Class and What I Have Learned So Far - July 2nd and 3rd

Since the last update, I have attended 3 more classes, including my first Macroeconomics course. Despite being thousands of miles from the US, the concepts we are covering in class mirrors what I would be learning back in the United States. What has been different is the examples used to demonstrate the basic concepts in each class. In globalization and engineering, we learned about reasons for a company to globalize and entry barriers that companies can experience. Our primary case study was general motors who began globalizing when faced with heightened competition from Asian and European car makers in the US domestic market. The company was forced to expand to other markets, including India, where through focusing on producing their smaller cars and marketing them for upper and middle class consumers, they became a major brand in India. Another interesting case study was shampoo companies who had to sell shampoo in small 5 rupee packets so that they would sell in India, as lower class consumers could not afford to buy 1L bottles of shampoo. We also discussed McDonalds and KFC who both introduced vegetarian options into their menu in order to enter the Indian market, with McDonalds not even selling any beef products at all. Despite coming from an engineering perspective, it has been fascinating to learn what globalization means from an economic and cultural perspective.