Lower barriers to trade and investment mean firms canview the world, rather than a single country, as their market base production in the optimal location for that activityTechnological change meanslower transportation costs - firms can disperse production to economical, geographically separate locationslower information processing and communication costs - firms can create and manage globally dispersed production systemslow cost global communications networks - help create an electronic global marketplacelow-cost transportation - help create global marketsglobal communication networks and global media - create a worldwide culture, and a global market for consumer products