GTO A3 - Reflection PDF

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RMIT International University Vietnam OMGT 2321 Global Trade Operations

A3

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Reflection Paper – Global Trade Operations Global trade Operations (GTO) is a final year course that covers understandings of which way enterprises optimize chances to enhance their competitiveness in the context of globalization. The purpose of this paper is to reflect my experience in this course. Throughout the course, I have learned various theories and principles of GTO that are related to drivers of global competitiveness, trade policies, and the regulatory environment. As part of this reflection, National Competitive Advantage is an issue that I consider contributing to my self-development. As an International Business major, I am passionate about learning different cultures and perspectives, as well as the trading movement around the world, thus I found Global Trade Operations is an interesting course, which contributed a lot to my self-learning throughout the assignments. In assignment 1, I have learned the role, functions, and characteristics of a global port city in the context of international trade. As I chose the Shanghai port, I found that the comparative and competitive advantages of this port driven by the advanced technology and infrastructure, the geographical location, and government support. By examining the historical evolution of Shanghai port, I can answer the question of why does it exist, why is it important to international trade, and what drives it to change. Learning the strengths and weaknesses of the port, its future business prospect is predicted to develop significantly once it successfully addresses the current issues such as emission and domestic competition with Ningbo port. Most importantly, as I went deeper to the competitiveness of the port city, I found a surprising GTO issue that gave me an unexpected insight namely the Porter Diamond Model, which explained the drivers of the international success of a country. National Competitive Advantage is defined as the capability of a certain industry in a country delivering greater value of goods and services than other countries due to various factors (Smit 2010) in which its formation can be explained by Porter’s Diamond Models. Porter (1990) argued that there are six drivers of the creation of national competitive advantage, which are Factor endowments, Demand conditions, Related and supporting industries, Firm strategy, Structure and Rivalry, Chance and Government. For example, China has competitive advantages in producing and exporting some advanced industries such as technology, manufacture, and infrastructure due to its low-cost sourcing advantage, skilled labor, and government support (Bian 2006; Šarić 2012). Accordingly, these factors decide a nation's competitive advantage, which will assist it with the ability to compete with other economies in the context of globalization. However, there are 2

also some limitations of this theory as four attributes are not always achievable for a country, thus, it requires more empirical testing to determine one country’s competitiveness. Davies and Ellis (2000) argued that the competitiveness of a country can be achieved by a range of different ways rather than depending on its home base and in reality, most international competitive industries do not have strong "diamonds". In my opinion, although the theory has some limitations, it explained the key factors that contribute to a country's success, in which I can answer my own questions on why are most Vietnamese products not up to the world standard or why are there a good geographical location and governmental support but it still lacks of global competitiveness. Vietnam might enjoy various natural endowments but having less advanced factors such as demanding home buyers, skilled labor, and infrastructure. Moreover, as it expected that the "operations" of global trading will change over time as technology has gradually driven the traditional logistics structure to automation. This gives me the idea of the movement of trends in logistics and supply chain as well as its impacts on global trading activities and transactions in the future. Through assignment 2 – the study of a low-cost sourcing country. As we chose China, I have found this country using trade policies and practices to remove trade barriers since it acceded to WTO. For example, the MFN tariff rates decreased significantly to 9.86% in 2018 while most quotas have been eliminated. This conduct of China was to promote international trading activities while boosting some key industries and enhance its overall economy. Through the study, I have expanded my knowledge as well as having more insight into the different conducts of government on trade policies to support its economy in the context of globalization. Overall, throughout the course, I have explored more than what I expected such as the various drivers of globalization, the role of logistics and transportation in contributing to international trade activities, trade policies, and global competition. As a result, these fundamental knowledge are going to be the essential foundation of my future profession. Last but not least, I also had a chance to improve my communication and teamwork skills. Learning from issues I encountered in the past year, I adopt a more flexible, agile way of work in my team. Instead of working individually, I discussed with my teammates on each part of the assignment and find out solutions together, which enhance productivity and minimize mistakes. More importantly, we learned to build trust and tried not to hesitate to call for assistance. This helped us improve communication and collaboration skills. As a result, we all agreed and satisfied with our work and respected individual contribution. However, there were also some issues I considered our group should 3

have done better, which were being punctual in group meeting time and being more engaged in the lecturer's discussion series. In conclusion, I am interested in Global Trade Operation due to some reasons that contributed to my self-development. Throughout the course, I have learned the factors and impacts of globalization, the contribution of logistics and transportation to international trade, trade policies, and global competitiveness. After assignment 1 – study of port city, I found the importance of its role, functions, and characteristics in the context of international trade. In assignment 2, I learned that China as a lowcost sourcing country reducing tariffs and quotas to remove trade barriers, which aimed at promoting trading activities and enhance the domestic economy. Accordingly, the course has assisted me with the essential skills and fundamental insights into my future profession. Moreover, among all the GTO issues, the Porter Diamond model has given me an unexpected insight since it provided essential drivers of national competitive advantage. Although it still has some limitations, the theory allows me to see a fairly comprehensive picture of the alignment of constituent elements. Throughout the course, I also had a chance to improve my communication and teamwork skills through a more flexible and agile way of work. References list: Bian, L 2006, ‘The China advantage: a competitive analysis of Chinese high-tech industries’, November, viewed 11 May 2020, ResearchGate database. Davies, H & Ellis, P 2000, ‘Porter's Competitive Advantage of Nations: Time for the final judgement?’, Journal Of Management Studies, December, Vol.37(8), pp.1189-1213, viewed 11 May 2020, Wiley Online Library Journals database. Porter, M 1990, ‘The Competitive Advantage of Nations’, Harvard Business Review, April, Vol.68, pp.73-93, viewed 11 May 2020, EBSCOhost Business Source Complete database. Šarić, S 2012, Competitive Advantages through Clusters An Empirical Study with Evidence from China, Wiesbaden, SpringerLink eBooks database.

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Smit, AJ 2010, ‘The competitive advantage of nations : is Porter's Diamond Framework a new theory that explains the international competitiveness of countries?’, Southern African Business Review, April, Vol.14(1), pp.105-130, viewed 15 May 2020, SA Open Access ePublications database.

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