Globalisation and UK Business
What globalisation means for UK firms: trading across borders through imports and exports, competing internationally on design, quality and price, the rise of multinationals, and the opportunities and threats a connected world brings.
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A business world without borders
Goods, money and firms now move around the planet as never before. That is globalisation, and it changes everything for a UK business: it can sell to customers on the other side of the world, but it also faces rivals from everywhere. This module works through imports and exports, how UK firms compete, and the opportunities and threats globalisation brings.
Global words to know
Learn these before you trade across borders.
Opportunity against threat
Globalisation cuts both ways for a UK firm.
Weigh one side against the other
In the exam, treat globalisation as two-sided for a UK firm. It opens the door to markets right across the world and to cheaper places to make things, but it also lets rivals from abroad sell here. To hold its own, a UK business has to win on the design, the quality or the price of what it offers. Always weigh a gain against a risk rather than giving one side only.
Match the term
- globalisation
- import
- export
- multinational
- growing trade and links between countries
- a good bought in from abroad
- a good sold to another country
- a firm operating in many countries
Match the case
- selling to customers in other countries
- cheaper foreign firms selling here
- offering a better design than rivals
- making goods more cheaply overseas
- an opportunity from globalisation
- a threat from globalisation
- a way to compete internationally
- a way to cut costs
What is an export?
What is an export?
- A good sold to another country
- A good bought in from another country
- A tax placed on trade
- A type of foreign currency
True about globalisation
Select the TWO true statements about globalisation and UK business.
- Globalisation opens up bigger markets abroad for UK firms
- Globalisation also brings more foreign competition
- An import is a good that a country sells abroad
- A multinational operates in only one country
Total the exports
A UK firm exports 200 units of a product to France and 150 units to Spain. Add the two amounts to find the total number of units exported. What is the answer?
Order the path to going global
Put the stages of a UK firm going global in order, earliest first.
- The firm sells only in the home market
- It starts exporting to customers abroad
- It opens a factory in another country
- It becomes a multinational operating worldwide
Complete the rules
The growing trade and links between countries is called _____. A good sold to another country is an _____. A good bought in from abroad is an _____. A firm that operates in many countries is a _____.
Spot the ways to compete
Tap the TWO ways a UK business can compete internationally.
- offering better designs than rivals
- selling higher quality at lower prices
- refusing to trade with other countries
- raising its prices far above rivals
Judge the case
Read each case and choose the best answer.
- A UK company starts selling its products to customers in Germany. What is this an example of?
- Cheaper goods made abroad flood into the UK and undercut a local firm. What does globalisation bring here?
- A UK firm wants to win customers worldwide against cheaper rivals. What is the best way to compete?
Explain globalisation for UK business
Explain what globalisation is and how it affects UK businesses.
- Explain what globalisation, imports and exports are
- Explain how UK firms can compete internationally
- Explain one opportunity and one threat globalisation brings