Global Business Environment

SUMMARY: Globalization can be traced to times when Buddhism spread from India to China in Ist century AD. That was when cultural links between both countries were established. By 1300 AD, the Song Dynasty in China linked Europe and China by land and sea across Eurasia and the Indian Ocean. The year 1300 saw the creation of the Ottoman Empire which spanned Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and connected the dynasties in Central Asia and India. This led to the expansion of trading activities between Europe and Asia. By 1300, networks of trade ran from England to China, France, Italy, across the Mediterranean to Egypt, and then to Central Asia (the Silk Route). The trade in commodities continued well into the 17th century. By 1800, the Atlantic and Indian Ocean systems were connected to one another through the flow of commodities and by the operations of the British, French, and Dutch overseas companies.