Privatization of Water
The world is facing a scarcity of water. Each year about 3.4 million people die due to the scarcity of water! Several million more fall sick due to the poor sanitary conditions of the water supplied. The current situation is proof of the fact that the global water supply is not being managed properly. Many […]
Urbanization of the World and the Consequences for Managers
Urbanization and its Problems for Corporates The world is increasingly being urbanized and this has implications for the corporate sector and the managerial class. To start with, with more and more companies being located in urban areas, the corporate sector has to deal with the problems associated with urbanization like lack of access to basic […]
National Competitiveness – Meaning and Its Myths
National competitiveness is becoming an important subject of debate as governments all across the world are competing with one another to gain foreign capital and resources. However, the problem is that there is no theory that correctly defines what national competitiveness is and how countries can become more competitive in the global market. It is […]
Does The Government Create Monopolies?
The mainstream media believes that capitalism is the dominant economic system prevalent in the world today. This is why any economic failure in the modern world is quickly dubbed as being a failure of capitalism. However, according to many economists, the world is not really following capitalism. Free market and least government interference are the […]
Impact of Business Process Re-Engineering and Improvements
In the new world that is fast changing with rapid advances made in science and technology and shrinking borders, the academicians have had to discard the old theories of Management and rewrite the rules all over again. Bet it the marketing principles, human resource management or business processes, every topic needs to be redefined and […]
We live in a world of finite resources many of which are consumed at an alarming pace.
Given the fact that the emerging markets like the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are joining the developed countries of the west both in terms of living standards and in terms of economic development, it is inevitable that the voracious appetites for consumption in these countries would lead to protracted and bitter wars over resources.
A trend that has been observed lately among international businesses is that the proliferation of companies that are scouring the world for resources is leading to a winner take all grab for the world’s resources.
For instance, both the Indian and Chinese governments are actively engaged in the Middle East and Africa buying up assets and land, which they believe can be used to sustain the consumption of their citizens in the years ahead.
Further, the Chinese government has taken a lead over other countries as far as the battle for resources is concerned. It has invested heavily in the MENA (Middle East and Northern Africa) region for everything from oil and minerals to metals and agricultural products. This has provoked hostile reactions from the Americans and Europeans who see in this land grab and resource grab a blatant attempt by the Chinese to steal a march over them in the years ahead.
With the Chinese government having large dollar reserves, it is easy for it to give generous aid and other forms of inducement not to mention the money needed to buy up large tracts of land, acquire rights over oil deposits, and metals and minerals.
The implications of these resource wars are being felt in the capitals of the developed and the emerging world with alarm and trepidation as this race to the bottom can easily turn into armed conflict and be met with resistance from the local populations in those countries.
After all, who would like to see the resources that belong to a native country being carted away to some foreign land? This was the crux of the resource wars in earlier times and this is the bottom line of the now accelerating wars for the remaining resources of the world.
It is significant that many international businesses are now active partners with their governments in this global grab for resources.
The other implications of this resource grab lies in the fact that unless there is a concerted action by the governments of the world, it is but natural that the fight would get nasty. This is because resources are needed by everyone and hence, it is human nature to fight for the share of the resources.
In this context, there is a need for a global gathering of likeminded people to evolve common strategies instead of resource wars. Cooperation should be the key instead of competition.
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Cross Border Mergers and Acquisitions and Some Recent Trends in this Field
February 12, 2025
