Globalization From Different Perspectives

By: Grady Christopherson

This week we learned about the Zapatista movement and heard from an international marketer from Gemalto. Carlos Romero, who handles international marketing for Gemalto, explained to us the scope of the company’s operations. Although the name Gemalto doesn’t really ring out as far as companies go, it is present in many things that we use everyday. For example SIM cards in cellular telephones, ATM technology, and passports just to name a few. He went on to explain the process of marketing on the international level for his company and who he has to do deal with on a weekly basis. All in all it was very interesting to gain an insight into the work of an international marketer for such a large company as Gemalto.

Carlos Romeros sharing his work about marketing in Gemalto.

Later in the week our very own business professor gave a talk about the Zapatista movement—what it stands for, and the history of it. It is a response to neo-liberalization and globalization. It started the day NAFTA was signed, in the morning of January 1^st, 1994. The Zapatistas took over several towns in Chiapas, an impoverished region in Southern Mexico. They manage to retain a major part of this territory even now. Although it may seem like the Zapatistas are a violent guerilla group, they are more peaceful if you take a second glance. They have already pledged to become involved in getting what they want through the political process through peaceful means. They still have guys with masks and guns to protect their territory from the Mexican government. As far as their demands, for the major part none have been met, and they change every couple of years. But they are mainly based around the Zapatista motto, Tierra y Libertad, land and freedom. They see globalization as threatening to their community in Chiapas and you can’t blame them, Mexico definitely sees the ugly side of globalization every day.

All in all it was a great week—we heard about topics from two very different places of the world. But these topics are not so different—Carlos Romeros showed us the rosy side of globalization and Antonio Ortega showed us why the Zapatistas have been fighting globalization for all these years.

Globalization in Mexico

By: Hannah Carlson

This week in International Business we had a visit from two brothers named Andrés and Francisco Santos who talked to us about globalization and how it has affected them.

Andrés and Francisco Santos presented on globalization and how it is not a new concept, but that it can be seen in many places throughout history. First Francisco Santos talked about how at the beginning there were empires that held all the wealth. After there was nationalism, which took a step away from globalization, then there was regionalism. Regionalism promoted alliances between countries in the same region. Finally, today there is a move towards a world without borders, which is being promoted through globalization. Francisco’s main point was that globalization means evolution. I can agree that nationalism was a step away from globalization because at the time of the nation states, countries’ main concerns were of nationality and state sovereignty; building within the borders was more important than creating relations with other states. I also agree that globalization equates to evolution but trade between different societies has been happening for thousands of years, today it just happens at a faster rate because of the new developments in technology and the way it is transferred. After Francisco introduced globalization his brother, Andrés Santos talked about their father’s company, Industrias Romansa.

Fransisco and Andrés Santos present to the CGE students

Industrias Romansa was a company that started in the 1970’s and by the 90’s, through the agreements in NAFTA, the company was able to work with companies in the United States, manufacturing jeans at a low cost. Unfortunately the companies Industrias Romansa were working with found areas in different parts of the world that provided the same services for less money and they stopped working with Industrias Romansa. There was no warning that the companies were going to default on their contracts, which lead to the bankruptcy of the company and the unemployment of its workers. After the tale of the company Andrés stressed the importance of the role of ethics in globalization because what the companies did to Industrias Romansa was not ethical.


The most important part of this presentation was the question of ethics. The students, including me, are part of the future of international business and international relations and it is important for us to remember that unethical decisions in the business arena will affect the company and the community it operates in.