The Newer Global Processes and a Change in Perceptions - Essay Example

Management in Context Ethnographic Study of an Ethnic Restaurant using the Concept of Globalization Introduction This essay uses a restaurant to form a clearer understanding of the concept of globalization in the world. A restaurant is a place where many different people come together to eat and spend time, hence it is an excellent place to look for evidence of globalization. In my study I observed the restaurant, the products, the services and those who visited to the restaurant in detail to determine trends of globalization. Using my observations I will explain how the world is getting smaller and smaller and territories, and commodities are becoming seamless as a result of globalization, and how the world is becoming a global village as cultures and people merge. The Ethnographic Study The restaurant is situated near the corner of the main street between a bookshop to the left and a winter garments store to the right. There is a local deli located a few shops down the busy road where people can be seen walking in the cold, shopping and tending to their routine businesses. From the outside the restaurant seems small, with a brick wall and a tiny wood and glass door which serves as the entrance for customers. Inside, the restaurant the atmosphere is warm and cozy, almost homely. Many wooden tables can be seen scattered around, some with colorful table cloths and different kinds of chairs, some wooden and some upholstered. In the décor there is a hint of the South East Asian, however despite being a Pakistani restaurant, it does not quiet seem as Pakistani as it should. The warm colored interior reflects bits of Moroccan and even Arabic inspired decoration. A corner sofa and coffee table set up in the extreme right near the window makes it appear like a pure European coffee shop. The restaurant seems inviting and welcoming when you step in the door. The walls a are painted hues of peach, and there are many colorful cloths and drapes hanging from the ceiling. Some handicrafts can be seen placed, hand painted pots, and embroider wall hangings which seem to be representing some form of Mughal art, a distinct culture in its own. The restaurant smells of masala and cheese a mixture of ingredients. The eatery specializes in Pakistani food; however the menu card lists dishes from many other Asian countries. The menu even includes Italian, fish and chips, and a variety of coffees, ice cream and other beverages. Some of the food on the menu seems to be Chinese. Besides the traditional yogurt drink lassi there is even other beverages such as milkshake made of European fruits such as strawberry and the tropical mangoes. The people here are an interesting mix, many Asians who do not necessarily seem Pakistani, instead Indians, Sri Lankan and Bengali and even many different Europeans seem to present there. Many of those who walk in are loaded with shopping bags, dressed alike, speaking different languages; there is even some talk of Christmas and New Year. A few people appear to be business people in suits, perhaps grabbing a quick lunch. There are also families with young children parents speaking different languages, but the children seem to be talking in English. There is a television in the corner where there are a few young and older men watching a game of football, cheering their favorite teams. The conversation taking place on the table to my right seems like an interesting one. There is a group of girls, college students perhaps. Their different dialects show that maybe one of them is from Irish decent; the others seem either Pakistani or Afghan although it is hard to tell. They are all dressed the same, they speak the same language, but an interesting matter they are discussing reveals the differences in cultures. Everyone who enters seems to easily find a place to sit, and look through the menu and order. The friendly waiter stands by to offer suggestions and explains some of the continental dishes. The waiters are all of different nationalities. Even when talking to the Pakistani waiters some of the Pakistanis use English as the mode of communications. Overview of Globalization Globalization can be thought of as worldwide integration in virtually every sphere, which is achieved principally through marketing (Bridgman, Willmott & Alvesson, 2009). Culture refers to the social construction, articulations and reception of meaning. It is lived and created experience of individuals, and entails the cultural expressions of everyday life (Held, 2001). Globalization characterizes the twenty first century. It refers to the global flow of capital and commodities and communications across territories. As a result national borders are no longer holding the importance they once had. Globalization also refers to the mobility of people in terms of the workers travel thousands of miles away from their home and countries for employment (Storey, 2003). The world of today is much different than that of a few years ago. Even though individuals live in their local realties, these local realities are being challenged by integration of cultures and larger global networks of relationships. Education systems, youth and families are all increasingly being affected by globalization. There are new skills and systems which have to be developed to cope with the rapid globalization and integration of cultures. A bigger and broader global vision is a need to prepare individuals keeping them engaged and educated and informed. This requires a comprehensive understanding of cultures, history and respect for values and realizing and acceptance of differences. Massive migration and globalization have changed the way we experience national identities and cultural belongings. Managing the diversity and globalization is one of the biggest challenges being faced by countries, organizations and institutions. They face the need to juggle different culture, races, languages and backgrounds. All social systems to some extent contribute to the technological and media innovations, economy, morals, values skills and cultural flows across boundaries (Suarezo-Orozco & Hilliard, 2004). There is a dynamic world system of languages which with many multilingual, individuals who speak more than one language. These people are able to communicate with different groups of people who speak different languages and even translate for third parties. There are many languages in the world, almost one hundred forty which are largely spoken by at least 9 percent of the world’s population. Even among these languages there are “central” languages which have a degree of prevalence over other languages. English is one such language which holds the people of Europe together and is widely spoken and understood in the European region. The prevalence of a language and its recognition is determined by the authorities, in some cases the political ones or the school curriculum (Robertson & White, 2003). Globalization also entails “time space compression” making the world appear to shrink under the new forms of media such as television and internet. Time and space no longer dictate the range of a relationship and gives individuals access to the world beyond the local setting. Settings which were separated by time and space are no longer so. Global goods are available in the local markets. Global music and glimpse of the cultures is available on the television we watch. Food and cuisines from different countries is available in the same country all show the pervasive globalization (Storey, 2003). There are many agreements and controversy over globalization. The consensus is over the fact globalization is being shaped by technological advances, the degree of globalization is uneven, it goes hand in hand with regionalization and has to do with the reconfiguration of states. The controversy concerning globalization is over whether it is economic or multidimensional, if it is a recent or historical concept, the manageability of globalization (Pieterse, 2009). Managing globalization requires strategies which protect individuals from the adverse effects of being a part of such a changing culture. Organizations should support values, visions and purposes so that individuals can be bound together with shared values and respect for each other (Kiggundu, 2000). Globalization also requires changes and adaptation is many areas of management, but in a very small amount of time. Management practices have to be developed in such a manner that they suit the employer and the employees and according to the regulation of the particular country in which they are operating (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2008). Analysis of the Organization For this ethnographic study of the selected restaurant I will be using both a sociological and a management focused approach to analyze the concept of globalization within this context. There is a variety of diverse individuals in the restaurant, and a diverse lot of customers which walk in. To manage all these people with the diverse backgrounds is a critical part of the management duty. Further understanding this difference can help management offer better solutions. The culture within the restaurant and the service is all consistent; waiters regardless of their nationalities all tend to the customers the same way. The language used for communication with people is English, the older younger all seem to be speaking English. Even the restaurant management which consists of different people uses a central language. From the service point of view, it is mostly about the experience for the customers, good food and a nice inviting ambiance. Management has made efforts to administer the differences and make the entire service delivery process easy for customers. It is similar to the dining process which takes place in all other local restaurants. The buying and selling course is the same, the way a customer walks in, finds a seat, places orders and pays the bill are all standard procedures. The chefs and cooks seem to all have different nationalities too. They work in the kitchen, brining together tastes from their respective parts of the world. Even the fact that the ingredients they require for their local dishes are easily available in the shops a little further down the road suggests globalization of commodities. Although it is for business reasons, the restaurant caters to a variety of customers under one roof, with a menu that hosts a list of foods and cuisines ranging from purely European to Chinese, Indian, Bengali and Pakistani. This is globalization as a result of which a lot of the foreign dishes are available here in the same location. Some dishes are those that even the non Asians are quite familiar with such as the chicken tikkah, which was a popular customer choice. Some customers are well aware of the dishes they order as if it were one of their own. The familiarity and the ease with which they select what they want to order is a sign globalization. Other signs of globalization are evident in the interior decor, which has an Arabic, European and Asian touch. The girls talking on the table next to mine, all go to the same school talk about the same things, seemed to have same interests and concerns. The only part of the conversation which revealed a difference was the Asian girl who explained to her friends the concept of “arranged marriage” in her home country. The people walking in carrying shopping bags, all going to Christmas sales and buying gifts regardless of whether they are Muslim, Hindu or Christian. Most of them even spoke of Christmas and New Year’s parties which are not a part of all the above mentioned religions. This was a sure sign of globalization and merger of culture. Globalization is also evident from the actions of the crowd in the corner of the room watching the game. All the spectators appear to be of different nationalities, but watched the same game being aired of satellite television from another part of the world. They stand there cheering teams which are maybe not even home teams. There are different expressions of culture, yet it all seems ordinary to all. Globalization has made it passable to exist in a place where there are so many different people yet treat it like an ordinary routine incident; where people are not viewed as “others” instead just fellow beings. Everyone due to this globalization seems to know how to behave with each other perhaps even friendlier and more open towards each other as it happens in this restaurant, people from varying milieu, living different lives and circumstances, get together to behave in the same manner. Globalization has even changed our taste in food and created a wider acceptation for culture. People with diverse backgrounds understand each other. Restaurants such as this one have a way of turning us into more global people willing to experience more cultures. People from different countries adopt our ways and we are given a chance to adopt theirs. The existence of such a diner which offers tastes from around the world, located within the center of a small town makes it clear that globalization is in fact becoming more and more common. Conclusion Globalization is prevailing and widely spreading. As a result of my ethnographic study I am able to conclude that people are accepting globalization. They like to experience different cultures and are quick to adopt some forms of them. The flow and mergers of cultures takes place over time, but it appears to be a welcomed change. We as consumers and people are getting used to similar things. We dress in the same way; we talk on similar topics and seek things in our locality, thousands of miles away from where they are originally produced. Managing services is a challenge for service providers, particularly since services are impacted by other customers using the service. The restaurant has managed to create the ambiance and atmosphere which is inviting, welcoming and comfortable. There is however a challenge for management which deals with so many diverse customers and even the employees. The restaurant management needs to make sure that these distinct individuals adjust with each other and they are provided an atmosphere where they care all contented. There is the issue of anti globalization which argues that the merging of culture is costing nations their identities. It is seen as westernization of the world where the western cultures are dominating all practices. Some of which can be seen even in this case of a small Pakistani restaurant run by Pakistani management, which operates according to the methods of the West. Globalization is impacting our lives. The newer global processes demand a change in perceptions. To deal with the increasing globalization, schools and education systems need to prepare the youth to interact with a much larger and different world than what they are used to. 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