International Business One of the complaints often made about globalization is t

Question

International Business

One of the complaints often made about globalization is that it is diluting, if not destroying, key aspects of national culture. Are the Chinese making valid arguments about cultural imperialism? How would Americans respond if the reverse were true? That is, what if movies from other cultures dominated our choice in movies?

As you consider this question, look at how some companies such as Disney have approached integrating their theme parks with local cultures. You can buy wine and beer at Euro Disney for example. Other companies like McDonald's have adjusted their menus to local tastes and cultural norms like veggie burgers in India.

Is cultural diffusion really a bad thing? Is cultural diffusion the same thing as cultural imperialism?

See if you can find some examples to support your views.

As you consider this question, look at how some companies such as Disney have approached integrating their theme parks with local cultures. You can buy wine and beer at Euro Disney for example. Other companies like McDonald's have adjusted their menus to local tastes and cultural norms like veggie burgers in India.

Is cultural diffusion really a bad thing? Is cultural diffusion the same thing as cultural imperialism?

See if you can find some examples to support your views.

Explanation / Answer

Globalization should not be confused with cultural imperialism. First, let us understand the power of globalization.

Power of globalization with the help of Technology:

Globalization & Internation Business:

Inference: Now that we have understood the power of globalization, let us look at cultural issues. While globalization improves job market by eradicating unemployment, it cannot be called cultural imperialism. It is a win-win for both the domestic and foreign country. However, cultural diffusion is a different perspective which may or may not be the by-product of globalization. It is up to the receiving nation to plan and protect their culture like the example of McDonald's adjusting their menu to the veggie burger in countries like India. Let us see how organizations can call their business is global and still manage the cross cultural situations/challenges that arrise in their organizations.

Managing Cross-cultural Situations: Organizational cross culture is a function of values, norms, belief and various different assumptions that group of people follows in an organization. These shared norms possess a great deal of influence over the people in an organization and this governs various aspects like dressing, responding, behaving, job performance, following some systematic guidelines etc., Each individual in the team will have different norms and values for themselves. Some of those to understand the team culture are,

Accepting and incorporating differences in a cross-cultural situation:

The issues fundamentally appear in situations where one fail to see other in their perspectives. In this example where the manager of India and China doesn’t seem to be in sync with each other’s opinion. Each of them does not seem to understand other person's cultural values, norms, and behaviors. Some of the team strategies that overcome the Cultural issues and stereotypic behaviors are as follows:

By developing the team through this 3-way process of Mapping, Bridging and Integrating, teams shall start functioning without dependence of the local manager within the region as they will be equipped to work along with the multicultural staff.

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