Effects of Globalization in Barcelona - Case Study Example

Introduction The world is increasingly becoming one as more and more countries, both from the developing and the developed world, are coming togetherin almost all the areas of life. These areas include economy, politics, social, religious etc to name but a few of the areas through which the world is joining. The greatest joining factor in all the above includes the economy where nations are making investments, innovations, productions and even marketing beyond their national borders. Relationships with friends and relatives scattered everywhere in the planet have been made much easier. All the above have only been made possible through the process of globalisation. Globalisation has led to the increase in productivity of the items man has constantly been using; it has allowed easier access to resources as a result of improved transportation and telecommunication network; the increased and widened knowledge in man; and a great development of man in terms of democracy. The aim of globalisation is to get rid of all the differences that the human cultures have held onto for a long period of time and to destine them to a common future on a much larger scale that encompasses the whole world as opposed to individual cultures. The global needs will be taken care of with the climax of the globalisation process. Globalisation however does not imply a common culture for all the world cultures or a standardization of a uniformity to be formed within the world but rather tells of a conglomeration of interdependent systems of economy, technology and the ecology. It also employs the harmonization of the various instruments that are used to create relations on the international level. Globalisation can be defined as the increasing interdependence and connectivity of the nations of the world via systems of businesses and markets that serve the whole world. This has been made possible in the last two decades due to the technological advancement that has greatly reduced the distances across the globe through production of high speed systems of transportation and communication. Further, communication has been facilitated through technologically advanced systems that have embraced the use of world wide internet and other telecommunication connectivity. This technological advancement in the infrastructure has enabled world wide correspondence that is acting to reduce the distances in the world since a person found in one part of the world can easily correspond with another one in another part of the world. In essence, globalisation is felt in entirely almost all spheres of living especially the capital, administration, markets, technology and the information sectors of the world. There is a form of homogenization of cultures that has resulted from the effect of globalisation. This homogeneity has been feared by some to have the potential of turning the world into a single gigantic society sharing similar ideologies but with the danger of losing the wide diversity of cultural practices that the world has enjoyed ever since time immemorial. The general effect of this globalisation is the start of a revolution in the way goods and services are being produced; the way work is organized; and the relations created among the nations and the local cultures as well. The other major effect of globalisation is its power to change the communities and their fundamental physical and cultural strongholds. This is what Barcelona is experiencing (Peter Thompson 2008). Barcelona is geographically located in the northeast part of Spain, specifically on the Mediterranean coast found on the peninsula of Iberia. It is the second largest city in Spain having a population of approximately two million people. Barcelona also happens to be the capital of the region that speaks the Catalan language. Apart from the Catalan language, the other widely spoken language is Spanish. It is a city that is popular as a tourist destination due to its coastal climate, the complicated architecture found in the city created by popular renowned Gaudi, the beautiful street meant for pedestrians called the Las Ramblas and the old town district as well. All these characteristics associated with Barcelona makes it a famous place for a great deal of activities that involve people from greater parts of the world besides the population that historically lives here. The Mediterranean coast has for a long time acted as a docking place for ships carrying supplies and humans from different parts of the world. It also provides a greater form of interaction due to the trade carried out in this area by both the natives and foreigners. At the same time, the city attracts great numbers of foreigners as it is classified as one of the world destinations for tourists. This implies a great interaction between the population loving here and the foreigners who constantly visit this area. This great rate of interaction with the people from different parts of the world implies that the cultural inclination of the populations here have had great influence from the foreigners who constantly visit this place and that the culture is far from being original. This has given globalisation a major foothold on which to act on all the areas of living of this city. One of the areas affected is the language used in this city (Tichy and Devanna 2001p46-48). Extensive use of the English language The two official languages utilized in Barcelona are the Castilian Spanish and Catalan. Catalan forms the greatest part of the languages utilized in Barcelona and is used constantly by almost entirely every person found within the city; the shopkeepers, university professors; taxi driver and the service representatives among many other people who utilize this language. Apparently, the English language has found its way in this city and its usage has increased in leaps and bounds. English has taken a wide usage within the Barcelonan city with its reflection found in some institutions of learning where it is taught e.g. English is taught as a second language e.g. in most of the vacation schools like the SKYE language school which teaches companies general, business and professional English. It also offers other language services to companies including the translation, interpretation, editing, and website localisation among other services. The English learning centre known as Crisalus has undertaken to help the willing individuals to learn the English language actively (Schuler and Jackson 2006 p23-24). The use of the English language has also been utilized a great deal in the theatrical circles where the cast in the plays make their performances in the English language. They often do so with the knowledge that their audience will understand most of what they say. Some institutions of higher learning have also been known to introduce the lessons in English for the willing students to take them up. Programs that entail language activities are on the rise within the institutions of higher learning. These programs are often designed to assist the students enhance their learning of the English language and better understand the cultural standpoint of their counterparts e.g. the CIEE college offers weekly language programs designed to bring together the American and the Spanish students in the university. These sessions are often composed of conversation exchanges between the two groups which often lead to a greater understanding and learning of the English language (Wright and Snell 2000p34). The extensive use of the English language in Spain- and specifically in Barcelona is a clear indication of the way globalisation has had a strong hold here. As it is, Barcelona has a total of approximately 120,000 native people who are English speakers. These people are engaged in a number of money making undertakings to earn a living while living in the metropolitan area at the same time. Due to the necessity of having to communicate with people from other communities, English is utilized as a means through which the different communities with which they interact manage to communicate and understand each other. English is therefore used as a bond for the different communities that share in the wide populations of persons found in Barcelona. Notable also is the increasing numbers of thousands of people who either speak English as the second language or are learning to speak the language (London 2001p20-23) Crisalus has taken the mandate of not only training individuals in the English language but it has undertaken the role of training tutors to take up the art and to teach it more to the resident of Barcelona. The use of the English language has also been utilized extensively through its use in the common literature e.g. in the written literature like the magazines and novels. These are seen displayed in stands along the streets and in bookshops for those people who understand and are willing to read these forms of literature to acquire themselves the numbers they would wish to (Mayer 2003p17-19). Education- especially the higher education- has been viewed as one of the numerous factors that have affected globalisation. At the same time, it has also been cited as one of the effects of globalisation. The effect of globalisation in Europe, Barcelona included, can be dated back to the year 1999 with the signing of the Bologna Declaration where 29 countries from Europe agreed to commit themselves to ensure that their systems of higher education are restructured to ensure that all the institutions operate at a consistent level. This was the child born of the creation of the European Area of Higher Education which was attended by ministers of education who hailed from Europe. This harmonization has given the chance to the creation of a system of education that is in a way insensitive to the needs of the people found in the geographical areas served by them since in its bid to remain in line with the requirements of the European area of higher education, it fails to customize its operations to the needs of the people found in the geographical area it serves. The creation of an open European space for higher education led to the creation of various advantages due to competition that is strengthened by the high level of respect for the systems held by the universities that the various universities have for each other. The open space had the advantage of eliminating the obstacles in development and promoting a network based on education. This move helped to foster trans-Barcelona mobility in search of quality university education and a strong sense of cooperation among the universities that have declared and displayed an interest in the open space (Borzaga and Defourny 2001p9). Being one of the signatories in the Bologna Declaration, Barcelona undertook to take up a clear set of rules that pertain to the certification of the studies found in higher education. The said rules applied to all the other signatories of the Bologna Declaration. This was meant to form a system of certification that could ease the understanding and comparison of the levels attained by all the member signatories of the declaration. In essence, this system categorized Barcelona's system of education as one with the rest of the member countries therefore getting rid of the older system of independent documentation. This system ensured that the quality assessment was not unique to the institutions in Barcelona but was a system that incorporated the standards meant for the whole lot of the European signatories (Dart 2004p23). The educational communities within the Europe reacted in variously to Bologna Declaration; nevertheless they admitted that through its ingredients, the Declaration was not designed as a reform to be taken without any form of question imposed by the European states and fails to reflect any propensity for regularity at the level of the continent but it was however meant to be an invitation to the universities in Europe- Barcelona included so that they could identify and raise awareness of the shared values that Europe as a whole was sharing. This undertaking was meant to be on a worldwide bazaar for higher education. Alternatively, competition from those universities that were outside Europe i.e. the US, Australia, Japan, Canada, and others and those from transnational higher education can be supplied by creating aggressive and attractive educational answers supported by the formation of the European Area of Higher Education. The foundation for competing for the Barcelonan offer has in the multiplicity and plasticity of the edification programs and the mobility that was meant to cut across the European countries. At the base of this foundation is a uniting factor which is the eminence of the higher education found in Europe. There exists a need for an understandable, clear apparatus of assurance of excellence. The pinnacle of the European higher education organisations that was held in Salamanca, in the year 2001, March stressed the importance for the high standard guarantee in each institution of higher learning and the obligation to create trust among the universities that were found in Europe as it was indicated in the internal assurance of excellence. Equally vital is the requirement for creation of programs to act in the capacity of information relenting that would end up with the quality that could be accepted in the European labour market. The institutions of higher learning in Barcelona created ways through which they could gauge the quality of the academic information they have been feeding to their students. One of the ways through which Barcelona has used to evaluate this is through the quick rhythm where the number of graduates who manage to get employment and equally get their long sustenance and stability in their first employment was considered a real plus to the institutions. Apparently, there is the concern that most of the universities in Barcelona have failed to realize the importance associated with treating the educational systems as a business that operates within a market with great forces of competition in action. This means that the universities need to identify the qualification needs found on the labour market and exercise excellent familiarity of the prospect of the different people holding great opinions within the educational spheres offering their support to the institutions of higher learning. This group of people may include the employers found within the community and private sectors and the students as well as the families from which they come from. They would assist in the creation of a suitable and diversified academic offer. Taking up these academic programmes is founded on the strategic plan adopted by the institution of higher learning, and the rate of competition comes from the culture of quality that was designed by each institution of higher learning (Dart 2004p27). The entire academic staff member needs to have an understanding that the performance displayed by an individual is vital to the quality of the finished product; staff members must benefit from the ethical and material inspiration when they display performance that is outstanding. In other words, the administration organisation of the particular institution of higher learning, is determined on offering services that are of high quality and the participation of members consisting of the educational community with the intention of ensuring the success attained will remain long-term through the satisfaction offered to the student; reimbursements are therefore received for the institution of higher learning as well as the society in general. This therefore means that wholesome management of the institution of higher learning involving quality would require consideration that is careful for each and every part of the academic society. Giving an assurance to the graduates that they would exercise quality performance can be ascertained if the contemporary flexible academic programs are supported by sustainable research; a good relationship of the whole staff; and a through efficiency in running all the departments making up the management. Barcelona adopted the system of eliminating any kind of obstacles that stood in the way of mobility to the other universities found within it. This then allowed the researchers, students and the tutors to have all the freedom they needed to move to the universities of their choice. Through this, there was an increased sense of exchange of information that reflected the ideas of the universities from which those who wished to transfer took to the institutions where they went to. This led to a degree of mixing of ideas which has equally led to the development of new ideas and therefore higher standards of operation have been created in the universities found in Barcelona One of the major indicators of the effect that globalisation has had on the higher education in Barcelona is through the connection it has with the information and communication technology. The devises used to make this possible are produced and used on a world wide scale. These may include the internet modems that are used to serve these institutions of higher education with internet connection with which to communicate with the other parts of the world. They may also include the computers and their installed programs that are produced in one nation and distributed to the rest of the world. Most of the computers used within the premises of the institutions of higher education in Barcelona are imported from the United States and Japan. This indicates that the technology used in these areas where Spain imports the computers from can be found in Barcelona thus a homogenization of the systems of technology used in the institutions of higher learning. Barcelona has therefore imitated the technological system of some other countries in its institutions of higher education thus the originality of the technology found within the institutions of higher learning is foreign and not indigenous(Morgan 2001p64-67). The information and communication technology has also managed to affect the system of higher education found in Barcelona through the opening up of correspondence between these institutions and the other institutions elsewhere e.g. through the internet correspondence, institutions of higher learning in Barcelona have systems of information sharing that they open to all the other institutions of higher education to share any information of common interest that they might have. This system allows for the utilization of the information shared between the participating institutions such that the institutions end up having common systems of operations. Again this has eroded the very original and unique systems that were utilized by the universities initially as they are attracted to the other ways through which other institutions are operated. This imitation often improves on the quality of the operation of systems that share information with each other. This therefore means that the quality of the human capital and resources has improved through improved quality of education that sees to it that a lasting progress is facilitated by information sharing. How this information is translated and conveyed to the relevant authorities will often dictate the way the knowledge received will be put into practice to improve on the productivity of the students and the general progress of the cohesion found within the society (Fombrun 2005p9). The occupation and functions of the universities places them at an excellent position to contribute to the making of societies that adopt new learning systems and creation of societies based on knowledge which exhibit different characteristics than neither the industrial nor the post-industrial societies. The problem arises with the differential abilities with which the societies or the institutions of higher learning have of exploiting the outcome of globalisation as some are better placed than others to do it. The existence of a fierce competition often favours those institutions that have the technologies necessary for taking up the required changes and which adopt forms of management that display flexibility to offer chance to change. The predicament that befalls those institutions with technologies that can't accommodate change incapacitates these institutions from flowing with the global trend thus causing them unmatched and insatiable underdevelopment and a mismatch to the requirements of the global trend. The main reason behind the institutions taking up the new technologies is the need to catch up with the requirements of a changing society for the sake of being at par with the rest of the society. This then ensure that the quality of education offered in the institutions that take up change is improved and capable of meeting the demands of the changing society. The delegates that had participated in the European council that was held in March 2002 in Barcelona passed the 2010 educational and systems of professional training goal as making Europe the point where quality of the above could be found. This step was in response to the realization by Europe that the most important asset they could hope to get for the development of their geographical area was the human capital. As a result, and as a response to the worldwide inclination towards learning and knowledge, the schooling and expert training are being prioritized politically in all the states found in Europe. This move had its base in the desire and willingness to strengthen the position Europe was holding in the global competition. This still remains an indicator of the consequences that have followed the globalisation in Barcelona (Pearce and Kay 2003p17). The universities found in Europe- those found in Barcelona included- contributes to the accomplishment of this goal. Owing to the many functions they have including information relating, innovation of new products and ideas, maintenance and enrichment of culture, politics and those related to mobility in professionalism, they are placed on the front line in shaping the route that Europe follows in the making of the societies. For a long time, higher education in Barcelona, like in many other countries of the world, has played the role of developing the social and human areas of the society and to find means of rethinking of the newer pathways of interchanging the information between the society and the universities in order to enrich the society with newer and better ways of accomplishing the ideas that may crop up with time. Both challenges and possibilities are developing within the higher education setting as a result of globalisation. The most significant of these are those challenges that are linked with shifting the perspectives on knowledge which are deeply have a bearing with the mutual responsibilities that the society and the university have for each other. This is in part caused by the fact that both the society and the institutions of higher learning/education are increasingly falling in to the path of the wind of globalisation that is passing across all the societies of the world. The institutions of higher education are bending to the forces of globalisation thus are constantly abandoning their role of preserving forms of knowledge that are of cultural value to the society; as makers of labour that is highly skilled and producers of equally skilled researchers who assisted with the solving of the economic crises, to take up the role of acting as agents of transforming the society and as development boosters. This indicates the dilemma that the higher education institutions are facing; they are torn between taking up the new opportunities open for them through the globalisation process and the possibility of having to forget about their role of service to humanity (Morgan 2001p61-63). Globalisation increased the demand for university education in Barcelona due to the great demand of having to gain knowledge in order to catch up with the global trends; increased use of telecommunication systems to speed up communication, use of digitalized systems and the creation of knowledge necessary to keep up with the growing demands of the society. This pressured the whole university system to offer services that are quality and which match with the global trends. This has had the effect of creation of an almost similar synonymous system of higher education trend that can be found on a global scale. At the same time, the concept of equity is highly compromised. The prospect of attainment of better pay in terms of salaries and wages led to the necessity of having to attain the university training. This was in response to the increased demand for an education that bear a global bearing; that has a science base; and that which requires great knowledge to understand. This had the effect of creating a demand for the university education that created a better chance of getting a well paid job than the individuals who went to the secondary school level only. The Barcelonan authorities have the mandate of stimulating the investments of the city which also includes the achievement of the foreign currency and to foster the knowledge of the intensive use of capital. This calls for the provision of a ready market to buy the products produced by the city. This in return forces the authorities to attempt to increase the level of education found in its labour force specifically the skilled labour force. This trend reflects the payoff level that is present in the world today operating at an increasing rate on a daily basis. This is a consequence of the shifting of the production based on economy to production of goods and services that based on the intensive knowledge of the process that lead to their production (Pearce and Kay 2003pp18-19). Another cause for this is the result of the government's implementation of policies that act to cement the concept of inequality in the acquisition of the income. The higher incomes enjoyed by the students educated to the higher education levels has the effect of increasing the demand for the higher education thus forcing Barcelona and the government of Spain to expand the institutions of higher learning and their systems therein and at the same time increase the number of the students graduating from the secondary level of education to join the tertiary level of education within Barcelona and other cities in Spain. This system has also tends to favour the inclusion of women in greater numbers as their labour is increasingly needed within the skilled labour force. The global bias directed towards the favour of the higher level of education in the workforce has led to the expansion of the university education in Barcelona. This has called for an increased rate of payoffs enjoyed by the higher educated members within the workforce. Policies that guide the structural adjustment have contributed towards the increment of the rate obtained by the higher educated members of the workforce. Though there has been a decline in the rates of return experienced by the higher educated members of the labour force in relation to the rates of return to the primary and the secondary level labour force, the general trend indicates that there has been a general decline in all the areas showing that the levels or rates of payoffs within the labour offered by the secondary level educated members of the task force had also decreased to reflect a similar decrease with the rates offered for the labour offered by the people who have attained at least an undergraduate level of education (Defourny 2003p32). The above indicates that globalisation may benefit the university graduates relatively but maintain the same implications as when the university graduates incomes are rising at a greater speed than those of the people who are providing labour with less schooling. While this might be the case, the increased relative demand for people with at least a minimum level of education from the university has equally put pressure on the system of the higher education to expand. Globalisation has also had an effect in the skills and the amount of income that the individuals manage to get. There has been a form of a complex relationship between the rates of return for the job done, the level of education and the income equality. The individuals who manage to get their education to the higher levels are in most cases bound to benefit relatively better than those who leave their education at the lower levels since the chances of getting greater returns for the work done is higher for the person who attains a better education than that who fails to get to the higher levels of education. It is almost always guaranteed that those who manage to get to the higher levels of the education have their origins in homes or families that are have their origins in higher social class backgrounds. This therefore means that these families have a greater social capital, and a greater return to the investment they make. This has therefore led to an unequal formula for the capitalist societies that are often riddled with a higher rate of inequality while at the same time the poor people are restrained from growing to greater and higher levels in their financial endeavours. Globalisation has at times pushed up the rates of return for the university education payments. When this becomes the case, the competition for spaces in the universities often rose to a greater level thus forcing the parents who earn higher incomes to increase the amounts to pay for their children's higher education so that they can make the enrolment of their children to the institutions of higher learning a reality. This means that parents often send their children to the private secondary schools where they believe that their children will get higher quality education and in the process therefore get a greater chance of enrolling into the university (Boxall 2006p23) Conclusion Globalisation has its advantages and disadvantages. Much as it is helping to reduce the great distances between two points in the world through use of high speed technology, there is a concern that it at the same time has benefited some people while others suffer from the consequences that emanate from it. Barcelona has had the effects of this globalization as some of the indications show. There has been a wide usage of the English language in the daily interactions of the people residing in this city and at the same time the effect of globalization in the higher education has led to the adjustments of some of academic areas so that these consequences can be accommodated. Several reactions have emanated from the people regarding this globalization with some feeling that it is in order for it to have started while some feels that the effects it has on the daily living (culture) and the environment in which humans live is adverse and therefore should be eliminated. Which ever the case, globalization is here with us and we have to get means of best associating with it. References Boxall, P. (2006) "Strategic Human Resource Management" books.google.com p23 Borzaga, C and Defourny, J (2001) "The emergence of social enterprise" books.google.com Dart, R. 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(2001) "Strategic leadership and management in schools of higher learning" Oxford University press pp46-48 Wright, P. & Snell, S. (2000) "Toward an integrative view of strategic human resource management" Revi publishers p34 Read More