Imperatives of globalization and Nigeria oil and gas development

Open economies and flexible labour markets are considered net creators of wealth and jobs. Globalisation in the form of access to overseas markets and a growing integration of the world economy has in general been an engine of mutual enrichment. The great power of globalisation can be seen in the strength of its lifeline. As a report of the International Monetary Fund dryly stated, globalisation reflects the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through the increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services and of international capital flows, and also through the more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. This hydra-headed growth is more than other macroeconomic trend. It is shaping a new epoch where the tempo and breadth of change in the international economy both alters the character of the multinational corporation and makes porous the economic frontiers of the state. Result: a different paradigm of opportunities and interdependencies, as well as new terms and conditions for competitive success. Big oil companies are old hands at globalisation in terms of geographic reach and in the ethnic diversity of their leadership. But the way they approach the world is changing in response to a more competitive market in developmed countries. Faced with a forecast of demand growth of a mere 1 or 2 percent in OECD nations, the petroleum giants are hoping to benefit from recent and prospective de-regulation of state-run monopolies in other parts of the world. As a result, they are vigorously making new downstream investments in emerging economies. But for them, globalisation has yet another dimension - the quest for true enterprise integration via big investments in new communications and information systems. According to an OECD study, by the year 2020 a third of world output could be accounted for by China (with the biggest economy), Russia, India, Indonesia and Brazil. Over the intervening years, all developing nations could raise their Gross Domestic Products (GDPs) by an average of 270 percen, compared to 80 percent for OECD nations. Translating these large change forecasts into corporate strategy is no easy task. However, it is equally dangerous to get too far ahead of the present into the unrealities of futurism as it is to get too caught up in day-to-day battles that obliterate the future from corporate consciousness. Managers do not need a perfect crystal ball to forecast the timing of globalisation. But what they do urgently need is vigilance and preparedness in developing capabilities and aptitudes for globalism. According to Schwab, the global environment is described as complex, volatile, and fraught with unintended consequence. As a result of which high technology, high productivity, and high quality plus low wages are common place in many countries. The dominant role that transnational corporations play today in international trade and in the competition between nations for fresh direct capital investment create the perception that there is today a definite shift of power in favour of the capital markets and financial capitalism. Business leaders are the key players in the great challenges of our times more so, perhaps, as the moral authority of government has declined. Business is a stakeholder in globalisation because of the heavy responsibility to contribute to the stability of the global system. One of the ways it can meet that responsibility is to do what business does best: innovate, invest and grow knowledge, build infrastructure, and create jobs. In order to succeed globally, new behaviours in all facets of Management are demand and the uncoupling of the corporation from the Nation-State. Flexibility in the local application of corporate culture is required in-order to be able to respond to globalisation