The most visible signs are the constant acceleration of international trade and foreign direct investments as well as the intensified competition, with the resulting effect of rising standards of living world-wide. International competition does therefore no longer take place among companies only. National and regional locations with their comparative advantages are involved in an increasingly intensive competition. This means that globalisation is first and foremost an opportunity. Each country and each company can now focus more clearly than ever on its economic strengths.
Globalisation also involves risks, however.
Market forces sanction unsuitable framework more thoroughly and more quickly than before. Intensified international competition and the presence of new, more productive competitors in the world markets require the introduction of increasingly sophisticated procedures and products in the traditional industrialised countries. Which way the pendulum of opportunity versus risk will swing depends very much on the ability of economic authorities to offer their industry the best conditions and a general environment in which opportunities can be seized and risks and problems remain low. The quality of local production factors is equally important, the most decisive of them being the performance of the work-force and its readiness to perform. Globalisation is not necessarily a threat to a high standard of living, provided high salaries reflect an equally high productivity.