Understanding Globalization for the 21st Century Engineer

Globalization has been defined as a force of economic growth, prosperity and democratic freedom.However, it has simultaneously been defined as a force for environmental devastation and exploitation of the developing worldthus opening our eyes to the co-existence of both benefits and risks associated with globalization.In today's competitive global business environment, the supply chain has changed dramatically in the last two decades for a lot of organizations.Hence engineers of the 21 st century need to be aware of the global supply chain and understand that they are designing products and services for a global market place.Due to this, they need to be fully cognizant of the concept of globalization and understand how it affects their profession.In this paper, the authors discuss the benefits and risks associated with globalization.Effects of globalization on various business functions are elucidated, and the case is presented for the need for engineers to understand these effects.Lastly, the authors discuss the global strategies of organizations in the 21 st century including increased complexity in vendor qualification and standardization.