留學生dissertation網提供美國密蘇里大學留學生社會文化dissertation定制。Toward an emergent global culture and the effects of globalization on obsolescing national cultures
Allan Bird*, Michael J. Stevens1
College of Business Administration, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Road,
St. Louis, MO 63121-4499, USA
Abstract
One of the major effects of globalization is the creation of a new and identifiable class of personswho belong to an emergent global culture. As membership in this new global culture rises, manycritics find a distinct threat to national cultures, resulting quite possibly in their eventual obsolescence.In this paper, we consider the trends driving the growth of this newly emerging global culture, theprocess by which new members are socialized into it, the characteristics, or features, that appear to bedescriptive of its members, and the impact of this emerging global culture on the obsolescence ofnational cultures. Finally, while it is unrealistic to expect that the emerging global culture will replacenational cultures, we nevertheless conclude that national cultures must be adaptable and able toemphasize the attractiveness of their core elements if they wish to remain relevant in some viablefashion.
D 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Emerging global culture; National cultures; Obsolescing cultures
1. Introduction
As David Ricks (2003) demonstrates in his introduction to this special issue of the Journalof International Management, there is a great deal of controversy concerning the net effect ofglobalization and the global corporation. As he correctly indicates, the conclusion as towhether this march has been for good or bad depends on not only the person’s perspective butalso on the issues under examination. In this article, we address the impact thatglobalization is having on the obsolescence of national cultures around the world and
the associated convergence of these national cultures into one commonly accepted globalculture. The emergence of a global culture has profound implications for national cultures,not least of which is the prospect that national cultures are perhaps moving towards acertain degree of obsolescence. We begin our discussion by considering trends that clearlysuggest this shift toward an emergent global culture is indeed occurring. Next, we describethe key characteristics and features of this global culture. Finally, we consider severalimplications of this shift for national cultures, and suggest some conclusions andrecommendations.
We begin with the following observation. In summer 1996, an unusual internationalsporting event took place. Several hundred of the finest athletes from over 30 countriesconverged on the United States for 2 weeks of intense competition in a variety of events. Thecompetition was not the International Olympics, but the ESPN Extreme Games. Many of theevents involved sports that are less than a generation old. With few exceptions, thecompetitors did not look or dress like typical athletes. What made the event noteworthy, inaddition to the competition of the games themselves, was the commonality of dress andappearance as well as speech and behavior among the athletes. With the exception of accents,#p#分頁標題#e#
it was nearly impossible to determine the nationality of the competitors through simpleobservations of dress or behavioral mannerisms. In one competition, the first, second, thirdand fourth-place finishers were from four different countries, yet there was little in the way ofoutward demeanor, style or expression to indicate either the respective countries of origin orthat they were from different countries at all.
Juxtapose the Extreme Games with a report recently released by Coopers and Lybrand(1997) of a study involving more than 1200 graduating seniors from 30 leading universities in
10 countries. Addressing issues of life priorities and career goals, respondents displayedremarkable uniformity across nations. With regard to choosing priorities in life, students in all10 countries were in agreement on the four most important priorities, which included one’sown personal development and growth; developing a career; spending time with close friends
and relatives; and building a family. They were in similar agreement when it came to viewson international careers. Seventy-eight percent expressed an interest in working for a globalcompany, 74% were positive about working for a company with operations in international
markets and 73% wanted to work with clients from different countries.In 1991, the first author assisted colleagues at New York University in a negotiation
simulation involving MBA students and experienced managers from Japanese tradingcompanies. The students had prepared extensively for the negotiations by researching
Japanese business style, particularly negotiation strategies and tactics. With eight separateruns, four teams of Japanese negotiators worked on one side of the issue while four others
took the opposite side. Each Japanese team was matched with an NYU MBA student team.
However, as the simulation progressed, the MBAs were clearly taken aback. The Japanesenegotiators did not ‘‘act Japanese.’’ In fact, as one student noted, ‘‘they might as well havebeen from New York or Chicago.’’ This reaction is not just the perspective of students.Subsequent experiences with the same negotiation simulation involving business executives
396 A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407from other countries revealed similar reactions. Although the executives were identified asbeing from a particular country and exhibited some mannerisms and characteristics associatedwith that country, their overall negotiation behaviors gave little indication of their nationalcultures once the exercise began.
Over the past several years, we have heard similar stories from colleagues using thisnegotiation simulation in countries as disparate as France, Japan, Australia and Mexico (Bird,2002). Increasingly, an identifiable and homogeneous group is emerging at least within theworld business community. This group neither shares a common geographic location,
socioeconomic class, religion, native language nor a national culture. Yet they share acommon set of values, attitudes, norms, language and behaviors. With one foot in their native#p#分頁標題#e#
culture and one foot in the global arena, they are members of a distinctly identifiable andemerging global culture. In some cases, they appear to share more in common with othersactive in the global village than with those of their own national culture. They are members ofwhat we identify as the emergent global culture.
2. The emergence of global culture
The forces responsible for the emergence of a global culture are drawn from among theusual suspects rounded up whenever talk turns to globalization: growth in world trade and thebusiness activity that accompanies it; dramatic improvements in telecommunications; ease ofdata storage and transmission; increased facility and opportunity for business and leisuretravel; and so on. Taken as a whole, these forces have contributed to the perception that theworld has grown smaller and to the reality of increased interdependence (Clark and Mathur,2003).
One influential account of globalization, the McDonaldization theory (Clark and Mathur,2003), argues that cultural influence flows primarily from the United States to the rest of theworld. The natural conclusion, therefore, would be that the emergent global culture is simplythe exportation of U.S. culture to the rest of the world. However, the following evidencesuggests that such an argument is far too simple to capture the complexity of the worldwidemove toward globalization. Rather, in the words of Zwingle (1999), ‘‘Goods move, people
move, ideas move and cultures change’’ (p. 12). So, from where is this emergent globalculture emanating? The data seem to suggest that even if we accept the argument that there isone world culture emerging, it is not necessarily the one we may be inclined to think it is. Letus see.
2.1. One world, one language
Over time, there has been a significant decrease in the total number of languages spokenworldwide. Linguists conclude that around 10,000 spoken languages have existed. Around1900, it was estimated that the world’s population of 1.5 billion people spoke approximately6000 native languages, whereas today’s world population of almost 6 billion speaks less than
4000, and many of those are not being taught to children (thus, they are in effect already
A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407 397dead). By 2100, it is anticipated that fully half of the languages spoken around the worldtoday will most likely be lost (Davis, 1999). Further analysis of the data shows that more thanhalf the world’s population speaks the top 10 indigenous languages combined. However,
English is quickly becoming the most commonly taught second language for the emergingglobal culture. One key implication of the data is that never before in world history have morepeople been able to speak and communicate with one another in a common language.Moreover, with a subset of perhaps three or four languages (e.g., English, Mandarin Chinese,Spanish and possibly French), there are few corners of the globe where one can travel and notbe understood. The clear trend is that this is going to shift over time only farther in thedirection of fewer languages with greater geographic coverage.#p#分頁標題#e#
2.2. One world, one thirst
留學生dissertation網提供美國密蘇里大學留學生社會文化dissertation定制。It is difficult to go to even the most remote regions of the world and not find evidence ofCoca-Cola products. In addition, its advertising and branding images are among the mostwidely recalled worldwide. With a presence in nearly 200 countries, company records notethat less than 30% of corporate income is derived from within the United States (Coca Cola,2002). Perhaps, the dogma of McDonaldization is true—at least when it comes to beverages.
The United State’s soda of choice dominates the world soft drink market.
2.3. One world, one food
When we look not at what the world drinks but rather at what it eats, it turns out that theinfluence of the United States on globalization takes its cues from a Swiss transnational
company, Nestle’s—the self proclaimed ‘‘Food Company of the World.’’ According tocompany information, Nestle’s currently has factories in more than 80 countries, while its
products are available for sale in nearly every country (Nestle, 2003). A cursory review of itsproduct catalog shows that it owns many brand names that are quickly and easily recognizedin all corners of the globe.
2.4. One world, one car
When it comes to the question of what the world drives, it is no longer an exclusively
Western European/North American influence on globalization because the Japanese carmaker
Toyota is most likely to have built the automobile driven in most corners of the world.
Unknown outside of Asia just a few decades ago, Toyota and its subsidiaries now sellvehicles in more than 170 countries (Toyota, 2003), giving it a presence in more countriesthan any other auto manufacturer in the world.
2.5. One world, one worldview
Beyond the question of what we eat, drink or drive, it would also appear that we aremoving toward a single worldview, thanks in large measure to the effects of such media398 A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407outlets as CNN, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal and National Geographic, to name just a few.
There appears to be a common message that is heard, often simultaneously, in all parts of theworld, through major news organizations and publications. Many of these media outlets havea single central voice and message, even though they are often regionalized to reflect localneeds and interests (Newsweek has its European edition and the Wall Street Journal has its
Asian edition, for example). This one worldview appears to be true not only of our news andinformation providers but also for our entertainment sources as well. Hollywood blockbusters,such as the Star Wars trilogy (which opened simultaneously in 60 countries when rereleasedin 1997) dominate the world’s theaters and video outlets. More than 90% of the top#p#分頁標題#e#
money-earning films in history are from one country—the United States (Zwingle, 1999).In sum, though diversity still abounds, the world is clearly becoming more unified andhomogeneous. People are sharing more in common across the spectrum of their dailyexperiences regarding what they speak, drink, eat, drive, watch for entertainment and listen tofor news. The pervasiveness and strength of this commonality of experience around the globeis key to understanding the emerging global culture because culture is learned and acquiredthrough shared experiences. This is addressed more fully in the following section.
3. Acquiring membership in the emergent global culture
Although the evidence supports the observation of a growing one-world village and therecognition of increased global interdependence, these alone cannot explain either the
emergence of global culture or the degree to which it is being embraced. Mere exposure toglobal currents and access to televisions, radios, films or the products of international trade
alone are insufficient to compel such persons to become members of the emergent globalculture. Indeed, membership in any culture requires more than a simple awareness, or even
acceptance, of certain ideas as fact. For example, one can accept certain notions about theFrench culinary arts and yet not be French, nor even care for French cuisine. Nor would we
call French those persons who simply express an affinity for things French.One of culture’s attributes is its delineation of membership boundaries. Such boundaries
cannot be established absent interaction among a given culture’s members. It is, in part, thisinteraction—the shared experiences that come from working and living in the internationalarena—that gives one membership in the global culture. Absent this interaction, one cannotbe a member of any given culture. As Lasch (1995) notes in his criticism of the world humanrights movements:
. . . the capacity for loyalty is stretched too thin when it tries to attach itself to thehypothetical solidarity of the whole human race. It needs to attach itself to specific peopleand places, not abstract ideals of universal human rights. We love particular men andwomen, not humanity in general (p. 123).
Thus, members of the global culture possess membership because of their attachments toother similarly situated individuals. In this respect, global culture consists of persons who are
A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407 399self-selected. Those people who choose to attach themselves to other members of the global
culture thus become members themselves. Those who do not, or cannot, are not members ofthe global culture. Nevertheless, this notion of self-selection and attachment begs the largerquestion: What is necessary before people can self-select and attach themselves to others inthe global culture? That is, what is the process of enculturation?
Central to the process of enculturation and culture membership is the idea of having ashared experience with others. In the case of global culture, the experience may be the#p#分頁標題#e#
enculturation process itself. It is a process that individuals can experience regardless of thenational culture from which they may have originated. Osland (1995) describes the
enculturation process (although she refers to it in transformational terms) when she likensit to the changes people go through as they venture out on an extended sojourn in another
culture. She frames the experience using Campbell’s (1968) ‘‘myth of the hero’s adventure.’’
The significant point of this analogy is that as people interact with those from another culture,some few undergo a change as they experience new relationships and move toward newattachments. The adjustments required to be effective in these emerging relationships andattachments with people from the new culture lead to fundamental changes in values,attitudes, norms and behavior. Having undergone this transformation, these people then seekout others who have had similar experiences and may then be described as being connected(or attached) with them.
This fundamental shift toward the values, attitudes, norms and behaviors of the new cultureare key to understanding the mechanism by which people come to be viewed, either by
themselves or others, as members of the new culture. Because the underlying process andnature of this transformational experience itself is the same regardless of the culturesinvolved, this gives people a common lens through which the world is understood: acommon set of values, norms, attitudes and behaviors. Each sojourner thus empathizes withevery other sojourner because they all share experiences of once having been an outsider, oftrying to adjust, adapt and otherwise fit in.
Although Osland’s (1995) original focus was on expatriates, her framework suggests thatany extended intensive interaction with another culture can lead to this transformationalexperience. And, because this transition need not be restricted exclusively to national orregional cultures, we see it occurring among the Extreme Game athletes in our opening
example. That is, through their efforts to fit into and adapt to the culture of a particular sport,such as streetblading,2 these athletes transcend their national cultures as they move toward
adopted membership into the street culture of suburban southern California teenagers, amongwhom the sport originated.
We should also note that movement toward membership in a new culture does notnecessarily require direct contact or interaction with current members of that culture. The
widespread diffusion of various cultures—be it national and other—through such media astelevision, movies, videos, music and the internet, makes it possible for new adherents to
2 Streetblading can be described as rollerblading in public areas with a special emphasis on trick skatingmaneuvers involving the use of handrails, rampways, stairs and other atypical skating surfaces.
400 A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407form enclaves without the requirement of direct contact. The result is a cultural Diaspora#p#分頁標題#e#
absent any mass migration.
In addition to the idea of culture as shared experience, culture also involves affiliationsand relations with others. That is, cultures can also be defined as groups of people. At this
level, we are also seeing the emergence of a global culture made up of people who move
in an international and global arena (that is, they are people who are truly global in theirlifestyle), and, as a result, they have attachments to people outside their own countries.
This is in large measure due to the rise in expatriate assignments and the growth in globaltravel. Such people are not passive recipients of a culture that is simply pervaded to them,or that absorbs them, but rather are actively engaged in embracing global culture. Theimplication is that it is possible in this highly mobile age to feel much more closely
attached to (and to have more in common with) people half way around the world than toone’s next-door neighbors. These are people who often describe themselves as beinggenuinely bicultural (or even multicultural). People who fit into this particular strain ofglobal culture are those who may retain their national culture citizenship but would beconsidered to have two passports—one physical passport identifying them as a citizen oftheir home country and one psychological passport identifying them as a broader citizen ofthe world.
But, this latter example digresses. Not all adherents of a new culture necessarily experiencethe transformation that gives rise to membership in the global culture. Nor does the shared
experience of the sojourner’s transformation (and the common lens through which membersof the global culture view the world) require them to give up ‘‘citizenship’’ in their nationalculture. As members of the global culture, they still likely retain much of their nationalculture, especially as it pertains to their life in that culture. Thus, political persuasions,religious views and social preferences colored by the national culture may well remain largelyintact. Nevertheless, we would expect members of the global culture to see the worlddifferently, not as they did before.
4. What do members of the global culture look like?
If members of the global culture retain much of their national culture and behave withinthat cultural milieu much as they did before, then what distinguishes them now? What
common values do they possess? What characteristics do they share beyond that of havinghad some transformational experience? The following list provides a description:

Educated. They typically possess higher levels of education, or at least more advancedthan others at a similar age and standing in life. They are also well informed andknowledgeable about the world and international affairs.

Connected. These are people who use available means of travel and communication to beconnected with the world. This connection may occur physically, such as when they areout traveling the world, or it may occur virtually, such as when they communicate via emailor personal internet web sites.#p#分頁標題#e#
A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407 401

Self-confident. These are also people who, as a result of their experiences and success atoperating in a global world, feel very self-assured. This is a natural outgrowth of the
‘‘heroic adventure’’ they have been on, which leads them to tremendous confidence inthemselves to overcome challenges and obstacles.

Pragmatic. Members of the global culture can also be characterized by their pragmatism.
This is not to say that they are unconcerned with principles, but rather that they aredecidedly concerned with getting things done and have experience at finding creative ornovel ways to accomplish things.

Unintimidated by national Boundaries or cultures. Consistent with their elevated selfconfidence,people who are members of the global culture are unintimidated by nationalcultures or boundaries. Such constructs are not viewed either as obstacles or sources ofanxiety.

Democratic and participatory. These individuals also tend to be more democratic andparticipatory in their orientation toward life generally. This dimension reflects theirwillingness to go out and take the initiative, as well as their expectation that others woulddo the same and work together.

Individualistic but inclusive. Because of their self-confidence, they are comfortable takingthe initiative in an unusual, distinctive or original fashion. They might even be described asidiosyncratic at times. However, they often act in ways that are designed to include ratherthan exclude others.

Flexible and open. These individuals will typically demonstrate good ability to adapt tochange and the unexpected. Indeed, they may even show an adventurous spirit and aproclivity for seeking out novel experiences or new adventures.

Begin from a position of trust. Members of the emergent global culture often begin from aposition of trust when initiating relationships. In this regard, they may be described astolerant but not necessarily approving of others.
5. Impact of emerging global culture on national culture
We have addressed a particular strain of emerging global culture that is often viewed asthreatening to national culture. Indeed, much of the backlash that we see (Harrison and
Huntington, 2000) reflects a more fundamental perception of the threat that national culturesare under assault—or even in danger of going extinct. We see at least three possibleexplanations for this perceived threat.
First, members of national cultures are viewed as defecting. In this view, national culturesare believed to represent a set of solutions to fundamental problems of physical and socialexistence that embody deeply held values and beliefs about what is good and proper in theworld. In this regard, they constitute a worldview, a notion of how the world not only doesbut also should operate. When that worldview no longer works or is threatened from outside,the national culture faces one of two options: adjust or collapse. Departures are thus seen asdefections and suggest that for a growing portion of their respective populations, thecherished national culture is no longer adequate. Members of a national culture who thus#p#分頁標題#e#
402 A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407come to embrace the emergent global culture would be perceived as persons who have
rejected, even renounced, their national cultural identity even though the supposed defectorsmight be quite astonished to hear themselves referred to in this manner.
Second, the fabric of national culture is being torn as tension between members andnonmembers of the global class increases. Tension grows between such members andnonmembers because those not in the global class recognize that in various ways they arenot connected to the larger world, nor do they necessarily want to be connected. This tensionalso grows because those not in the emergent global class are not informed regarding thelarger world and may develop a sense of alienation and fear of the influences from the broaderworld. As a result, even greater differences between members of national culture and globalculture are likely to emerge.
Finally, global culture is overwhelming national culture. This observation suggests that thecurrents moving the world towards globalization are overwhelming national cultures, pushing
them farther and farther toward the periphery of irrelevance. Indeed, Ohmae (1996) assertsthat in the 21st century we will stand up and salute the corporate flag, that nation states willbe of no consequence. The increasing fragmentation of nations and societies suggests thatnational cultures may very well be moving toward obsolescence. Just as environmentalists areconcerned about the disappearance of ecological diversity, critics such as Paz (1985) bemoanthe homogenizing effects of a one-world culture and distress over the implications of a loss ofnational and regional cultural diversity as the world moves toward globalization.
6. Some concluding observations
The identification of an emerging global culture presents several challenges for bothscholars and practitioners. Three implications stand out with regard to theorizing aboutculture and international business. First, our theories of cultural influence and interaction needto be more sophisticated and take into consideration the multiple cultures that people bringwith them to an organizational setting (Sackman et al., 1997) and the impact of those differentcultural identities for within-culture interactions as well as between-culture interactions. More
broadly, we need to recognize the influence of the emergent global culture on within-cultureinteractions between global and nonglobal employees. Ultimately, this may require paying
more attention to personal, rather than cultural, factors when analyzing interpersonalphenomena in organizations.
This also seems to suggest that greater emphasis needs to be placed upon explicating thecore values that global managers hold because such values will not be easily discernable from
the traditional markers of age, ethnic group, national origin and so on. Much like the athletesin our Extreme Games example, global managers will tend to have values that are more incommon with other global managers than with those of their own countries of origin, makingit much more difficult to assume that the traditional sets of underlying values, beliefs and#p#分頁標題#e#
attitudes are operating in any given situation.
Globalization is leading to significant cultural cross-pollination. Thus, cultures do notoperate as uncorrelated independent variables, even though we have historically treated them
A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407 403this way. For example, studies examining U.S. and Mexican business practices would
typically be analyzed as though Mexican and U.S. cultures are independent. But they arenot. As such, the interaction (or cross-pollination) between U.S. and Mexican cultures
through the years has created a unique dynamic that currently influences US–Mexicaninteractions. In contrast, there is little contamination between Mexico and Nigeria, such that it
may be more reasonable to treat those two cultures as independent. However, with increasing
globalization, even this distinction could soon be disappearing.
There are also important managerial implications that derive from the emergence of aglobal culture. The presence of emerging global culture seems likely to have an obviousimpact on staffing and selection. The emergence of a global culture appears to have obviouslyrelevant implications for the staffing and selection function of businesses. For instance, ourearlier discussion regarding what members of the global culture look like suggests a numberof specific competencies that could be used as the basis for making more effective hiring and
internal placement or promotion decisions for jobs that require an elevated degree of globalawareness. That is, such traits as self-confidence, pragmatism, flexibility and openness, as
well as a greater capacity for trust, would thus appear to be very desirable traits for candidatesunder consideration for such jobs. Traditional hiring techniques (e.g., interviewing, personalitytesting, paper-and-pencil inventories, assessment center simulations and past workhistories) would thus need to be modified in order to validly take stock of the degree to which
candidates possess these desired competencies. Further research would thus be called for toensure not only the content validity of such a domain of global competencies but also toascertain the predictive validity of the subsequently adapted selection techniques as well.
The presence of emerging global culture may impact training and development. If we are
to consider the new domain of emerging global competencies as being desirable for relevant
staffing and selection decisions, then we must also consider the question of whether or not it
would be desirable (or even possible) to train for such competencies. One particular concern
with this course of action, however, is the recognition that training and development hashistorically had much greater success when focusing on the acquisition of knowledge, skillsand abilities rather than personality traits or predispositions (Stevens and Campion, 1994).
Thus, even if one accepts the assertion that it is desirable to have global managers who aremore flexible and trusting, for example, the questions must still be asked as to whether or notthe content and pedagogy of traditional training and development programs would beadequate for such a challenge (although encouraging research along these lines is emergingin the area of emotional intelligence acquisition; see Goleman, 1998, as an example).Similarly, we must also examine related questions such as: How should the performance#p#分頁標題#e#
evaluation system be modified and how should career paths be managed in order to leveragethe acquisition of desirable competencies in order to successfully navigate in the emergingglobal culture? Additional research in the area of international human resource managementis also needed to determine the appropriate answers to such questions.
Local globals may find it difficult, possibly more difficult, to work with local nonglobals.Nonglobals may be less trusting of local globals, creating unique challenges for integration as
well as coordination and control. Multinational companies have always had to work toovercome the schisms between local and expatriate managers. Recognition of an emerging404 A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407global culture and the concomitant emergence of two tiers—global and nonglobal—withinorganizations suggest that the critical schism may no longer be expatriate vs. local, butbetween local globals vs. nonglobals.
Reflecting on the current state of affairs we are left with a host of questions. Cancorporations replace nation states? We have our doubts. Are national cultures necessary and
inevitable? We are reluctant to hazard a guess, however, the historical answer appears to be‘‘no.’’ National cultures in large measure reflect the artificial conceit of the era of nationstates. Indeed, most of the fragmentation we currently witness in the world is the reaction ofethnic and/or regional cultural groups who feel constrained or oppressed by imaginary lines
of national boundaries.
Can the emerging global culture replace national cultures—in effect, rendering themobsolete? We believe this is the most interesting question. However, discussions surrounding
this last question cannot be pursued without inevitably raising the larger question whether ornot one culture may be viewed as more successful—at least in some relativistic ways—thananother. For example, one might argue that a culture is more successful if it has greateradaptive capacity. In this view, cultures reflect a community’s adaptive responses to thesurrounding environment. Consequently, cultures that are able to maintain their adaptiveprowess over time could thus be described as more likely to be successful than cultures thatcannot adapt and maintain themselves over time. If one accepts the criteria, or standard, ofadaptation and survival implied in this evolutionary perspective, then this establishes aframework within which we can discuss one culture’s greater success relative to another’s.Such a perspective also recognizes that cultures may be more successful at one point in timebut not at another. For example, one could view Greek culture as more successful when it wasadaptive and thrived, whereas it later moved to a state of subordination as it succumbed to theoverwhelming culture of Rome.
We might also consider a culture as more successful by the criteria of broadness of appeal.#p#分頁標題#e#
This thesis posits that a more successful culture is one that is attractive to those not reared init. In other words, when given a choice, do people prefer one culture over another? Certainly,in our modern era we have seen vast movements of immigrants as people leave one nationalculture and move to another. Although the United States stands out as an obvious example, itis not the only illustration. In Asia, many immigrants have flocked to Japan, to the extent thatimmigration to that country was possible. Similar patterns of migration can be found acrossthe globe and through the ages. Of course, the counterargument here is that these populationmovements are driven primarily by economic success. However, such an argument only takesus back to the prior evolutionary argument that some cultures are more adaptive at beingeconomically successful. Thus, to the degree that economic success is of broad human appeal,
then a national culture that could not deliver economic success would be viewed as lesssuccessful than a more economically prosperous culture. In this sense, one culture’s greaterappeal over another’s (with economics as just one possible basis for this appeal) would be auseful criteria for establishing the greater success of one culture over another, at least in arelativistic way. In sum, if the degree to which the emerging global culture is both moreadaptive and more attractive, then we must conclude that it is indeed acting to obsolescenational and regional cultures.A. Bird, M.J. Stevens / Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 395–407 405
We believe there is value in asking the question ‘‘Are some cultures more successful thanothers?’’ If nothing else, such a question forces us to define what we mean by culture and toidentify important elements and ways of thinking about culture (that is, it forces us toexplicate our criteria). Such a discussion seems relevant now more than ever because we areseeing the dissolution and extinction of some ethnic and national cultures. Does all of thissuggest that we are moving to a single, homogeneous global culture? We believe the answeris no. Although the move toward an emerging global culture may mean that national culturesare experiencing a degree of erosion, it does not necessarily mean that they are being erased.
As Stegner (1993) points out, cultures are remarkably enduring and persistent:Habit and attitudes that have come to us embedded in our inherited culture, especially ourinherited language, come incorporated in everything from nursery rhymes to laws andprayers, and they often have the durability of flint pebbles in puddingstone. No matter how
completely the old matrix is dissolved, they remain intact, and are almost unchanged in the
strata of the new culture (p. 99).
Thus, it would appear that we will always have some core elements of national culturesthat, even though things are changing at an overall global level, may demonstrate a high levelof persistence.
In conclusion, we find ourselves returning to where we started. Why is this emerging trendtoward a global culture happening and is its obsolescing effect on national cultures good or#p#分頁標題#e#
bad? Although our discussions may never adequately answer such questions, we have triednevertheless to point to criteria that informed thinkers can use, both explicitly and implicitly,to explore these issues. If we recognize that cultures operate in dynamic environments, thatthey ebb and flow, that they emerge and die, then it strikes us that core aspects of successfulcultures may persist and take root in new and emerging cultures. We have described anemergent global culture that includes tolerance and inclusivity among its core values. The
resultant image is not of a global village, replete with its notions of smallness and similarity.
We much prefer the image of a Bedouin tent, capable of expanding and making room formore. In the final analysis, we remain intrigued by the notion of being freed from theconstraints of individual culture while capturing the myriad benefits—the insights, theperspectives, the ways of seeing, the ways of knowing and the ways of doing—that each
culture is capable of contributing to this world. As Davis (1999) points out:In the end the cultures that survive will be those that are willing and able to embrace the
new on their own terms, while rejecting anything that implies the total violation of theirway of life (p. 89).
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Meetings of the Academy of International Business, Southwest Chapter.
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