Supply Chain Management in Pharmaceutical Industry by Pearson

CHAPTER 29

Global Supply Chain

29.1 GLOBALIZATION

Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among people, companies and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology.

Globalization is sometimes perceived as a cause of a phenomenon called the ‘race to the bottom’ that implies that to minimize costs and increase delivery speed, businesses tend to locate operations in countries with the least stringent environmental and labour regulations. The pressure to do this is increased if competitors lower costs by the same means. These directly result in poor working conditions, low wages, job insecurity and pollution, but also encourage governments to under-regulate ...