THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

GLOBALIZATION
GLOBALIZATION
• is the word used to describe the growing
interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures,
and populations, brought about by cross-border
trade in goods and services, technology, and flows
of investment, people, and information.
CULTURAL CONVERGENCE

•Mc Donaldization- a process which the

principles of “fast-food-restaurant” are coming
to dominate more and more sectors in US and
the world.
THREE MAJOR CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
GLOBALIZATION:

•1) Homogenization Theory

- This theory recognizes a uniform
standard for world cuisine, tourism,
culture, consumption patterns, and
cosmopolitanism.
AN EXAMPLE OF HOMOGENIZATION THEORY
IS GEORGE RITZER'S MCDONALDIZATION OF SOCIETY.

•He theorizes that global expectations of

McDonalds restaurants are predicated on four
dimensions :
•Efficiency-means that every aspect of the
organization is geared toward the
minimization of time. (ex. Drive thru)
• Predictability- " means that no matter where a
person goes, they will receive the same service and
receive the same product.
------ Employees (scripted speech)and customers
(know what they want) expected to respond with
predictable behavior.
• Calculability-Workers in these organizations are judged
by how fast (speed-quantity) they are instead of the
quality (quality of cooking) of work they do.

• Control- standardized and uniform employees,

replacement of human by non-human technologies
• ---offered standard food which customer cannot alter.
•Cultural homogenization- is an aspect of
cultural globalization and refers to the
reduction in cultural diversity through the
popularization and diffusion of a wide array
of cultural symbols—not only physical objects
but customs, ideas and values.
• O'Connor defines it as "the process by which local
cultures are transformed or absorbed by a
dominant outside culture".
• Homogenization could result in the breakdown of
cultural barriers and the global assimilation of a
single culture.
UPSIDE:

• -it
can raise the standard of living in poor and
less developed countries by providing job
opportunity, modernization, and improved
access to goods and services.
DOWNSIDE:

it can destroy job opportunities in

•-

more developed and high-wage

countries as the production of goods
moves across borders.
CAUSES OF INCREASING GLOBALIZATION

• In the days of Scottish economist Adam

Smith (1723–1790), if a merchant wanted to trade
a lot of wool for a case of port wine, the
communication of that intent would require weeks.
Sending a message to someone in India took
months.
•These industry managers were trusted to make
decisions in the best interests of the company
because no rapid means of communicating
existed.
• In the early twenty-first century, communication between
most parts of the world is instantaneous.
• A manager in Berlin, Germany, can phone or e-mail a
manager in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss the latest
news regarding the orange crop. These new capabilities
allow vast amounts of business data to be transferred
globally almost instantaneously at a reasonable cost.
• The world truly has become a smaller place in terms of
communication.
•Another factor leading to a more
globalized marketplace is the historical
decrease in tariff and nontariff barriers.
• In 1930 the United States raised tariffs under the Hawley-Smoot
Tariff Act.
• Other countries followed suit, and international trade
slowed considerably.
• In 1947 several leading trading nations created the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to serve as a
forum for bringing down trade barriers. Between 1947
and 1994, trading countries around the world
participated in eight rounds of negotiating in an effort to
reduce tariffs.
HETERONIZATION THEORY

•The adoption of elements of global culture to

local cultures is known as glocalization or
cultural heterogenization.
HYBRIDIZATION THEORY
•Cultural Hybridization- mixing of cultures as a
result of globalization and production
•Ex. Americans eating Chinese tacos, people of
mixed race, combination of language and
culture