Organizational Theory
“In the reading of chapter 3, I came across a section that struck me as disturbing. On page 75, quote: ” Cultural homogenization is one widely feared affect of the globalizing economy as English, the language of business, becomes increasingly commonplace along with blue jeans, training shoes and American fast food.” This would insinuate that the United States is a “big bully”. Are we? Do we insist on English being the language of business because that makes us more comfortable or because we are such a world power that we can inflect ourselves upon other nations? Or do other countries idolize us to the point that they conform to our customs? I don’t like the thought of being so overbearing that a country will change their customs just to do business with us, by the same token I don’t want to change for them either. Why can’t we embrace each other’s diversity and just revel in the differences?”
My response;
I think we need to take a close look at the semantics of business and then discuss the current changes in the global economy when analyzing cultural homogenization. Look at the expressed meaning and interpretation of the complex constructions of signs and the derived meanings from the said signs. Signs being as ubiquitous as one can imagine. Just like an alphabet, letters and characters have implied meaning that is specific to the culture in which is utilizing the set alphabet of their preference. Signs and symbols have different denotations and connotations depending on where one is raised and one’s exposure to culture. As we continually shape and form the knowledge based economy we are currently operating in, people are adapting and perpetuating the new evolution and interpretation of semantics on a global scale. “Think of a global alphabet of sorts” As in business semantics, we live in a world that is based on highly intergraded information systems. An information system can be a data warehouse that stores the data mined from crawling websites or one’s personal data files digitally filed on her PC. The internet is the new “Silk Road” for trade and commerce on a global scale that is currently in the process of shaping the interconnectivity of the world-wide marketplace. Analyze the web ontology, as in the graphical relationships and networks associated with the internet. There is still a language barrier between nations, however the way in which individuals interact on the web sets up the crux of the convergence for this cultural paradigm shift towards a global marketplace in which there is a medium in which a number of information assets are being exchanged and the signs and symbols being used become increasingly universal in appeal and understanding. Context is king! We are currently in a state where we are establishing the nature of knowledge in working with knowledge intelligence as in the cataloging, retrieval, and dissemination of data with full text, parametric, and hybrid search engines. People are metadata tagging bits of personal and business information for the web each and every day without really understanding what they are doing and the effect that is happening when they do it. Take for instance when one posts a pic on a social networking site or on their personal webpage, the individual usually assigns a title to the picture and usually tags who is in the photograph and where the photograph was taken, etc. By doing this and submitting it online, the search engines crawls through the websites and recognizes these new information bits and assimilates them into a global catalog that can be accessed by virtually anyone in the universe. So next time someone types in your name or the location of where the photograph was taken, your picture could come up. What I am trying to achieve in this post is that the language of business is electronic and whether you speak English or not becomes ancillary. In electronic commerce you have matchmaking, negotiation, content formation, and content fulfillment. It isn’t necessarily about the conforming to US customs as it is about understanding and integrating oneself in the context of the changing climate of how one does business in the information based economy. If one loses diversity in their own customs its probably because either a) something else is more appealing in their quest to establish individuality in this world full of collectivism or b) it is the byproduct of becoming “efficient” through competition on the continual goal of maximizing revenue.
I think the statement you find distrubing shows that writers limited view of what really happens. It’s not that culture becomes homogenius but rather more expansive and varied. Take a look at just the U.S. It’s one of the most culturally diverse places on earth.
What happens is that you create a marketplace for culture and ideas. It allows not only the best ideas to surface but it creates a lot of opportunity for mixing and matching.
Second, there is a slam at the English language but it is in fact a lanuage that quickly grows and adapts. We’re now over a million words in the English dictionary. In some respects, I think the value of multiple languages is highly overrated. We have a single language of mathematics and it seems to work pretty well.
Steve Rosenbaum
January 27, 2008
In my opinion, I feel that the U.S. is becoming more deficient in its culture than ever before. I think we need to look at the word and examine that to have a “culture” one must have something to cultivate, to grow, like a farmer tilling the land and growing vegetables or that of a student enriching his/her mind with books and lectures. I feel that we don’t grow anything in the U.S. , we merely try to package the U.S. and the “American Way” in a shiny package with a nice ribbon and upon opening to find that the package is empty. Like a television show that has no content or a football game that is more spectacle than sport. The list can go on and on. There is an absence of originality, nothing authentic to see. Everything has been exploited for monetary profit. Although I do agree with your statement “the English language is in fact a language that quickly grows and adapts,” I feel it is important to preserve all languages and respect the tradition that has been associated with the said languages.
WashingtonIV
January 27, 2008
I travel a lot and work with people in different parts of the country. What I find is that there isn’t a single American culture, there are many. America is a melding of cultures and a place were new culture can immerge.
Here’s a quick test. What does the average American look like?
The answer is that an American can look like anything. American’s are every color, race and ethnic background. This is something you really can’t say about most other countries of the world. It’s even a simple as what’s American food. The only cuisine that started in America is barbeque. There are also a number of foods that started on this continent and they’ve spread into other cultures, like tomatoes. American’s play all kinds of music but only a small amount have their origins here.
Let’s take something as American as chicken fried steak. Where does it come from? It comes from German immigrants in Texas who created a version of Weiner Schnitzel.
So if there is an American way it’s to blend cultures.
Steve Rosenbaum
January 27, 2008
The “American Way” has been perverted to the point that culture is nothing more than a reality show, a video game, or a sound bite of news; a passing fad that changes according to the season. The blending is no more than a pr campaign that assigns each nationality a month for reflection. This blending of cultures and assimilation into the melting pot is nothing more than a myth, perhaps a theme for a restaurant or a new demographic to exploit with advertising. Multiculturalism views this assimilation as harmful to minorities, and through mass-media inoculation, ultimately stripping their distinctive features, such as their culture and language. As I have written in my previous posts, authenticity plays a crucial role in establishing and preserving culture.
If America does anything to culture, I feel it waters down and dilutes its essence.
WashingtonIV
January 28, 2008
You missed my point. There is no such thing as American Culture. There are thousands of American cultures and there always has been. Take a trip to San Francisco and then Mobile and tell me it’s the same country. Then try El Passo and Buffalo. How about Minneapolis and Memphis?
The language is different, the food is different, the music is different, the ethnic make up is different.
What’s unique about American cultures is that people who are so vastly different can live together.
What America does is compete in the world of cultures and almost always wins.
To prevent this, you need to shut off every avenue of free exchange. I think there’s very little American culture in North Korea.
Steve Rosenbaum
January 28, 2008
I think when you start examining culture on the basis of wins or losses, you further distort what culture is and its place in society. Culture isn’t a zero sum game. America wins because it’s nothing more than an intoxicating fabricated illusion that is pushed on the world. American culture is “hustled” like a drug that one has little resistance to. I do feel that there is an American Culture, however it is nothing more than mainstream pop culture. I have traveled the globe and can give assertions that whether you are in El Paso or Buffalo, there isn’t that much of a difference. We live in a homogeneous culture. The populous can live in unison because they willingly accept carbon copy lifestyles. Carbon Copy referring to identical strip malls, WalMarts, McDonalds, Starbucks, Banks of America, etc… We have the illusion of freedom, as we have the illusion of culture. Of course there will be differences in landscape and attractions, but the prevailing theme is self-evident. Although we may live together, we are all segregated by class/education/age/ethinicty which in turn negate the positive connotation associated with cultural diversity. We live in a world where the media defines us. It tells us who we are and we reflect this in how we live and act. More people know about The Simpsons cartoon show then the U.S. Constitution, which is the very foundation of this country. Ask yourself if you can recite the Bill of Rights, even the gist of more than one of the amendments. I am not asking to insult your intelligence, but to question the basis of our discussions and how you perceive culture.
WashingtonIV
January 28, 2008
Not only can I recite the Bill of Rights, I’m familiar with all 27 amendments. I’ve read the Federalist papers. I also know about the impact of Marbury versus Madison on the interpretation of the constitution. Quick quiz..what’s the 27th amendment…
Answer Limits on Congressional Pay.
Your list of companies that change the world is very short. Let me add some of the others…Disney, GE, IBM, Microsoft, A&M Records, Universal Studios, CitiBank, Boeing,Merck,Pfeizer,Eli Lily, Proctor and Gamble, Sears,Ebay,Amazon.com,Yahoo,Google,America Online,General Mills, Dell,HP,Kodak,Estee Lauder,Levis Straus,Exxon Mobile, FedEx, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Marriot, Hilton, Radisson, Hyatt, Intel, International Paper…and the list goes on and on. Everyone of these is a household name.
If you come back in ten years, you’ll find another 50 names on this list that don’t exist today. Growth, Expansion, Opportunity and Freedom is the real American culture.
Steve Rosenbaum
January 28, 2008