Internet and Societies of Non-Western Nations - Literature review Example

Internet and Societies of Non-Western Nations Internet seems to have impacted a number ofaspects all over the globe such as; economy, marketing, communication and global cultures. The following essay assesses the fact that internet has not only helped the business and technology of Western societies to grow at a global scale but it has also nourished the societies of non-western nations and introduced them to the global market. IMPACTS OF INTERNET Since the advent of the internet, the world has witnessed a number of changes in the way things are done. Internet has possibly been one of the biggest factors responsible for the style of living of people all around the globe. Before the arrival of internet, no one would have imagined one should shop, do banking, communicate with people all around the world and do so many more things merely through a few movements of the finger tips (Lengert 2000). Today, social networking websites seem to have turned the whole world into one single social platform where people belonging to different cultures and ethnicities communicate with each other and promote each other’s cultures (Tomlinson 1999). According to Hermeking (2005), significant influences of international cultures can be seen all over the internet today. Cross cultural marketing is being done to promote products from countries all over the globe including the non-western nations. Internet may be regarded as one of the reasons behind the increasing trend of globalization in the world (Slevin 2000). It can be said that internet has become one of the best sources for any kind of information and communication throughout the world has become very easy after the advent of the internet. Business entities seem to have put internet to use at its maximum potential and still a number of possibilities of innovative use of the internet pop up every day (Lengert 2000). So many significant business entities all around the globe have put their products on their website and users can easily view the features of the products and buy them online. Some of the significant organizations that conduct online business are Walmart and Amazon. Internet has made online businesses very easy and the best thing about using this resource is that it is not limited to a single society or a nation, internet can be used by anyone all around the globe and this has given the opportunity to non-western nations to introduce their products to other parts of the world. Internet has not only helped non-western nations promote their cultures internationally through internet but it has also helped them boost their economies through the exposure of their potential in the global market (Slevin 2000). The internet is being used widely as a primary source for real time information all over the globe therefore it has become significantly easy for western entrepreneurs to access information regarding non-western nations, their human resource and the way business is conducted in such nations (Lengert 2000). The real time availability of such information has helped the non-western nations to present their potential to the international market and it has increased the probability of investment in non-western nations. IMPACT OF INTERNET ON BUSINESS OF NON-WESTERN NATIONS Internet has played a very important role in promoting business of non-western nations in the global market. Internet is one of the reasons behind the increasing trend of Foreign Direct Investment in underdeveloped countries. Following is the analysis of increasing trend of international investment in non-western countries. Internet and Multinational Entities As mentioned earlier, internet may be one of the biggest drivers of globalization. The exposure of the potential of the non-western nations to the international investment drove the attention of multinational entities to such countries (Park & Jun 2003). With the development in internet, it can be observed that investment in underdeveloped countries has increased by a significant degree. Countries that were previously unexplored and isolated from international markets might become the prioritized avenues of multinational entities for investment due to rising trend of internet marketing. This diversion of the attention of multinational entities towards underdeveloped countries is also helping in stabilizing and equalizing the global economy (Hermeking 2005). The countries that were previously very poor due to unexploited potential are now on the track of development because multinational entities are helping them improve their economy by providing them tools through which they can utilize their own resources in an optimum manner. Uneven distribution of resources might cause inequality of wealth among countries. Some countries might be extremely rich while others might be extremely poor. For example; African countries are economically weak and the living standards of Africa people are below the acceptable line. Due to the advent of internet, people are becoming aware regarding the situation of African economy and this has boosted the monetary aids to African countries from all over the globe. Multinational entities consider it their social obligation to help the underdeveloped countries therefore they have also diverted their investment to such countries (Giddens 2006). Thus it can be said that internet promoted the situation of underdeveloped countries and brought them to the attention of multinational entities which in turn initiated investments in such countries. The investment by multinational entities helps in improving the economies of underdeveloped countries by increasing the employment opportunities and increased economic activity. Internet and Foreign Direct Investment in Non-Western Nations It has been observed in the recent past that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in non-western nations has increased by a significant degree and this increase can be linked to the increased exposure of such countries to the international investors through internet. As mentioned earlier, multinational entities have increased their investments in underdeveloped countries because they have realized that there is so much unexploited potential in such countries (Lengert 2000). Foreign Direct Investments result in an increased economic activity which in turn translates into an increased Gross Domestic Product. The GDP of a country is representative of the strength of its economy and the increase in GDP caused by FDI shows that investment by international investors are helping in stabilizing the economies of underdeveloped countries. There are certain problems that are faced by international investors in making investments in another country, specifically a non-western nation. Such problems include; uncertainty about the culture of the region, lack of information about the social trends, lack of information about the way business is conduction in the region and the potential of human resource in that region (Hermeking 2005). These problems have also been solved by the internet to an extent. An investor can easily track down information about the culture of any place on the planet. It is very important for investors because the success of an investment depends upon the acceptance of the product in the region. Investors can also retrieve information regarding the social trends, cultural norms, market trends and human resource of that region from the internet. Thus, it can be inferred that internet has helped in increasing the FDI in certain unexploited regions and it has also helped the investors in retrieving essential information about the region in which investment is done. Internet and Local Businesses in Non-Western Countries According to Giddens (2006), it is evident that internet is not creating new cultural values but it is strengthening the current cultural values. Thus, it can be said that cultures that were previously hidden from global vision are now appearing in the global markets. Small scale organizations in non-western organizations corroborate this fact that internet strengthens cultures of non-western countries. Internet has turned out to be a great marketing tool for small business organizations in non-western nations. For example; in United Arab Emirates internet marketing is being used at its optimum. For organizations in UAE, internet is one of the biggest tools for marketing purposes. The human resource in most of the organizations based in UAE is from foreign countries. The recruitment of diverse employees by UAE employers has been possible through extensive marketing over the internet. Employment advertisements on the internet have led the organizations in the UAE to hire and utilize a diverse workforce. Apart from acquiring a diverse workforce, the internet has also provided the organizations in non-western countries to promote their businesses in international markets. Apart from the trade of tangible goods, people are also hiring different kind of services from foreign organizations. This has also been possible due to the internet. Organizations promote the services they provide over the internet and users from all over the globe can access that information. As a result, users can acquire different services from any organization all over the globe. Services that have been successfully promoted over the internet include; custom designing, architecture, software engineering and other information based services. Small business organizations are also doing business internationally through internet. For example; small software engineering firms in India and other non-western countries are providing their services to users all over the globe. Thus, it can be inferred that internet has helped small scale organizations in boosting their businesses all over the world (Park & Jun 2003). INTERNET AND CULTURE OF NON-WESTERN NATIONS Apart from impacting the business and economies of non-western societies, internet has also promoted the cultures of such societies internationally. There are a number of ways through which internet has helped such societies promote their culture throughout the globe. A culture of a nation is represented by its ethics, religion, language, values, rituals and art. These factors collectively form a culture of a region. The world is already aware of the western culture due to the visual arts produced in the West which are appreciated all around the globe however the non-western cultures did not have any platform to be represented in the world before the advent of the internet. According to Hermeking (2000), the recent advancements in technology have not only resulted in the increase in exchange of industrial or technological products but it has also increased the cultural influence on the products that are exchanged. For example; if a product is imported in a non-western society from a western society and the product has all the attributes of western culture, it is actually an allowance of western culture to enter in the non-western society. In this manner, goods and technology can influence the exchange of cultures as well. The social networking websites have also helped the non-western societies to promote their cultures at a global platform. Through such websites, people from all across the globe interact with each other. These websites are designed in such a manner that the information shared on these websites is just like as in a social meeting therefore people share information about themselves which is representatives of the cultures to which they belong. Photo sharing has also made it easier for such societies to share their culture with the world. As mentioned earlier, cultural influence can easily be observed in the product design. The way the product is designed for use represents the social and cultural values of the users of such products. Similarly, the influence of culture can also be observed in the design of websites from different countries (Lengert 2000). Even the manner these websites are designed represent the culture of the place where they are designed. Different factors in a website describe the culture of the region such as; technical, economic, symbolic, aesthetic and social factors. All these factors contribute in the satisfaction of the users. In order to make a website user friendly, it has to be made in accordance with the culture of the users. According to Hermeking (2000), a website can be said to be well designed when it communicates the right information at the right place with the right layout at the right time in accordance with the culture of the users of the website. Thus, the culture of a society is well reflected by a website designed in the society. Therefore, the culture of non-western societies is being promoted by the design of the websites alone. The content of the website adds to the concreteness of the culture and promotes the culture in its entirety. Thus, when a user from some other culture in the world accesses that website, he would actually come to know about the culture of the place where that website is designed. Internet has also helped promote the culture through promoting the art of non-western societies. Internet is one of the biggest media for visual arts and the best attribute of this media is that it can be accessed by anyone anywhere in the world. Internet also hosts photographs, music and movies from all the cultures in the world and this content can be accessed by anyone all across the globe. Certain video sharing websites have also made it easier for users from anywhere in the world to upload their videos which are solid representatives of the culture of their place of origin. Therefore, the fact that internet promotes different cultures is inevitable but there are certain negative impacts of this fact as well. Each culture has certain aspects that are considered good while the others are considered bad. This is also a problem in cross-cultural communication as something that is considered good in one culture might be considered as bad in another. Therefore, apart from promoting good aspects of a culture, internet is also promoting the bad aspects. This cannot be ceased because the flow of information over the internet is without any barriers. However, these negative aspects are insignificant as compared to the benefits arising from the promotion of positive aspects. The development of economy of non-western societies and the introduction of their cultures throughout the globe are so significant that they eclipse the negative aspects of their cultures. CONCLUSION It can be concluded that internet has brought a significant change in the way things are conducted all across the globe. It has helped in promoting cultures of non-western societies. Apart from promoting the cultures of such societies, internet has also helped in boosting the economy of such societies by providing easy marketing techniques to small scale organizations in non-western nations. Apart from promoting the positive sides of the cultures, internet is also promoting the negative aspects. This is inevitable because each culture has certain good and bad aspects. Thus, the advent of internet has proved to be a positive change for non-western societies and promoted them in the international markets. REFERENCES Hermeking, M. (2005). Culture and Internet consumption: Contributions from cross-cultural marketing and advertising research. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(1), article 10. Slevin, J. (2000). The Internet and Society. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. Tomlinson, J. (1999). Globalization and Culture. University of Chicago Press. Giddens, A. (2006). Sociology. 5th Edition. Malden: Polity. Hermeking, M. (2000). The cultural influence on international product development. Global Player, International Management and Business Culture, 7 (5), 8-13. Lengert, J. (2000). E-Business: A key-business? Global Player, International Management and Business Culture, 7 (5), 4-7. Park, C., & Jun, J. K. (2003). A cross-cultural comparison of internet buying behavior: Effects of internet usage, perceived risks, and innovativeness. International Marketing Review, 20 (5), 534-553. Read More