Assignment 7

Justin Olsen

IST 1100

Module 7

Some countries do better at some things because of a variety of factors. In globalization 2.0 where the country was geographically would make a difference. Both Mexico and Canada were in a great position to trade with The United States. Unfortunately when globalization 3.0 came around Mexico did not adapt fast enough and had major losses to Canada and China. In globalization 3.0 location is far less of a factor. Culture is quite possibly the most important competitive advantage that a country could have. Countries that have a culture of education and hard work do far better in globalization 3.0 than any other countries. Past advancement also plays a key part. Countries like the United States and Japan have the advantage of being rich economically as well as technologically. We already had the infrastructure of the internet set up by the time Globalization 3.0 came around. In this way The United States were partially responsible for making globalization 3.0 come around. 

A self-directed consumer is a person that wants to customize whatever it is that they are buying. Thanks to the internet everyone with a connection can pick and choose what they want. This is a major problem for some companies because of how easy it is for the consumer to pick a different company that works better. Everyone should become a self-directed consumer but few actually are. The entirety of Apple is an example of this. Apple products are inferior to most other computers and smartphones in both price and technology. What they are superior in is marketing. They have a very aggressive marketing campaign trying to make Apple products look cool and intelligent. This makes the masses buy their products without doing the proper research. I would most definitely call myself a self-directed consumer but, only on purchases that cost a lot of money. A person could spend hours on each item of food they buy but it would waste their time. I think that anything over $100 should be thoroughly researched and made to fit you, the consumer, best. 
Does globalization mean Americanization. The answer is both yes and no. America has headed globalization for years and continues to, to this day. As the world's second richest country other cultures may want to change to get more money. The culture of an area is really up to its inhabitants to keep alive or change. Some cultures with embrace our culture and some won't but the one's that won't can still take part in globalization, just not as much as the one's that do. Americanization itself is kind of not really a thing. America is just the culmination of several cultures and peoples. The culture of L.A is different from the culture of NYC which is different from Las Vegas. I would not be surprised if the idea of Americanization is nothing more than a scare tactic used by those who do not want to lose their power.