Global Business Cultural Analysis: Case of Singapore - Research Paper Example

Besides the business aspect, Singapore benefits from a relatively stable, albeit extremely hot, climate, numerous leisure and entertainment options, world-class health care facilities, and internationally renowned and recognized educational institutions and opportunities (Ong & Serwe, 2013). All of these components combine to make Singapore an attractive country and region from a business perspective.
Historical Background
Singapore has not always been an economic powerhouse worthy of global consideration. In the 14th century, for example, the entire island country was basically a tiny fishing village referred to as a Temasek. Outside of the fishing industry, there was really no other sustainable source of livelihood afforded to inhabitants. Even the little significance that the region had in terms of its fishing capability was severely diminished in the centuries following the 1300s as the west coast of Malaysia grew in region prominence in this area. Singapore remained relatively unnoticed on a global scale until the United Kingdom began to develop an interest in the deepwater ports present throughout the region in the early 19th century (Soh & Yuen, 2011).
As the paper tells, it was in 1819 that Sir Stamford Raffles, director of the then British East India Company, went to Singapore to officially establish a trading post in the area. Britain actually gained Singapore as a territorial possession in 1824 and immediately set to work on establishing the island as a major regional trade city. As much of the land at the time was largely uninhabitable, they began this process of creating mangroves out of the vast area of wetlands. They did this in remarkably rapid fashion and it was not long before Singapore began to thrive and many saw the region as becoming a potential regional business hub at the time. It was also, largely as a result of this British influence, that thousands of Chinese, Indian, Malay, and other Asian ethnic migrants began to flock to the region (Talib, 2013).