Critically evaluate the notion of a global business culture. How has this impacted on Australian business culture? Introduction The aim of this paper is to begin to understand the cultural ramifications associated with the movement towards a global scale merger of markets and production, and in particular, the impact on Australian businesses. In order to comprehend the topic in the depth required, the terms of Globalisation and Culture will be defined in context.The discussion will cover the reasons attributed to broadening the horizons of globalisation such as, the decrease in trade and investment barriers, rapid technological advances & Increased efficiency of global electro ...view middle of the document...
Theory by Hofstede and Maslow was used to discover the links that give rise to the notion that behavioural practices affect global business operations. This lead to the final line of question, how do these dimensions of nation states come together globally, and how are they overcome.Discussion As stated earlier, the aim of this paper is to understand the cultural ramifications associated with this movement towards a global scale merger of markets and production, and in particular, the impact on Australian businesses. The criticality of understanding these ramifications is the discipline of seeing them as wholes, or as patterns rather than static snapshots. Peter Senge refers to this framework of interrelatedness as the "˜fifth discipline'. Culture is now being seen as a global unit with differing aspects according to nation states, rather than specific independent cultures. This can be attributed to globalisation.For the purpose of this report, national cultures will be referred to as nation state differences, and global business culture; the homogenous model that represents the particular manner in which multinational corporations are dealing with one another, customers and their environments.Globalisation has been defined as the widening, deepening and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual (Held et al, 1999, p2). I am of the transformationalist view, which Held et al (1999, p7) define as those who perceive globalisation as all encompassing, not merely just an economic or political notion, but including a cultural dimension.Since culture is not tangible, theorists have presented many interpretations and dimensions. Deresky (2000, p 105) defines culture as comprising of "˜The shared values, understandings, assumptions and goals that are learned from earlier generations, imposed by present members of a society and passed onto succeeding generations. I define culture as the sum total of beliefs, rules techniques and institutions amongst a defined set or grouping of individuals, with characteristics that include; transgenerational, acquired by learning, shared amongst members, symbolic, patterned and adaptable.Initially it must be understood what has gone into the making of this global business culture. The first of five reasons attributed to broadening the horizons of globalisation, is the rapid technological advances in telecommunications, microprocessors and transportation. Also, the decrease in trade and investment barriers has allowed a freer flow of capital for factors of production and for goods and services. Another key indicator is globally dispersed production systems, along with the changing distribution of production. Increased efficiency of global electronic marketplaces has also led to this amalgamation of business cultures. McLuhan and Powers (1983, as cited in Belk, 1996) also refer to the contribution ...
