Viji Murali
The term “globality” — as used by Harold Sirkin in his co-authored book by the same name — denotes more than just the spread of culture, ideas and products around the world, Murali said. In reality, we are all “competing with everyone, from everywhere, for everything.”
The all-day, annual workshop, was sponsored by Human Resource Services.
In a wide-ranging presentation, Murali discussed technology, the workforce, change and globalization.
Technology is an enabler and equalizer, Murali said. New technologies have created opportunities around the world while also accelerating global change.
“As the speed of global interactions and processes increases, there is an intense diffusion of ideas, goods, information and people,” she said.
“It is predicted that by 2010, forty percent of the world’s workforce will be in China and India,” said Murali, who spent the first 25 years of her life in her native India. At the same time, that trend will be magnified as the U.S. workforce continues shrinking due to low birth rates and about 15.6 million Baby Boomers retire before 2015.
The need to adapt
Higher education faces the need to adapt to worldwide changes due to technology, demographic shifts and globalization, she said. Such changes include a growing demand for graduates who know foreign languages, global economics and cultures.
As a result, many universities are setting up branch campuses overseas and increasing the use of technology to link students and classes anywhere in the world.
Murali noted that current examples of globalization at WSU include:
- Developing a global, digital campus as the next evolution of WSU distance degree programs.
- Establishing the School for Global Animal Health.
- Creating a new center at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, China.
- A dark fiber project to connect research faculty across the globe.
- A digital and global environment for library services.
