Challenges in the Era of Globalization - iaabd

Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference © 2011 IAABD
20. I see globalization as the 4.5 12.4 17.4 50.7 14.9 3.59 1.03
removal of regulatory
boundaries that allows more
international trade and
economic transactions across
countries
Note: The numbers under the responses are in percentages
Finally, the least standard deviation of 0.96 was obtained for the statement “I see globalization as the
growing convergence of management and business practices across the
world”, while the highest standard deviation of 1.20 was obtained for the statement “To me, globalization
offers the means for fairer and equitable trade amongst all countries in the world”.
Discussion
We can explain the results in a variety of ways. The most favoured meaning of globalization for our
sample is denoted by “every economy is now part of the world economy”. The notion of globalization as
an integration of nations and markets is consistent with the global village economic view of globalization
where the happenings in one corner of the world have significant implications for another remote corner
of the world (McGrew and Lewis 2000).
By far the most common use of the term globalization often refers to the globalization of the world
economy exemplified by the liberalization of the national economies enabling integration of world
economies (Sander, 1996). This is specifically evidenced by “widespread reduction or even abolition of
regulatory trade barriers, foreign exchange restrictions, capital controls, and visas” (Scholte, 2005:16).
Also related to the economic perspective is the view that globalization is a representation of
interdependence across nations. This is not restricted to economic interdependence but to political
interdependence as well (Hirst & Thompson, 1996, 1999). In line with the literature reviewed which
indicates that people view globalization from economic dimension, our respondents seem to support the
literature. For example, the majority (60.2%) agree with the statement.
The preceding global village perspective is closely linked to the meaning of globalization as “the
increasing movements and interaction of people across the world”. This phenomenon, made possible by
the abolition of visas and other restrictions, a consequence of globalization (Scholte, 2005), is consistent
with Albrow’s (1990) view of globalization as a convergence in culture. It also supports Giddens’s (2000)
view of globalization as interconnections at the socio-cultural level. Ghana is a beneficiary of increased
movements and interactions among people globally. There is a large number of Ghanaians in the
diaspora. Tourism is the third largest foreign exchange earner in Ghana after cocoa and gold (Ghana
Tourist Board, 2010). Ghana receives a large number of visitors from all parts of the world as tourists
annually. We surmise Ghanaian professionals, managers and business people can identify with this notion
of globalization.
The issue of convergence of management practices has received significant attention in the literature. To
many, multinational corporations (MNCs) are vehicles by which management practices are transferred
across the globe. Significant majority (74.6%) of our sample of professionals and managers see
globalization “as the growing convergence of management and business practices across the world”. As
previously argued, if all nation states belong to the so-called global village or a “single world society”
(Albrow 1999:9), then it is conceivable that “as inhabitants of this global village, we increasingly share
the same thoughts, values, and habits – a cultural convergence, if you will” (Chan & Scarritt 2002:3). We
argue that shared values and habits could also lead to a convergence of management and business
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