Globalization and Culture...

We spent most of Tuesday talking about the "Globally Integrated Enterprise" and all the great things that come along with it. Indeed, global integration is a phenomenon for praise - it creates greater communication, greater dollar generation, greater long term stability, etc. etc. However, as I thought about globalization in the business sense, I couldn't help but think about the potentially damning cultural effects it can have. I'm not such a bleeding heart that I believe globalization is just another example of America imposing itself on the rest of the world. Granted, the global organizations are largely American and other "western" companies and certainly the ideas being spread conform a great deal to those we might harbor in western civilization. But I think it is unfair to say that the only cultural effects are imposed from western society to non-western or third world. The increased communicability (is that a word?) afforded by tools like the internet and other forms of technology has also left an impact on American civilization - after all, we are the melting pot, are we not? But I blather too much...back to the point!

Could globalization in some far off and distant time create a global culture? That is, will the globalization of companies cause homogeneity in culture because soon we'll all have the same ideas, the likes and dislikes, the same version of attractive and not attractive? Is that a bad thing? Worse yet, are far more likely, will globalization create two exclusively homogenous cultures - the haves and the have nots? It seems to me that those with the access to the great technologies of the 21st century are those reaping globalization related benefits. The rich get richer... Perhaps we are already seeing this pattern developing world wide. Western society seems to be growing and those opposed are uniting against it - largely we call them terrorists.

Our lives are driven by ideas and ideas are spread by those that can afford to spread them - companies and money making organizations. I think that it is entirely possible that with the increasingly global market in which we are operating, we will lose a great deal of the differentiating factors around the world - we'll all eat McDonald's and listen to Jay-Z on our Ipods. Despite what might be a rich history and culture, world culture will eventually become homogenous.

People talk about the next world super power. Some say China and others proclaim that whoever designs the battery to hold electrical (alternative) power will be the next super power - maybe America, maybe not. What about a company? Or a culture? Maybe the next super power isn't a country at all - maybe its a society or a way of being. I don't know, but I wish I did.

Knowledge or Style?

Last week in class we discussed characteristics that make for good relationships. Primarily, we considered business relationships with the understanding that the principles involved extend beyond business into more abstract forms of human interaction. It seemed that knowledge and business acumen were paramount to the effectiveness of a relationship while my personal favorite - individual style - wasn't even a distant second, but rather an after thought.

What can I say? I disagree. I don't question the findings of the research we discussed, but rather the psychological or self-understanding of those interviewed. I realize that we all value knowledgable people and those that are well read and strategic thinkers. Certainly, all things being equal, these are important traits - but things are rarely equal.

We all know the person who can score a near-perfect on the GMAT and dazzle audiences with little-known facts and insightful ideas only to be ignored by the masses because she just can't relate to people. No one likes him. Consider the transaction between job applicant and interviewer. It seems, for many jobs, that the "airport test" and the ability to relate to people in the company are far more important than a high IQ. In fact, I believe it was later in the same class that Doug mentioned the most common reason for hiring someone - liklihood of fit.

I am sticking to my guns on this one: likability and rapport building trump business acumen and strategic thinking ability 99 times of 100. Any salesman will tell you, people buy from those they like - end of story. The survey respondents, no doubt, value the knowledge, but if they don't like the seller the knowledge doesn't matter and perhaps those respondents didn't consider this most important fact as they filled out the survey. I guess time will tell whether you agree with me...

First Impressions...

The best place to start is day 1. I have to admit that the most intriguing bit of the day was in relation to the fact that as I read class topics I noticed a section entitles "Bloggers: Internet Terrorists" or something of the like. I was then shocked to find out that we were to create and publish a blog. I'll be interested to find out how this reconciles. More later - and I will probably focus more on IT, but I had to start somewhere. Here we are!