One hundred and fifty years ago, the fastest means of travel was a steam powered train locomotive and the quickest means a person could communicate over great distances was through a telegraph. Now, traveling across an ocean or continent is a matter of hours instead of days, and anyone can dial a number and instantly talk with someone thousands of miles away. A few strokes on a keyboard and a button press can instantly send messages continents away, and with a single camera families and friends countries apart can talk face-to-face with nothing but a screen between them.
The advances in transportation and communication in the past century and a half have revolutionized the way humanity interacts with one another. No longer are humans a collection of disparate groups divided by vast oceans and land as globalization continues to march forward. There are still plenty of obstacles before societies can come together, yet thanks to the wonders of technology and the Internet, we’re more connected than ever before. As time continues to progress, that interconnection and melding of cultures, ethnicities, and ideas will continue to advance. Tools like video conferencing have been a major player in creating this environment of instant communication and boundary-defying relationships. It’s also a tool that your business can easily put to use as a means to interview potential employees from around the globe, especially since it’s incredibly easy to get started with a cloud based conference service provider like Blue Jeans.
Globalization and Internet Culture
The Internet is the most advanced form of communications technology ever developed. Outside of time zone issues it’s incredibly easy to connect with people all over the world. It’s this evolution in global communication that has been a huge asset to the globalization of not just business and commerce, but personal relationships, society and cultures as a whole. This Internet culture is heavily influenced by western cultural ideas, but it is still completely separate from those ideas. According to the World Health Organization, a positive impact of this development in global communication is the global village; the global village refers to the greatly increased contact among cultures and the sharing of different ideas, world views, identities, and social mores. The increased contact between nations and cultures has not only increased the sharing of culture, ideas, and other societal developments, it has also increased the level to which nations have become entangled through economics and business. The global market economy is the most potent physical proof of globalization happening, at no other time in history has a single nation’s economy been so connected to so many other nation’s economies.
The Global Market and Your Business
According to Economy Watch, the advancements in communications technology has led to individual economies, that were previously isolated, being influenced by the actions and policy changes of other countries and economies. Globalization has led to an integration of technological, political, cultural, economic, and social spheres on all levels. This increasing integration can have huge effects on your business, even if you don’t ship products or provide services internationally – though if possible, you should consider expanding into the global market, as it could provide untold benefits.
One of those effects is the much wider pool of potential employees you could have. Thanks to the development of communications technology like video conferencing, you can extend your search for employees to much greater proportions. Using video conferencing to interview potential employees from different countries is an excellent way to search for new talent and ideas, and the actual video conferencing provides an excellent stepping stone that you can use to continue further in the interview process or as a stopping point, according to Job Search. Nothing will truly replace physical face-to-face interviews, as video conference interviews can lead to less likability on the part of both parties through lack of direct eye contact and a loss of understanding regarding subtler facial expressions, according to Financial Post.
The disadvantages of video conferencing interviews are very minor in comparison to the disadvantages of a phone interview or even emails. Using a video conferencing tool like the ones provided by Blue Jeans is an excellent way to begin searching for potential international employees. Video conference interviews are not just useful for preliminary employee interviews; they can be used to scout out new clients as well. In both cases, video conferencing allows you to make a better informed decision about whether you wish to progress further in either situation or cut contact and begin searching elsewhere.
