The global village

“Hello – William
speaking.” But where in the world is
William…and does it really matter anyway?

Some refer to it as corporate
deception, others call it a fact of business efficiency in the
modern world. Certainly ‘Call Centres’ are big
business in the 2000’s, but who would have thought that by
phoning in to your local insurance company or hotel booking
agency, you might be speaking to someone…in India?

Increasingly, western companies
(like American Express and British Airways) are opting for the
‘cheap but highly skilled’ human resource of India,
utilising call centre companies such as Spectramind.

Staff at such companies are
‘trained’ in general knowledge skills and specific
‘cultural nuances’ of their clients market. They are
also kept updated with weather reports and other trivialities,
enabling them to respond in a localised manner – oh, they
are also apparently ‘accent neutralised.’
Electronic flashcards remind call centre staff of specific words
they should and shouldn’t use, as instructed by their
clients.

For the benefit of our readers in
the UK, the next time you are seeking assistance from your
British Telecoms directories service, check out the weather in
Hydrabad...

Interdependence is the name of the
global game – as opposed to ownership over and control of
ones own resources…

According to the NZ Overseas
Investment Commission, for the first three months of 2003,
foreigners were given approval to take control of (buy) $438
million of New Zealand assets compared to 1.1 billion in the same
period for 2002.

The biggest investor was
Australian oil giant OMV – taking over from
German company Preussag in sales of petroleum
exploration permits.

Meanwhile, political discussion
and debate continues over the idea of a common currency between
New Zealand and Australia; and to add to the growing list of
‘Globalist’ terminology – Pacific
‘Dollarisation’ has been discussed
by Australasian and Pacific leaders at their recent annual forum
(August 2003). Advocates for the concept believe that using a
common currency is the best way to sure up economic security in
the region – and the Australian dollar is seen as the most
credible in this part of the world. Certain Pacific nations
already use the Australian dollar (Nauru, Kiribati and Tuvalu)
– and the Cook Islands uses the New Zealand dollar.

Authorities on both sides of the
Tasman are continuing to explore ways of improving the
integration of our commerce and trade – and though there is
resistance to the common currency concept, we won’t halt
the inevitable. Security and sovereignty are not allowed in the
new world order scheme of things.