IS BAD ABOUT IT?

While some areas have flourished, others have floundered as jobs and commerce move
elsewhere. Steel companies in the UK, for example, 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.

Every step forward in technology brings with it new dangers. Computers have vastly improved
our lives, but cyber criminals steal millions of pounds a year. Global wealth has skyrocketed, but so
has global warming.

While many have been lifted out of poverty, not everybody has benefited. Many argue that
globalization operates mostly in the interests of the richest countries, with most of the world's
collective profits flowing back to them and into the pockets of those who already own the most.

Although globalization is helping to create more wealth in developing countries, it is not

helping to close the gap between the world's poorest and richest nations. Leading charity Oxfam says
that when corporations such as Starbucks can legally avoid paying tax, the global inequality crisis
worsens.

Basically, done wisely (in the words of the International Monetary Fund) globalization could lead
to "unparalleled peace and prosperity." Done poorly, "to disaster."
 With the advent of globalization associated with advanced technologies and systems across
regions, the flow of information and communication has become smoother, faster, and easier. Plus,
business transactions and partnerships among local and international institutions have become more
efficient. One best example is the use of electronic mail (e-mail) such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail, or social
networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Consequently, the context of globalization requires effective communication skills from students
and workers to cope with the demands and challenges brought about by this phenomenon. This includes
communicating effectively with people of different background, age, culture, gender, beliefs,
orientations, preferences, and status.

HOW TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY

1. Express your ideas effectively in verbal, non-verbal, and written forms in either digital or non
digital environment or both.
2. Use effective listening skills to evaluate arguments and rationalize judgments, and improve job
effectiveness and work relationship.
3. Communicate with purpose to a variety of audiences.
4. Promote collaboration and cooperation with others.
5. Understand the concept of diversity and promote respect all the time.
6. Use technology and social media responsibly.