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Cairo University
Faculty of Engineering
Chemical Engineering Department

Humanities for Engineers

GLOBALIZATION
1. General concepts

November 2004
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The Shrinking Globe

1500-1840

Best average speed of 1850-1930

horse-drawn coaches and
sailing ships, 10mph.

Steam locomotives average 65mph.

Steamships average 36mph.
1950s

Propeller aircraft
300-400 mph. 1960s

Jet passenger aircraft

500-700mph.
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Definitions

Globalization is the flow across

national boundaries of goods and
services, capital, people, technology,
ideas and culture.

In its simplest sense globalization refers

to the widening, deepening and speeding
up of global interconnectedness….”
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Globalization shift
It is the shift towards a more integrated and
interdependent world economy
Two components:
The globalization of markets
The globalization of production
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Globalization of markets

The merging of distinctly separate national

markets into a global marketplace
Tastes and preferences converge onto a global norm
Firms offer standardized products worldwide
creating a world market
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Globalization of production

Refers to sourcing of goods and services from

locations around the world to take advantage of
Differences in cost or quality of the factors of
production
Labor
Land
Capital
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Impact of globalization 1
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Impact of globalization 2
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Globalization: Causes
technology
interlinkages :
economic integration creates incentives to
create cultural integration
Coca-Colonization
cultural integration creates demand for
economic integration
Political :
globalization as a “political project”
expand the scope of markets
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The role of technological change

Microprocessors and telecommunications

The internet and world wide web

Transportation technology
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In the Globalization Era:

Trade and investment barriers are
disappearing.
Perceived distances are shrinking due to
advances in transportation and
telecommunications.
Material culture is beginning to look
similar.
National economies merging into an
interdependent global economic system.
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The Major Shift

Markets

“The shift toward a

more integrated and
interdependent world
economy.”
Production
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International Trade: When a firm exports goods

or services to consumers in another country.

Foreign Direct Investment: When a firm invests

resources in business activities outside its home
country.
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Source: UNIDO 2001

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Emergence of global institutions

Globalization has created the need for institutions

to help manage, regulate and police the global
marketplace
GATT
WTO
IMF
World bank
United Nations
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Globalization and the World’s Poor

Critics argue that globalization has not helped poor.
1870: per capita income of 17 richest nations was
2.4x that of all other countries.
1990: it was 4.5x larger.
Other factors may have influenced the gap.
Totalitarian governments.
Economic policies that destroyed wealth creation.
Little protection of property rights.
Expanding populations.
War.
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Social Implications
 Large technological transfer + cheap information
technology: knowledge diffusion
 Increase of skilled labor
 Leapfrog development steps: high-speed transition
towards a service economy
 Economic efficiency → economic growth → poverty
reduction
 “Westernization” of governance: gender issues /
democracy
 Convergence of income / labor standards
 Efficient allocation of labor between i) economic
sectors ii) rural-urban areas
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Globalization debate-Pro

Lower prices for goods and services

Economic growth stimulation
Increase in consumer income
Creates jobs
Countries specialize in production of goods and
services that are produced most efficiently
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Environmental performance and income

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Globalization debate-Con
Destroys manufacturing jobs in wealthy,
advanced countries
Wage rates of unskilled workers in advanced
countries declines
Companies move to countries with fewer labor
and environment regulations
Loss of sovereignty
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Cairo University
Faculty of Engineering
Chemical Engineering Department

Humanities for Engineers

GLOBALIZATION
2. Impact on Culture

December 2004
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What is culture?

Culture: A system of values and norms that

are shared among a group of people and that
when taken together constitute a design for
living.
Culture: the sum total of knowledge, values,
laws, art, food, customs, and any other
artifacts, capabilities or habits acquired by
humans as members of a society.

In a sense, culture is a society’s personality

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Different components of culture

Values and Norms

Folkways and mores

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Values and norms

Values: Abstract ideas/assumptions about what a
group believes to be good, right and desirable

Norms: social rules and guidelines that prescribe

appropriate behavior in particular situations
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Folkways and mores

Folkways: Routine conventions of everyday life.
Little moral significance
Generally, social conventions such as dress codes,
social manners, and neighborly behavior
Mores: Norms central to the functioning of society and its
social life
Greater significance than folkways
Violation can bring serious retribution
Theft, adultery, incest and cannibalism
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Culture, society and nation states

Society is a group of people who share a common

culture
No one to one correspondence between society
and a nation state
Nation states are political creations
Many cultures can co-exist within a nation state
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Determinants of culture Fig: 3.1

Social structure
Religion
Language
Education
Economic philosophy
Political philosophy
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Social structure
Two dimensions
The extent to which society is group or individually
oriented
Degree of stratification into castes or classes
Social mobility
Significance to business
Other influences
Political philosophy
Economic philosophy
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World religions
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Language
Spoken
Verbal cues
Language structures
perception of world
Unspoken
Body language
Personal space
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Education

Education can be a source of competitive

advantage
Example
India
Malaysia
Singapore
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Percentage of GNP spent on education

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Adult literacy rates

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cultural dimensions

Four dimensions of culture

Power distance
Individualism versus collectivism
Uncertainty avoidance
Masculinity versus femininity
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Power distance

Cultures are ranked high or low on this dimensions

based on the particular society’s ability to deal
with inequalities
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Individualism versus collectivism

This dimension focuses on the relationship between the
individual and his/her fellows within a culture
Individualistic societies:
loose ties
individual achievement and freedom highly
valued
Collectivist societies-
tight ties
tend to be more relationship oriented
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Uncertainty avoidance
This dimension measures the extent to which a
culture socializes its members into accepting
ambiguous situations and tolerating uncertainty
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Masculinity versus femininity

This dimension looks at the relationship between

gender and work roles
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Cultural change

Culture is not a constant; it evolves over time

The role of women is changing in most of the
societies
Japan moves toward greater individualism in
the workplace
Effects of globalization
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Changing values
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Globalization and Culture: The Story So Far

Cultural Homogenization
Cultural Imperialism
McDonaldization
Coca-Colonization
Americanization
Westernization
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Influences on Culture

• Best Solutions to Common Problems

• Cultural Borrowing
• Globalization and Global Marketing
bring us the “Cultural Supermarket”
(Hall 1992)
“… just as in the material supermarket shelf space is unequally distributed –
products like Coca-Cola being on the middle easily seen shelves, other less
heavily advertised products being above the customer’s head, and less
noticeable – so too in the cultural supermarket. Those societies whose
material goods [and ideas] are readily available in the world have greater
cultural influence in the world.”
- Mathews (2000)
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Influences on Culture

• “Cultural Imperialism”

• Cultural Protectionism

• Mainstreaming of Cultural
Values?
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Mainstreaming of Cultural
Values?
Mooij’s anti-theses:
“In Western Europe, as in most other parts of the world, the geographic,
cultural, and other distances are on the decline” (Roostal 1963)

“The possession and availability of certain goods is changing people’s

lives into a more uniform pattern” (Elinder 1965)

“Especially in Western Europe, but also in some other parts of the world,
social and economic trends are working in favor of more, rather than less
standardization in marketing policies” (Buzzell 1968)

Mooij’s thesis:
“The opposite is true, cultural values are stable and with converging
incomes they will become more manifest.” (Mooij 2000)