Veseth separates rhetoric from reality by taking close-ups of classic globalization images and comparing them with unexpected alternative visions.

Veseth separates rhetoric from reality by taking close-ups of classic globalization images and comparing them with unexpected alternative visions.

Globalization is in retreat, but history tells us that this is but a temporary reversal. Globalization will return, but in what form? More cycles of boom and bust? Or can globalization be rebuilt on a more feasible and sustainable platform? These are the compelling questions that Michael Veseth tackles in this thoroughly revised and updated edition of his award-winning book. Veseth shows how pre-crash visions of globalization were based on three powerful myths: that global finance was a stable foundation for a global economy, that global markets homogenized and Americanized the world, and that globalization itself was irresistible--impossible to shape or oppose at any level from the grassroots on up. The world economic crisis has revealed globalization's Achilles heel: the fundamental instability of global financial markets and the unsettled foundation of economic globalization generally. This realization is a necessary first step, but it alone is not enough. We must rethink the rest of globalization's myths, Veseth persuasively argues, if we want to move beyond boom and bust to a sustainable global future.

Why do so many global strategies fail—despite companies’ powerful brands and other border-crossing advantages? Seduced by market size, the illusion of a borderless, “flat” world, and the allure of similarities, firms launch one-size-fits-all strategies. But cross-border differences are larger than we often assume, explains Pankaj Ghemawat in Redefining Global Strategy. Most economic activity—including direct investment, tourism, and communication—happens locally, not internationally. In this “semiglobalized” world, one-size-fits-all strategies don’t stand a chance. Companies must instead reckon with cross-border differences. Ghemawat shows you how—by providing tools for: · Assessing the cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic differences between countries at the industry level and deciding which ones merit attention. · Tracking the implications of particular border-crossing moves for your company’s ability to create value. · Creating superior performance with strategies optimized for adaptation (adjusting to differences), aggregation (overcoming differences), and arbitrage (exploiting differences), and for compound objectives. In-depth examples reveal how companies such as Cemex, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and GE Healthcare have adroitly managed cross-border differences—as well as how other well-known companies have failed at this challenge. Crucial for any business competing across borders, this book will transform the way you approach global strategy.

Forty-five years after the synthesis of the plate tectonic hypothesis, much newer and better information has been gathered by the seagoers of the world. Contrary to popular opinion among earth scientists, the purveyors of plate tectonics are the present-day snake oil salesmen. This null hypothesis is fraught with misinformation and misconceptions. It is in need of a massive make-over. Midocean ridge spreading does not occur universally, especially in Iceland and the North Pacific basin. Deep earthquakes do not define a descending slab; in fact, do not even occur in most places along the trenches. Therefore, subduction does not occur. Continental drift is a figment of overly active imaginations, and Gondwana is an even greater figment. India has been in place for several billion years rather than wandering around. Index fossils like Lystrosaurus and Cynognathus are misused, misdated, and show nothing. Land bridges have surfaced and been submerged many times over the years allowing for free passage of fauna and flora. Fracture zones, rather than showing the direction of seafloor spreading, leave nothing more than a pattern of at least four different directions on the ocean floor as they intersect in a random fashion. The Chicxulub crater is not the result of a bolide strike, and this was known from the get-go. In 2004 the first edition of Tectonic Globaloney was published. Since that time much new information has been gathered and published. The Ocean Drilling Program has gone defunct as the owners of that program finally realized/admitted that they were not recovering basement material, self-admitting that only eight off-ridge cores had ever reached real basement. Therefore, the age of the ocean floor was unknown and the magnetic anomalies are not ground-truthed. The time has come for the field hands to take over and replace the ideas mostly derived by the geophysicists. Plate tectonics does not work.

Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education challenges the language used in education by linking the language of both the public and professional domains with the changing intentions of the governance of education. Exploring various issues, which embody the many manifestations of the manner in which strident, conservative language has captured the public view of education, the book covers topics such as the importance of language in the context of educational practice, the media's portrayal of teachers globally, the role of students in the face of curriculum reform and the language used in educational policy worldwide. The book addresses the ways in which the words ‘improvement’ and ‘reform’ have been appropriated and hollowed-out by policymakers in order to justify globalised education policies. Using international case studies and reports, the authors argue that the employment of specific words masks the reality that new educational policies are regressive and require re-examination, while perpetuating the illusion that progressive educational practice is being brought to the fore. Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education is a fascinating and original take on this topic, which will be of great interest to educational practitioners, policymakers and linguists.