Homogenization of Landscapes

          The urbanization of landscapes can be seen throughout many hubs around the world. This is caused by the presence of the many international companies moving their operations to different parts of the world. This is a advantage for many people in the area since these hubs are places of great job opportunities and the presence of international companies will give more, and maybe even better options for those people looking for jobs. The disadvantage of this would be the lack of variety in the looks of many cities where these transnational corporation are present. One thing is for certain. Homogenization of landscapes will continue to happen as long as globalization and modernization is present.

New York City at Night                                                                           Los Angeles at Night

          

          Transnational corporations will continue to spread their franchises around the world. This would lead 

to homogenization since the corporation would want to have their own signature look throughout the world so people would be able to distinguish between them, and other corporations. This could even create problems between the transnational corporation and local businesses with copyright infringement because the corporation believes that they were copied. This can cause people to lose their businesses due to the entry of transnational corporations into their local community.

          With homogenization of landscapes happening right now, cities are not only getting problems business wise, but also aesthetically. With the homogenization of landscapes, cities are losing the visual appearance that distinguished them from other cities, or even losing their visual appearance from how they used to look like and how they look like in the present day. This could affect tourism and even cause people to compare a city to another city which could displease the locals.    

Hong Kong Before and After

Sources:

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/52668950.jpg

http://careerservices.lafayette.edu/files/2013/11/new-york-skyline-2013-at-night.jpg

http://www.movebubble.com/media/9676/los_angeles_city-scape.jpg

Rise of Call Center Success in the Philippines

          The article, " Call Me: Tech Powers Philippines Call Centre Success", by Kate McGeown was very interesting and shows how technology and outsourcing has helped people in LEDCs find jobs. The article talks about how the Philippines has overtaken India as "the world's call center capital" and is continuing to improve their technology to make call centers more efficient and give their customers a better experience. Call centers have provided jobs for the many unemployed Filipinos but with low wages.

          I was shocked to read that the Philippines has overtaken India; a country that is so populated, in the amount of people working for call centers and becoming the world's call center capital". This has proven that the Filipinos have the potential to work and I find this to be a great opportunity for the Philippines to gain more popularity worldwide from different types of goods manufacturers or services for a wider variety of job for Filipinos. Also, it was great to hear about the improvement in technology in the Philippines because it is a country that has been known to be behind the curve when it comes to technology mainly because of the small funds put into technology. Call centers may be paying low wages to their employees in order to improve on the technology of their call centers; "a substantial proportion of the money this saves goes into investing in new techniques for improved customer service" - Raffy David; but it has helped many unemployed Filipinos find jobs and provide for themselves and their families. In my opinion, I think that it is great that the Filipinos have been given a chance to find jobs in call centers. the low wages for the employees in call centers are large paychecks compared to the amount of money that most unemployed Filipinos earn on the street. I think that the pay made from call centers is a big jump from street earned money and can help thousands of Filipinos improve their lives.

          Call centers being made popular in the Philippines has its ups and downs. It makes the Philippines more popular to other countries worldwide which could help provide the Filipinos with more job opportunities from upcoming, interested companies. To me, call centers are taking advantage of the low wages that the Filipinos are willing to accept in order for their services but at the same time, they are also helping people get off the street and get jobs. The low wages have helped people improve their lives significantly compared to earning 100 pesos a day. It may be better though if call centers were more balanced between the wages they pay their employees and the money they try to save to improve on techniques and technology. This could solve a big portion of the poverty problem in the Philippines if the wages were a little bit higher especially since the call center jobs are so sought after. 

ASEAN and Its Obstacles

Summary:

          ASEAN was formed in 1967 with the first five countries being; Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand with other countries being added to the treaty later on; these countries being; Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and Cambodia. This made the parliament 10 countries strong and their goal was to promote political and economic cooperation and stability. However, even with the cooperation that the members of ASEAN are trying to promote, there are still problems faced by the group. Some being security issues such as that of China and members of ASEAN trying to claim Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea; Human rights concerns, and trade barriers. 

My Thoughts:

          Even though ASEAN is trying to improve the cooperation between the members of ASEAN, the problems they face seem very difficult for them to face on their own. For one, these countries are either some of the more corrupt, less economically developed, or smaller countries. This would lead to problems such as not having enough funds for improvement or cooperation inside their own country. A great example of this is the Scarborough Shoal dispute. China is one country versus the whole of ASEAN but because of China's bigger economy, they are a bigger threat to all 10 countries of ASEAN than them combined against China. This really shows that these countries may need to form an alliance with another, bigger country such as that of the United States. As of 2012, the US may have been the fifth largest trading partner with ASEAN but they the US is not part of ASEAN which means they do not have an obligation to deal with the problems that the countries of ASEAN face unless it will give them their own personal benefits. I believe that if the ASEAN countries make the proper offer to the United States, they will be able to allie with them because the US will also be able to benefit from the offer that ASEAN would have to give. So in conclusion, I believe that ASEAN is composed of too many small, less economically developed countries to contend with bigger more powerful countries in order to make their own personal gain.

Link:

http://www.cfr.org/asia-and-pacific/asean-association-southeast-asian-nations/p18616

Toyota's Global Presence

          Toyota Motor Co. is a Japanese company that was founded in 1933 and it was not always know as "Toyota". It was a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. Toyota only became an independent company later to be known as Toyota Motor Co. in 1937. Toyota was dedicated to the manufacturing of automobiles within Japan and its market was also located within Japan. It remained like this till the 1958 when Toyota put up their very first international production plant in Brazil and continued to expand the launching of production plants and its market to various countries around the world to become the 8th biggest company revenue wise according to CNNMoney's Global 500.

          One of the main reasons for Toyota's Cultural diffusion was not only to earn more profit from its sales but also to contribute to the economies of the many countries that they have made their products available through local production, procurement, and employment. Toyota strongly believed in the local employment and also highly prioritized long-term local employment where they would hire locals and train them to be Toyota employees. 

          Toyota has also introduced a traditional Japanese philosophy into other cultures called "Kaizen". Kaizen meaning "change for the best", is used by Toyota to incorporate all members of the work force in the production process of the vehicles and that improvements are made to the process over time. This was unheard of in most of the Western world and once introduced by Toyota has even been adopted by Detroit's Big Three; Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors.

Sources:

http://www.toyoland.com/history.html

http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/sustainability_report/highlights_in_fy2009_economic_aspects/global_expansion.html

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2013/snapshots/6752.html

http://www.gembutsu.com/system_files/library/21.bmp

Pros and Cons of Globalization

Pros:
1) Economic growth is being promoted because of globalization through the growth in popularity of free trade. This economic growth has provided more jobs for people in places where unemployment rates have been high.

2) Globalization has made companies more competitive with each other through the use of cheap imports thus decreasing product prices. This would be better for consumers and also helps prevent the occurrence of inflation.

3) Since globalization helps provide more jobs to the unemployed, living standards can go up.

4) More people are able to experience faster communication through the use of the internet (ex. Skype, Facebook, Whatsapp, etc.) This also makes the transfer of important files significantly quicker.

5) A larger amount of people have become more knowledgeable about people living in other countries due to easier communications and travel to different destinations. This makes us more tolerant to foreigners in our home countries.



Cons:
1) It is believed that some incurable diseases are being spread because of easier travel to places where the diseases were not present (ex. HIV/AIDS)

2) Many people living in first world countries such as the United States have lost their jobs due to cheaper offshore production and imports.

3) Globalization has tarnished the cultures of countries where globalization has spread. These countries have become prone to adapting Western culture and losing their own heritage.

4) Higher amount of pollution because of the popularization and availability of different forms of transport (ex. Airplanes, boats, cars, etc.)

Group Blog #1

Volcanoes

Explain the characteristics and spatial distribution of volcanoes using at least two specific examples. [10 marks]

Volcanoes erupt when magma is formed due to the melting of the Earth's upper or lower mantle. Volcanoes act as openings or vents to release the magma that is building up or the dissolved gases that are formed. Three main reasons for the eruption of a volcano would be: new magma being let into an already filled magma chamber, buoyancy of he magma, or pressure from gases from the magma.

Problems that could occur from the eruption of volcanoes would be; soot that is releases with the eruption of the volcano could travel to inhabited areas and cause respiratory problems for people and animals living in the area and it could also cover up vegetation and homes. Magma that is also released from volcanoes could, and will destroy anything in its path and this could lead to the loss of lives, homes and the destruction of the ecosystem in the area.

Volcanoes are mostly located along hot spots, divergent plate boundaries, and convergent plate boundaries. The biggest grouping of volcanoes are located in the ring of fire which can be found around the Pacific Ocean. The Philippines; a country located within the Ring of Fire has seen two devastating volcanic eruptions; Mount Mayon, and Mount Pinatubo. Mount Mayon erupted on July 14, 2006 creating clouds of soot and magma flowing down the sides of the volcano. 40,000 people were evacuated due to the eruption but there were no recorded deaths from the eruption itself but thousands were said to be killed due to the lahar formed by Typhoon Durian.

The eruption of Mount Pinatubo occurred in 1991 and claimed the lives of three thousand men and women. The eruption was devastating leaving soot laying all over the ground surrounding the volcano and even building up so much that it caused some houses to collapse under the weight. I have been to Mount Pinatubo and have seen the soot that lays there. The soot covered ground goes on for miles and miles. The eruption also released millions of tons of Sulfur Dioxide which was spread around the world through wind currents. This toxic gas dropped the temperature of the planet by 1 degree Fahrenheit.

- Andres Calma