Globalization : pitfalls, pain and political

This is the second in the series of occasional papers that are being brought out by the RGICS to stimulate debate and discussion on contemporary national and international issues..

The first paper was by Prof. P.N. Dhar. His paper was on the need for India to have a foreign policy that is dictated by the country's economic imperatives. Prof. Dhar argued that India must look at its foreign policy options against the backdrop of her current economic reforms programme.

The second paper is by Prof. C.K. Prahalad of the University of Michigan and one of the foremost management thinkers and researchers on corporate strategy. Prof. Prahalad looks at one aspect of our current economic reforms programme, namely, globalisation of trade and industry. Prof. Dhar's paper was from the point of view of a policy maker, while Prof. Prahalad looks at economic issues from the point of view of the foreign investor and the strategies and approaches of multinational corporations.