An Ideas-Based Online Magazine of the Global Network for Advanced Management

Future of Globalization: Technology's Progress

To coincide with the fifth anniversary of the Global Network for Advanced Management in April 2017, Global Network Perspectives asked faculty across the 29 schools in the network: "What do you think the future of globalization looks like? How will this affect the economy in your country or region? How is your school preparing students for this world?" Read all of the responses. Also, in a session at the anniversary symposium, a panel of experts—including former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry—led a discussion of the future of globalization and its implications for business and management education. Watch the video.

Recent political developments in the world’s largest economy have warranted a rethink about the future of globalization. Following soon after the Brexit shock, this has shaken the assumption of an increasingly integrated global economy, which a large part of the world had steadily progressed towards for the preceding decades. Globalization has positively impacted economic growth rates, poverty alleviation, and quality of life for both developing and developed nations, though inequalities persist and some among them remain more vulnerable than others. Perhaps more important than the economic implications, it has fostered the sharing of ideas, cultures and values across national boundaries.
 
Advancements in technology and trade have been the enablers for the easy movement of goods, money, people, and information across international borders. There’s no stopping the progress of technology and its effect on removing the barriers to communication and information flows across international boundaries. The mobility of goods and people, on the other hand, is subject to protectionist pressures.  
 
The younger generations Y and Z who have or will soon enter the global workforce have grown up with a free flow of information and people, and likely assumed that these advances will continue. They are also the ones for whom the future of work will be most impacted as national boundaries are tightened and mobility is restricted. For the students among them, there are real concerns about tightened work visas restricting the jobs they have access to after they graduate. Factors such as diversity of the student base, leading to the creation of international networks; access to a supportive global alumni; a strong base of recruiters from multiple countries; and multiple global campuses become important differentiators in this scenario. Their effect will extend much beyond the first job into continued impact on careers in the long term.