Germany's Globalization Critics Remain on the Attac

Globalization 04.06.2008

As weve read not everyone is jumping on the globalization train, including a group called Attac. Their many protests and public displays of opinion in Northern Germany, have been heard loud and clear.

The group in Northern Germany is lead by activist Werner Raetz. Attac Germany has taken on issues such as German labor market reforms, the US-led war in Iraq, health care reform, rail privatization and many others. The group’s biggest accomplishment to date has been forcing German politicians to at least give lip service to the need for socially responsible trade, said Raetz, who has a bushy white beard and matching hair.

Can this protest group really have a long term influence on the anti-globalization movement? A poll done by a university in Florence shows that this organization is making a difference, in the area of global issues.

Attac has activists in more than 40 countries, the majority of Attac's 90,000 members are European. Attac believes that globalization will advocate transferring economic control of the global economy to the private sector.

They have managed to turn a relatively abstract debate on taxes, trade and market inequalities into something tangible, bringing together environmental groups, trade unions and religious organizations. Their elaborate tax breakdowns are definitely getting all the liberal activists on board.

A Colombia University professor who is an economics fellow for the Council on Foreign Relations, said that he feels Attac places far too much emphasis on trying to get the Tobin tax implemented. Attac's tax plans would raise major questions about who would make spending decisions. The proferror has been an advisor on globalization issues to the United Nations and World Trade Organization, and has a greatly respected opinion.

He believes in the benefits from freer trade and multinational, and believes that Attac and other activists "muddy up these different dimensions of globalization,” which detracts from "informed public discourse."

Is globalization for everyone, maybe not... Do these liberals have a point that countries should keep product and profit close to home, does this really help or hurt their economy? Food for thought!!!!!

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3388986,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

Chapter 15 Case Study - Nestle Tries for an All-for-One Global Strategy

2. What type of global business and systems strategy did Nestle adopt? Was this strategy appropriate for Nestle's business model?

Nestle has adopted a global standardization with all of its business and operational processes. Nestles original approach lead to decentralization which caused issues between it’s branch’s. This decentralization caused Nestle to adopt the global standardization that is now in process. AT first this process was not favored because it didn’t align with the company’s already existing business model. After much consideration and discussion this plan proved it would work well with the budget and data streaming that occurs. This new way has greatly improved Nestlé’s efficiency in its operations area.

3. What management, organization, and technology challenges did Nestle have to deal with to standardize its business processes and systems?


There have been many challenges with the new standardization process. At first they installed SAP's R/3 in an attempt to coordinate IS and the business processes. This caused issues because the 14 countries that ran the software were not in unison, it was being ran differently at many of the locations causing an increase in maintenance coasts. Upon discovering this issue they rolled out the GLOBE initiative. They were hoping that this would help all of the units run in sync. Unfortunately this didn’t help as much as they would have liked it too. Personal challenges were becoming apparent many managers viewed this system as a nuisance and a work creator. Johnson realized that he had some major challenges ahead, but he put his excellent leadership skills to the test an ended up coming out ahead in the end. Once managers saw that the system was helping in operations they started to come around and embrace the system, which has lead to increased efficiency in the operations department.

Facebook Expands Into MySpace’s Territory!

SAN FRANCISCO, May 24 — With an ambitious strategy for expansion, Facebook is getting in MySpace’s face.

Facebook, has become the Internet’s second-largest social network. It was originally popular on college campuses, but over the last year it has opened its dorm-room doors to all, and its membership rolls have exploded at triple-digit growth rates.
Based in Palo Alto, Calif., it is inviting thousands of technology companies and programmers to contribute features to its service. They are even allowing them to make a profit from the site’s users by doing so, and, at least for now, Facebook will not take a cut.


Some of the new features will allow members to recommend and listen to music, insert Amazon book reviews onto their pages, play games and join charity drives, all without leaving the site.

The result of these new options are expected to be a proliferation of new tools and activities instead of the same old online connections, sharing photos and planning events of it’s current 24 million customers!

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, says he wants his site to be a “social operating system” for the Internet.


This move could foster some of the chaotic creativity that is more closely associated with MySpace! Facebook’s largest competitor is Myspace! Unfortunately it could also open the door to hazards like spam, and make Facebook’s identity less clear.

MySpace remains nearly three times the size of Facebook, with 67 million active members! Facebook is hoping that this new system will allow its members the flexibility that Myspace allows and this will encourage more consumers to join.

I belong to both Facebook and Myspace and i have to say that i prefer myspace, it is much more user friendly and more pleasant to operate. I look forward to the new upgrades being applied to Facebook.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/technology/25social.html?ex=133...=f2f174b3138314fe&ei=5088