National and Regional Cultures Impact - Essay Example

The Impact of and Responses to Globalised ‘Big Business’ on International and Regional Cultures Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Name Date of Submission The Impact of and Responses to Globalised ‘Big Business’ on International and Regional Cultures Globalization is one of the most discussed events in recent time. The increased interest in globalization is attributed to the impacts of globalization on society. Today, the world is considered a global village with no boundaries. The globalization has particularly made it possible for big businesses to pursue opportunities outside their home countries (Friedman 2007, p. 157). This results on the introduction of a new culture to the foreign countries where they venture. Although globalization of big businesses brings benefits to the countries where they expand, there has been a growing concern about the negative impacts of globalized businesses on the regional and national cultures. This document will examine the impacts of and response of globalized big businesses on the regional and national cultures. In so doing, the document will use McDonalds and Ugg Australia as case examples to demonstrate how these businesses have impacted negatively on the Australian cultures and proceed to describe the responses that businesses ought to use to overcome the negative impacts on the cultures of Australian people. Summary of Views Presented By Authors Globalization is one of the biggest events that have happened in recent times. Although there is no single agreeable definition for the concept, Friedman (2007, p. 158) defines globalization as the integration of corporations, people, and governments of different nations. Globalization is driven mainly by investment and trade with the help of technology. With globalization, big businesses are increasingly looking for opportunities to exploit in foreign countries. Currently, most large companies operate not only in their home countries, but also in the international countries. However, Friedman (2007, p. 158) is concerned that, the increased expansion of big businesses to other countries is having profound negative impacts on the national and regional cultures. In particular, Friedman notes that, some countries have been forced to abandon their consumption culture because of the influence of the big multinational companies. Archer (2007, p. 5) supported Friedman’s view arguing that, in most countries, people have lost their traditional values by adopting the westernized values. These include clothing, food and language among others. Ghemawat and Reiche (2011) also noted that, big companies, such as McDonalds have eroded the traditional cultural values of most societies through the introduction of the junk food eating culture. Because these negative impacts are affecting most societies, the three authors feel that it is the responsibility of big companies to ensure that, as much as they seek to generate profits, they should work towards protecting the cultural heritage of the people, where they establish their businesses. Impacts of Big Businesses on National and Regional Cultures Despite the benefits that big companies bring to foreign countries in the form of direct investments, there is a growing concern among scholars regarding the negative impacts of these large businesses on the national and regional cultures of the people. Firstly, food is one of the elements that define the culture of people. Different societies have different foods that define their cultural heritage. However, Tomlinson (2003, p. 269) noted that, with increased globalization of big businesses, certain societies are being influenced by the western companies to the extent that they end up adopting the western foods instead of their cultural foods. For instance, Ghemawat and Reiche (2011) noted that the expansion of McDonalds into foreign countries have resulted in the introduction of the fast food eating cultures in many countries. However, the negative impact of this is that many cultures have been forced to live their traditional foods, which they once cherished for western foods. For instance, Archer (2007, p. 6) noted that most Chinese people today eat mainly the fast food introduced by big companies such as McDonalds instead of their traditional foods. The globalization of big businesses is also impacting negatively on the national and regional cultures by introducing the Western values to different parts of the world, thereby eroding regional and national cultures. Tomlinson (2003, p. 270) noted that the increased expansion of big companies from the western countries, such as the U.S. has resulted in the loss of group identity in some parts of the world. The western companies, such as those from the United States have been seen to impact negatively on the local people in countries where they operate by introducing the individualistic ideologies. For instance, Archer (2007, p. 7) noted that, the Chinese people who has adopted group identity for centuries is increasingly becoming more individualistic due to the influence that the Western companies is having on the Chinese people. The expansion of big businesses into the foreign countries has also been observed to impact negatively on the local population by disrupting family unity. Ghemawat and Reiche (2011) observed that big multinational companies are impacting negatively on the cultures of the local people by causing population shift. For instance, because most multinational companies establish their businesses in urban centers, this impacts negatively on the family unity by encouraging rural to urban migration of the younger generation that is in search of a job. As such, the older generation is left back in the rural areas to take care of children. In the end, this population shift result in the loss of traditional cultural behaviors (Russel and Valenzuela 2005, p. 87). In Australia, for instance, the increase in international businesses in urban areas has seen the younger population from the Aboriginal communities move in large number to cities and towns in search of jobs in these companies (Ghemawat and Reiche 2011). As such, they end up leaving their children to their old relatives and parents. This results in discontinuity of the Aboriginal cultural values. Responses or Approaches That Can Be Used By Businesses to Overcome or Deal With These Forms of Impact Although big multinational businesses have continued to erode the local cultures of the countries they expand businesses in as highlighted above, it is important for managers of multinational businesses to understand that responding appropriately to local business cultures is important for business success. Firstly, as noted in above, big businesses are impacting negatively on the consumer cultures in a big way. In particular, food culture is the most affected by the globalization of businesses as seen with McDonalds and other large restaurants. Therefore, the best way to respond to such negative impacts is for big multinational companies to demonstrate respect for the local cultures by introducing the local style cuisines alongside other meals (Tomlinson (2003, p. 272). Doing so will make local company be seen by consumers as one of their own. McDonalds has done this in countries, such as India, where McDonalds serve lamb instead of beef as a respect to the Indian food culture. Big businesses can also deal effectively with the criticism associated with the interference with the identity of the local population by ensuring that the foreign business culture is not used on foreigners. For instance, Archer (2007, p. 7) noted that most western companies tend to introduce individualism ideologies in foreign countries where they operate. Because this impacts negatively on some local cultures, especially those that believes in group identity, big businesses can respond by effectively by ensuring that the ideologies and values held by the local population is upheld and respected. This might require big companies employing some managers from the local population to promote local culture and values in the company. Lastly, as elaborated above, big multinational companies are impacting negatively on the local population by disrupting the family unity (Ghemawat and Reiche 2011). Although there is nothing much that a multinational company can do to address this impact, the best thing that a company can do is to ensure that the local employees that are employed by a company are provided with good housing that can enable them to migrate with their families from rural areas. This is because the disruption of family unity is mainly caused when one family member is forced to live alone in urban centers because of inability to relocate with their family member. Therefore, providing affordable or free accommodation to employees can help overcome the negative impact associated with disruption of family unity. How McDonalds and Ugg Australia Responds to the Aussie’s Local Culture McDonalds and Ugg are amongst the most successful multinational companies in the world. Whereas McDonalds operates in the food industry, Ugg operates in the footwear industry. Since McDonalds set food in Australia in the 1970s with a single restaurant, McDonalds has increased its franchises and currently operate more than 900 restaurants in the country (Oches 2010). Although McDonalds has been criticized on many occasions for serving unhealthy food to Australians, McDonalds has done exceptionally well by developing successful marketing strategies and responding effectively to the Australian local culture. McDonalds has responded effectively to the Australia culture by introducing Australian local delicacy. McDonalds responded to the Australian culture by introducing the Mc Oz burger, bacon and BBQ sauces. Because of the strong coffee culture in Australia, McDonalds responded positively to the Aussie’s consumers by introducing coffee as part of its product offerings (Oches 2010). Currently, McDonalds operates a total of 608 coffee shops in Australia, which effectively make the largest coffee restaurant in Australia. Like McDonalds, Ugg Australia has also responding effectively to the Australian culture by obeying the local population’s cultural heritage. Because Australian people like products made from Australian products, Ugg Australia has responded effectively to the Australian culture by manufacturing footwear that are made purely from the Australian sheepskin (Ugg Australia 2014). The company has ensured it not only manufacture quality products to respond to Australian needs, but also manufacture its products using Australian raw materials. In fact, the company reveals that its success in the Australian market is largely attributed to the fact that it respects and responds effectively to the cultural needs of the Australian people. Conclusion Globalization is undoubtedly one of the biggest events that have occurred in the recent time. Globalization has particularly brought different nations, companies and individuals closer together. Large companies are the major beneficiaries of globalization. This is because globalization has helped open boarders for big companies to exploit opportunities in international markets. However, the big companies are seen to impact negatively on local cultures of countries by interfering with the consumer culture, family unity and values, such as group identity. However, it is critical for big companies to understand that, for them to succeed in foreign countries; they should minimize the negative impacts on the local cultures as is being done by McDonalds and Ugg that have responded effectively to the Australian culture by introducing Australian products. References Archer, K. 2007. Locating globalizations and cultures. Globalisations, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 1-14. Friedman, B. A. 2007. Globalisation implications for human resource management roles. Employee Responsibilities & Rights Journal, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 157-171. Ghemawat, P & Reiche, S 2011, ‘National cultural differences and multinational business’, AACSB, Globalization Note Series, viewed 28 August 2015 Oches, S 2010, McDonald’s down under, viewed 28 August 2015 http://www.qsrmagazine.com/franchisees/down-under Russel, C. A. and Valenzuela, A. 2005. Global consumption: (How) does culture matter? Advances in Consumer Research, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 86-89. Tomlinson, J 2003, Globalization and cultural identity, pp. 269-277, viewed 28 August 2015 http://arsiv.setav.org/ups/dosya/27905.pdf Ugg Australia 2014, Our story, viewed 28 August 2015 https://www.uggaustralia.com.au/about/our-story Read More