The global "mindset" that companies must have is defined as "…the ability to develop and interpret criteria for business performance" that are not relying on the "assumptions of a single country, culture or context to implement those criteria appropriately…" (Begley, et al., 2003). Begley and colleagues insist that the "truly globalized corporation" sees globalization as more of a "mind-set" than a "structure" per se (p. 1).
The three mind-sets that managers and executives must be able to demonstrate include: a) first, think globally and recognize the things that help to create a "…consistent global standard"; b) secondly, think locally because in the process of becoming "truly global" a company must come to a deep understanding of "local and cultural differences"; and c) third, the authors assert that the strategy should be to "think globally and locally simultaneously" and be cognizant of those situations in which there are "compelling demands" from both global and local elements (Begley, p. 1).
Getting a company into the global mind-set must start with executives and managers, Begley writes; they must pull the "structure, process and power levers to activate it"; and once that happens, there are more challenges as the "…newly globalized lower-level managers will pull their levers to convert employees in cascading fashion through critical parts of the company" (p. 1).
Z.S. Demirdjian writes in the Journal of American Academy of Business that the way that globalization has taken hold in many of the world's economic powerhouses reminds him of a kind of "fever." The author likens the current "globalization fever" to the California Gold Rush of 1845 (Demirdjian, 2005, p. 1). In that gold rush some of the prospectors found gold but others got nothing "…but gravel and sand," hence the implication is that not all companies will enjoy success in the globalized world that is emerging, Demirdjian believes.
The salient questions to be asked -- and the challenges to companies -- according to Demirdjian are these: a) is globalization a "panacea to eradicate world ills and disparities between the haves and have-nots?"; or b) is globalization...
2). The author gives an example of how globalization will present a cultural challenge to an African nation.
In one African nation where citizens use 27 different languages, the children in this country are learning English in school and using English at home, on the playgrounds and elsewhere. Is that a bad thing? According to Demirdjian, when the children of a nation abandon the cultural language -- leading to the extinction of their native languages -- along with the language the "ethnicity of the people" will also disappear (p. 2).
In conclusion, along with the great promise for new opportunities in business and cultural interaction that globalization brings to the world, there clearly are challenges that must be approached and solutions found. This will require leadership, not just from corporate executives and politicians, but also from rank and file workers and from local people whose economic conditions will be impacted by globalization. Predicting gloom and doom as regards globalization is shortsighted; there are myriad business opportunities on the horizon and given a careful approach to embracing globalization, countries, cultures, and companies may benefit in ways no one could imagine right now.
Works Cited
Begley, Thomas M. And Boyd, David P. (2003). The need for a corporate global mind-set.
MIT Sloan Management Review, 44(2), 1-9.
Demirdjian, Z.S. (2005). Internationalism: The Imponderables of an Invasive Idea. The Journal of American Academy of Business, 6(1), 1-2.
Irani, Farhad Nezhad Haj Ali, and Noruzi, Mohammad Reza. (2011). Globalization and Effects:
A study on the effects of globalization in the society. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business. 3(1), 1345-1348.
Miranda, Steve. (2003). Thinking locally acting globally: That's not an easy concept for a lot of multinational companies, but an Oracle executive argues that the old ways of deferring to local partners need to be abandoned in favor of global standardization.…
