Globalization and the Rise of the Mini-Multinational

What’s the Latest Development?

Globalization has moved beyond creating product supply chains that crisscross our planet. Today’s internationalized economy entails a host of new software tools that allow companies to exchange information and human talent effortlessly, opening up new economic sectors. “The convergence of cloud, social and mobile in emerging enterprise technologies is revolutionising how businesses share and collaborate, and radically flattening them in the process,” said Aaron Levie, the chief executive and co-founder of Box, a cloud-based online storage company based in San Francisco.

What’s the Big Idea?

The current phase of globalization has given rise to the mini-multinational, where even small companies take advantage of new software to leverage the knowledge and expertise of workers near and far away. “A manufacturing start-up in Boston can connect with a previously impossible-to-reach supplier in China; a marketing agency in New York can instantaneously collaborate with a client in London; a services firm in France can augment its team by having software developed in India.” Levie hopes the technology is on its way to creating a new global workforce that can be trained faster and deployed in more agile ways. 

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