Griffin Policy Forum focuses on globalization through six international panelists

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Marco Nobili feels students should take a detailed look at what is going on with the other side of the world for a better understanding of globalization.

Nobili, consul of Italy in Detroit, was one of six panelists ranging from businessmen to CEOs at Thursday evening’s Griffin Policy Forum. The international conference returned this week under the title “Making Public Management Work in the Global Economy: Lessons from Europe and North America.”

Various topics, including what globalization means for managers and understanding diverse viewpoints, were debated in front of about 100 people at Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium.

Nobili discussed several Italian businesses opening up in the Midwestern region.

“This area has always been central and very important for the Italian business,” Nobili said.

Moderator Alex Himelfarb, director of Glendon School of Public and International Affairs at York University in Toronto, asked how people experience globalization.

“What does it mean for how (people) do their work, how they think about their work and how it is changing their experiences?” Himelfarb said.

He said all people are influenced by globalization whether they know it or not.

Panelist Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO, said globalization is the post-industrial revolution.

“It affects everybody and everything, how you live, consume, do our jobs, how we manage the economy, our culture,” he said. “Globalization is pervasive and the impact is profound.”

Political science associate professor David Jesuit said it’s important students walk away from the event with a better understanding of the role global managers play in the global economy. It is also critical to be knowledgeable of the way public and private sectors work together promoting economic development, he said.

“We focus on the automobile industry to begin the discussion. That is why Italy, Canada and Michigan are at the conference tonight,” Jesuit said. “That is the example; the automobile industry is that case study.”

Panelist Frederick W. Hoffman, former vice president of Government Relations for Chrysler LLC, said globalization wasn’t always around.

“We have seen many companies here for many years that were isolated,” Hoffman said. “All that has blown up; now most of the major companies are global players.”