ZESZYTY NAUKOWE POLITECHNIKI LODZKIEJ

Nr 1196 ORGANIZACJA I ZARZJ\DZANIE, z. 59 2015

MAGDALENA GR~BOSZ
ANDRZEJHAK
Katedra Integracji Europejskiej i Marketingu Mi~dzynarodowego
Politechnika Lodzka

MULTIDIMENSIONAL CHARACTER
OF GLOBALISATION

Globalization, as a basic megatrend of the modem world development

is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon Its multi-dimensional
character consists of three main parts: political, economic and socio-
cultural In this paper, authors analyse the globalization concept, its
dimensions as well as possible costs and benefits in the context of
international expansion of enterprises and the process of global
companies ' emergence. Simultaneously, the authors also study the
multidimensional issues of globalisation basing on the example of
McDonald 's Corporation

1. Introduction
The globalization process has been regarded as one of the most important
factors creating current reality: from customers' behaviours, through economic
and political changes to the world market emergence. This concept of the
compress ion of the world and the intensification of multilateral connections
creates several opportunities not only for companies, but also for transnational
organizations, countries, societies and individuals. However, numerous threats
such as global terrorism or extreme consumerism also exist.
The globalization process is really complicated and difficult to analyze. Its
multidimensional character consists of three main parts: political, economic and
socio-cultural. Several consequences including the deterioration of the role of
national states, the emergence of common global sectors of economy or the
standardization of customers' needs have a direct implication on business entities
worldwide. As a result, the possibility of their international expansion nowadays
is easier to take than ever before.
The aim of this paper is to analyse the globalization concept, its dimensions
as well as possible costs and benefits in the context of international expansion
70 M. Grifbosz, A. Hak

of enterprises and the process of global companies' emergence. Simultaneously,

the authors also want to study the multidimensional issues of globalisation basing
on the example of McDonald's Corporation.

2. Different dimensions of globalisation

In the world of increasing multilateral, international economic relations
and growing significance of global economics, the perception of globalization
is more concentrated on economic and business aspects, what is reflected in
commonly spread definitions of this term. According to this, in "The Oxford
Dictionary", globalization is described as ''the process by which businesses
or other organizations develop international influence or start opera ting on an
international scale"[l]. Following that, it can be assumed that in everyday use
and understanding, the globalization process is mostly regarded as a set
of changes in the global economy and the process of internationalization
of companies.
According to Kosiri.ska [2, p. 19] globalization, as a basic megatrend of the
modern world development, is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon.
It includes the majority or even all areas of social, cultural, political and
economic activities that go beyond a state, its society and economy.

Globaliza tion

Sod o- Politiral
c ulnmll di.Jnen~n
cli.J.neu.tj,011

Changes in lifestyles • Internati anal • Markets ll"lification

New consumption organizations growth and standardization
models • Roleof NGOs • Trade liberalization
(consumptionism, • Newlaws • Dorninati on
McDonaldization) and regulations of international
Dorrinance of mass • Importance corporations
media of graving economies • Worldv.ide austerity
Masstouism problems

Fig. 1. Multidimensional globalisation concept

Source: own elaboration based on E . Kosinska (ed.}, Marketing mifdzynarodowy,
Zarys problematyki, PWE, Warszawa 2008, p. 19.
 Multidimensional character ofglobalisation 71

This multidimensional approach to the globalization problem is presented on

Figure 1.
Globalization processes concern: markets, companies' strategies, finance,
technology, research, knowledge, lifestyles, consumption models and access
to culture, management practices, laws and regulations. The subject of
internationalization and globalization is a specified type of company -
transnational corporation (international, multinational, global company). It must
be regarded in a dual dimension: as a reason for internationalization and
globalization processes and as a consequence of them.

2.1. Political dimension

The globalization process drives many political changes worldwide and,

at the same time, political changes imply on further and deeper globalization.
In general, it is claimed that globalization declines the importance of states, what
is a result of changes in the balance of power between: capitals, which nowadays
are more mobile and can move between countries easier, as well as labour.
Walby [3, p. 37] states that "as a consequence, democratic states can lose
their power to globally mobile capital, leading to a reduced capacity to set
regulations and welfare regimes in keeping with democratically expressed
priorities". The conclusion is that globalization damages existing political
conditions, autonomous actions of single states become ineffective while
international institutions become stronger.
While encountering the problem of impossibility of remaining self-
sufficient, nation-states introduce neoliberalism as a way of doing politics in
''the global village" conditions. This concept "promotes free markets and opposes
state regulation of the economy in the pursuit of economic growth" [3, p. 37].
As a result of liberalization, governments regard regional cooperation as a better
solution both in the economic and the political terms. Schrim [4, pp. 13-14]
outlines that putting domestic reforms into a regional framework ought to result
in gaining "additional leverage" regarding domestic opposition, "because its
[government's] economic course will no longer be solely a matter of national
responsibility but will be part of a binding multilateral commitment". It was
called as "a political acceptability" - an external factor of domestic stabilization
and, in fact, the impact of global changes on local policies. Globalization and
regionalization are two simultaneous trends. States become more interested in
regional cooperation in order to respond global challenges. The international
liberalization leads to the spread of democracy and market economy worldwide,
what could have been observed in 1990s in the Central and Eastern Europe
as well as in other parts of the world. It is also regarded as a result of the
globalization.
72 M. Grifbosz, A. Hak

In a global era, a lot of political institutions have been formed that aim at
assisting the governance of finance, global peace, human rights etc. The most
powerful and the biggest include [3, pp. 170-175]:
• financial institutions such as:
o the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - organization securing global
financial stability, enhancing global monetary cooperation etc.,
o the World Bank - institution providing local governments with loans to
achieve a main goal: the reduction of global poverty,
o the World Trade Organization (WTO) - regulator of a general global
economic environment,
• security structures, for instance:
o the United Nations (UN) - intergovernmental organization providing
global co-operation,
o the United Nations Security Council - international security "guard'',
o the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) - regional military pact,
• economic and political structures, e.g.:
o the European Union - union of 28 independent, but cooperating
European states.
Many institutions are not newly established, they have been existing for
several decades. A lot of them were formed after the Second World War such as
UN (replaced the League of Nations in 1945) or IMF (result of the Bretton
Woods Conference in 1944). Moreover, they combine many factors: political,
economic, military etc., so the exact division of them is sometimes impossible.
While many international institutions lead current politics, the role of Non-
Governmental Organizations (NGOs) becomes more important. Public policies,
such as philanthropy, humanitarian aid or environmental activities are influenced
by NGOs and their, frequently well-known, founders. That includes such
organizations as: the Amnesty International (focused on human rights, 1977
Nobel Peace Prize winner), the Rockefeller Foundation (aiming at supporting
education) or the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF - the largest conservation
organization).
Globalization also intensifies political risks connected with global terrorism.
Worldwide changes are connected with the globalization process, political
weakness of Arab region and ineffective actions of developed countries leads to
terrorist threat [5 , pp. 23-24].

2.2. Economic dimension

According to numerous scientific papers, the economic dimension of

globalization is one of the biggest aspects of current world changes. Moreover,
it is strictly connected with worldwide political changes, including the
 Multidimensional character of globalisation 73

aforementioned regionalization process - a result of neoliberalisrn. Olczak [6,

p. 10] claims, that "the economic dimension of globalization refers to the
business activity, the economy, trade markets, branches of the economy,
enterprises and the competition where as a result of integration of different kind
of business, the common world market or the global sector/business are corning
into existence". The cited definition outlines main components of economic
globalization and the main result triggered by the integration processes - the
world market or the global sector development.
It can be observed that economic globalization is based on growing
interdependence of both national and international companies, states, trade
organizations etc. accompanied with the increase in international trade of goods,
services, labour, capital and technology, what leads to the economic integration
and, in the end, the emergence of the world economy and world markets.
Nowadays, the flow of capitals is perceived as the most important feature of
a current phase of the globalization process. Many reasons of capital flows
intensification are distinguished. The first, and the most obvious, is a search for
cheaper labour in growing economies along with growing international transfers
of technology. The increase in capital flows was enabled by wide-ranging
deregulation of international trade (with the significant role of GATT and WTO)
and international capital flows itself. Foreign Direct Investments became popular
(also in Poland), traders started investing in emerging markets, and finally, the
global economy started emerging [3, pp. 118-119].
As a result of growing importance of international corporations and the
increasing need for capital and trade flows, nation-states decided to form
integration groups. Economic integration means an overall process of merging
separate countries in bigger groups or regions within states [7, p. 241].
Integration can vary from preferential trade agreements (liberalization of trade),
through e.g. single markets (free movement of production factors) to economic
unions (harmonization of all types of policies). Along with local and regional
groups such as: NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), ASEAN
(the Association of South-East Asia Nations) or the European Union, worldwide
agreements were also established. One of the most important, that aimed at
decreasing tariffs in international trade, was GATT (the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade), the predecessor of WTO (the World Trade Organization).
WTO that is the international organization whose primary purpose is to open
trade for the benefit of all and provides a forum for negotiation agreements aimed
at reducing obstacles to international trade and ensuring a level playing field
for all, thus contributing to economic growth and developrnent"[8]. As a result of
GATT and WTO agreements, trade barriers have fallen dramatically since the
World War II, so the formation of the global market became easier to reach.
74 M. Gr?bosz, A. Hak

The role of nation-states is deteriorating both in political and economic

terms, what is directly reflected in the growing significance of international
agreements described above. However, Schirm outlined three pathways that
global markets affect countries [4, pp. 54-55]:
• crises - domestic economies are more open to be affected by market
sentiments changes, situation becomes more volatile and unpredictable due to
the significant share of international outputs, the reduction of internal control
over capital flows etc.,
• interests - while the foreign outputs of states are growing, the number of
interest groups is increasing, they aim at enhancing market size, further
deregulation and liberalization, accessing to cheaper components, lowering
tariffs and taxes etc.,
• instruments - domestic economic instruments are less effective due to greater
fluctuations of capital, investments and production and globalization of
labour division, in many cases the foreign exchange policy is limited or even
passed on to the intergovernmental institutions (as the monetary policy in the
Euro-zone controlled by the European Central Bank), what has a direct
influence on state economy conditions.
Contrary to the role of nation-states, the role of international corporations is
rising. The significance of them on the global market is immense. The biggest of
them, Exxon Mobile or Apple Inc., are worth more than GDP of 70 countries.
They have a strong political influence and a great impact on employment on
a worldwide scale. Domination of corporations leads to products and services
standardization, and to the effect of McDonaldization - the symbol of
globalization described in details in the next point [9, p. 41].
Economic globalization can be measured by many indices. The advanced
approach to the measurement of globalization is observed in KOF rate. This
index developed in 2002 by Swiss researchers, measures economic, social and
political dimension of globalization. Economic index takes into account not only
real trade and investment flows, but also the degree of state protection measured
by the restrictions that apply to them. The KOF index measures the degree
of globalization of 181 countries and varies from 1 to 100 (the greater number
the more globalized the country is) [10, p. 30]. The most economically globalized
states are small and well-developed ones like Singapore, Luxembourg as well
as Ireland, Malta and Belgium, whereas the least economic globalization can be
observed in Ethiopia, Nepal, Iran, Burundi and Rwanda [11].

2.3. Socio-cultural dimension

According to Hofstede [ 12], "culture can be defined as the interactive

aggregate of common characteristics that influence a human group response
 Multidimensional character of globalisation 75

to its environment. Culture determines the identity of an individual". These

characteristics are passed to next generations and are under constant change.
Culture consists of beliefs and values that are characteristic for specific nation
or country.
A socio-cultural dimension of the globalization process ought to be regarded
as an effect of time and space shrinkage. Major implications of this process
are: international and intercontinental migrations that took place when
the improvement in long-distance transportation was made. Moreover, the
differences between the levels of life and economic development caused massive
movement of people, especially from the poor south (Africa, Latin America) to
the wealthy north (North America) with one exception - Chinese migrations to
Australia. Horizontal movement from east (Europe) to west (United States)
should also be outlined as another example of the economic migration process.
This phenomenon, accompanied by the improvement in communication,
invention of television and the Internet as well as by the domination of
transnational corporations in the global economy, led to social and cultural
changes on a global scale [9, p. 107].
Many researches say that the globalization refers to all worldwide historical
processes that intensify social and economic relations resulting in the inclusion
of nations into single world society. This society consists of merged individual
localities that, all together, form a global society. It implies that globalization
is a megatrend and a main direction of society development since the beginnings
[13, pp. 25-27].
This trend is boosted by a mass production of goods that carries specified
culture patterns and styles as well as by a significant role of range and speed of
spreading them via the Internet and other means of electronic communication.
The mass production and rapid communication popularized western, especially
American, culture, what is reflected in many processes e.g. the McDonaldization
or the spread of mass culture.
Moving to the micro level, the role of globalization in everyday lifestyles
around the world is very important. The modification of habits, the growing
number of singles and the changes in the ways of spending free time (e.g.
weekends in shopping malls) are the basic effects of social globalization
[9, p. llO].
Taking into account the aforementioned tendencies, three main directions
competing with each other for the dominance in the future can be distinguished
[9, pp. ll0-ll4]: emergence of a new global civilization and culture, continuation
of the American culture domination and global culture pluralism.
76 M. Grifbosz, A. Hak

3. Implications of Globalisation

Every dimension of globalization has a direct and indirect effect on social,

technical and political changes all over the world. These processes leads to the
emergence of a mass culture, what affects life of people - customers - by
changing their needs, habits, behaviours, free time activities etc. Taking
everything into account, each process initiated by any of the globalization
dimensions has an impact on every individual (Figure 2).

Economic Socio-cultural Political Dimensions

of globalization

Social,
t echnical and Changes caused
political by globalization
changes

Mass culture

Changes
in indiv idual
behaviours
Ch anges of
p ersonal
h abits, n eeds

Fig. 2. Globalization and its implications

Source: own elaboration based on W. Misiak, Globalizacja wi~cej niz podr~cznik Spoleczenstwa,
lrultura, polityka. Z p erspektywy now<j struktury ladu swiatowego, Di.fin, Warszawa 2009,
pp. 120-124.

As it was mentioned before, social, technical, economic and political

modifications on the worldwide scale are driven by the globalization process as
well as globalization is empowered by these changes. Some of them are positive
for societies, nation-states economies, politics and everyday life of "global
citizens", whereas the others are not. Following that, benefits and costs of
globalization are analyzed in the literature.
According to the benefits, it has to be outlined that the economies of more
open states are developing much faster than closed and not liberalized ones . The
 Multidimensional character ofglobalisation 77

level of life increases faster and the reduction of poverty is more significant
there. Economic growth is also intensified by foreign direct investments - the
result of lowering tariffs and barriers in international trade and capital flows.
Vast economic liberalization leads to the reduction of poverty of billions of
people, especially in China or India. Growing GDP is boosting the availability
of food, healthcare, running water etc. what extends the average life expectancy
[9, p. 120]. Transnational corporations implement high labour standards in
developing countries and take care of their employers. Also remunerations are
higher there, so that the standards of living are growing.
Global peace can be maintained by international institutions that guarantee
opportunities of dialogue and disputes settlement. Also trade interdependence
of states makes arm conflicts less likely while global terrorism threat can be
declined by the reduction of poverty.
The technical development, especially in the electronic communication field,
can be regarded as one of the most beneficial advantages of globalization. Quick
exchange of data, information and experiences results in the shrinkage of time
and space in the modern world. "The global village" was possible to create by the
computer revolution on a worldwide scale, and the consequences are tangible for
and close to almost every member of "the world society" [10, pp. 36-37].
On the other hand, several drawbacks of globalization can be observed.
Liberalization of trade leads to the need of economic restructuration, what is
connected with higher unemployment and elimination of weaker local
competitors by large international companies. It also has implications on the
growing difference in GDP per capita between the richest and the poorest
nations. Moreover, the vulnerability to crises caused by external factors is higher.
The volatility of modern markets as well as uncertainty on them is greater.
Moreover, the growth of trade and international travels makes the worldwide
spread of diseases, such as bird flu or SARS, easier [10, pp. 36-37].
Benefits of global organizations can overweight costs. Many international
institutions are dominated by the richest and the most powerful countries in the
world. At the same time, the role, position and power of developing states is
insufficiently represented. Poorer countries also has to struggle with problem
of "brain drain" - high educated and specialized professionals move to well-
developed regions, what can cause the lack of them on domestic markets and
economic stagnation.
In 2008, "Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World" report was presented
by the National Intelligence Council and included many oncoming global trends,
challenges, opportunities and threats. Kotler and Casoline [5] present the main
report conclusions such as: further development of China and India, declining
domination of the USA or terrorist threat.
78 M. Grifbosz, A. Hak

4. Multidimensional issues of Globalisation on example

of McDonald's Corporation

An excellent example of successful international expansion, in global

conditions, is the McDonald's Corporation. It is the biggest chain of fast-food
restaurants operating in 119 countries with over 69 million customers daily [14].
Its over 33000 restaurants are owned by either corporation itself or franchisees
(80% of total). The total sales in fiscal year 2012 were about $27 600 million
[15].
According to The World's Most Valuable Brands list by Forbes Magazine
[16], McDonald's brand value in 2013 was estimated on $39,4 billion making it
the 6th most valuable brand in the world just after Apple, Microsoft, Coca-Cola,
IBM and Google. According to Best Global Brands 2013 ranking [ 17] created by
an Interbrand company, McDonald's was ranked at 71h place making up for the
last 9 years decline. First six places were taken by: Apple, Google, Coca-Cola,
IBM, Microsoft and General Electric.
The McDonald's ' internationalization process started in 1967 from close
markets. Subsequently, a gradual movement towards more distinct countries was
observed, what is typical for the Uppsala model of sequential expansion. The
highest pace of expansion accounts for 1990s, what is connected with political,
economic and technical changes on a world scale, whereas the lowest can be
noticed after year 2000, what is a sign of McDonald's internal problems as well
as global economic downturn. These changes reflect the impact of several factors
that the globalization process consist of and their implications on enterprises.
Political dimension of globalization has always had a great impact on
McDonald's decisions concerning foreign expansion of company. It is claimed
that one of the most important changes affecting the world economy and global
politics is the fall of communism in late 1980s and early 1990s. At this time,
several European and Asian countries became democratic and started market-
based economies. Following that, many large markets became open and available
for transnational corporations. McDonald's decided to enter these markets
immediately after these changes to gain a leading market position there.
Activities of this fast-food chain, that aimed at gaining a stable position on these
recently-opened, and west-oriented markets, resulted in the fastest in history
growth of its outlets (ea. 2 OOO per annum) and rapid increase in number of
entered states (from 50 to over 110 in 10-year-time) [18].
The economic impact on foreign expansion is reflected in the changes within
average world tariffs and the number of countries in which McDonald's operates.
The reverse dependence between them exists, i.e. the more liberalized the world
market is, the greater opportunities of global expansion can be observed.
McDonald's' greatest expansion could have been seen after 1990, when the trade
 Multidimensional character ofglobalisation 79

barriers were significantly lower than in previous decades. Trade and capita
flows deregulation, accompanied by the expansion of free-market economies, the
popularization of multilateral integration agreements, create specific conditions
that support international expansion and a development of McDonald's
Corporation.
McDonald's international expansion was made possible also due to the
invention of computer and the Internet. That made a rapid exchange of
information and data possible on a global scale, what enabled the worldwide
management. The global supervision over McDonald's-owned and franchised
outlets as well as suppliers and global distribution chains decreased the costs
of multinational operations, enabled the global standardization of products and
made it possible to create a brand that is well-recognized all over the world.
In a socio-cultural dimension, the globalization process can be regarded as
a unification and standardization of cultural patterns and customers' needs
worldwide. These factors determine the international expansion of companies,
that may answer to almost similar clients' demand on a global scale. The
majority of socio-cultural changes were caused by other globalization
dimensions, such as political and economic ones. These factors gave
opportunities to spread similar goods and services worldwide, what increased
the demand on these items. Technical factors, including modern television
broadcasting all over the world or the Internet, that makes the exchange of
information triggered the process of unification of cultural patterns, especially
western ones. As a result, that dimension of globalization is frequently called
as Americanization or Westernization [19]. The western, especially American,
companies had a privileged position in the international expansion process and
achieving a leading position overseas. McDonald's, as one of them, decided to
take the advantage of popularity of western culture and made a move towards
America-oriented societies, starting from close markets and continuing in
more distinct ones. The McDonald's entries were, in majority of cases, warmly
welcomed by local societies due to several positive associations.
McDonald's global orientation, that based on the spread of similar cultural
patterns and eating habits all over the world, had several positive features:
• achieving better economy of scale leading to increased financial efficiency,
• improved communication channels and faster information exchange,
• marketing advantages including high rate of products recognition,
• better stability in global conditions.
To conclude, it must be said that the globalization process has a significant
impact on McDonald's operations and its opportunities of international expansion.
80 M. Gr?bosz, A. Hak

5. Conclusions

Throughout recent decades, the globalization process has become one of the
most important influencer affecting several aspects of everyday life. That
process is still in progress and has a great impact on politics, economy, society,
culture worldwide investments etc. Globalization processes concern: markets,
companies' strategies, finance, technology, research, knowledge, lifestyles,
consumption models and access to culture, management practices, laws and
regulations. The subject of internationalization and globalization is a specified
type of company - transnational corporation. Several benefits and costs of
globalization exist. According to the benefits, it has to be outlined that the
economies of more open states are developing much faster than closed and not
liberalized ones, global peace can be maintained by international institutions,
in technology a quick exchange of data, information and experiences results in
the shrinkage of time and space in the modern world etc. Also several drawbacks
of globalization can be observed. For instance, the liberalization of trade leads to
the need of economic restructuration, the vulnerability to crises caused by
external factors is higher, international travels makes the worldwide spread
of diseases easier.
Several dimensions of globalization affect the external environment of
enterprises and currently play a leading role in shaping "global village"
conditions. The source of companies' international success is taking advantages
of globalization benefits and reducing its risks to minimum at the same time.
One of the best examples of that pattern is McDonald's that developed from
family-owned restaurant to the worldwide fast-food chain. Despite some problems
with image and customers' perception, it still remains one of the symbols of the
world-shrinkage process that can be observed. McDonald's, taking advantages of
the globalization process, new promotion channels, modern media, effective
global supply channels and promotional tools, was able to create one of the
biggest and well-known brands in the world. In consequence, McDonald's
currently operates in more than 100 countries, what is an effect of over 45 years
of international expansion history. Several companies can use McDonald's
experience in the internationalization process and can copy or adopt its patterns
to achieve success, establish well-known global brand and gain high profits.

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WIELOWYMIAROWY CHARAKTER GLOBALIZACJI

Streszczenie
Globalizacja, btz:dqc istotnym megatrendem zwiqzanym z rozwojem wsp6l-
czesnego swiata, jest zjawiskiem zloZ:onym i wielowymiarowym. Jej wielowy-
miarowy charakter mozna rozwazac w oparciu 0 trzy podstawowe aspekty:
82 M. Grifbosz, A. Hak

polityczny, ekonomiczny i spoleczno-kulturowy. W artykule, autorzy analizujq

poj'(Cie globalizacji, jej wymiary, jak r6wniez ewentualne koszty i korzysci
globalizacji w kontek.Scie ekspansji miydzynarodowej przedsiybiorstw oraz
procesu powstania globalnych firm. Jednocze8nie autorzy analizujq wielowy-
miarowy charakter globalizacji w oparciu o przyldad firmy McDonald's.