E-learning Activities on Globalization and Organizational Culture

This research paper journals two e-learning activities conducted in 6 weeks on globalization and organizational culture. The first activity discusses the three eras of globalization by Thomas Friedman, while the second activity analyzes the definition of culture from diverse perspectives.

Higher Education Faculty
Assignment Cover Sheet
Subject Title Management and Organisations in a Global Environment
Subject Code HI6005
Lecturer Lecturer Name
Assignment Title Research Paper 1
Due Date Friday Week 6
Contact Details Student ID YourStudentID
Student Name YourName
Student e-mail address [e-mail]
I acknowledge that:
1. This assignment is my work. I acknowledged and disclosed fully any assistance received in its
preparation and cited any sources from which I used data, ideas, words, either quoted directly or
paraphrased.
2. This assignment was prepared by us specifically and only for this subject.
3. This assignment is identical with the work submitted via Self-Check on Blackboard.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................3
E-learning Activities...............................................................................................................................4
Week 2 – Activity 1 – Thomas Friedman on Globalisation; 3 Eras of Globalisation; World is flat......4
Week 3 – Activity 2 – Definition of culture........................................................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................6
References.............................................................................................................................................7

Executive Summary
This aim of this assignment is to journalise the two e-learning activities that have been conducted in
the time period of 6 weeks. The two activities that have been chosen are: week 2 activity 1: ear of
globalization by Thomas Friedman and the second activity chosen is form Week 3 – Activity 2 –
Definition of culture. In the first activity a brief idea about the concept of globalisation has discussed
along with the phases by Friedman. In the second activity the definition of culture form diverse
perspective has been analysed and an explanation has been stated describing the reason for the
difference in the perspective.

E-learning Activities
Week 2 – Activity 1 – Thomas Friedman on Globalisation; 3 Eras of
Globalisation; World is flat
Globalization is a phenomenon that has taken place in an exponential level after the
potential of global trade was recognised by farsighted business man. Thomas Loren Friedman is a
journalist who has been awarded for his work with Pulitzer Prize three times. In the theory
proposed by Friedman, “world is flat” states that there are three phases of globalisation which he
makes by globalisation 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. In his theory he explains the phases according to the
historical evidences (youtube.com 2017).
Globalization 1.0: Is the first phase discussed by Friedman, he says that this phase can be
said to begin form the year 1492 and lasts till the early 1800. This phase is the pioneer stage of
global arbitrage. During this period of time people slowly realised the importance of global trade and
the prospects that it has. In this period there are several instances of colonisation and trade. This
marked the beginning of the exploration phase as well in terms of opportunity and trade options
(White 2015).
Globalization 2.0: The quest for business organisation to reduce the cost of production in
terms of cheap labour, trade opportunity, exploration of new market options etc are some of the
drivers of this phase. The time period stated by Friedman began with the end of the fist phase and
lasted till the 2000 (Baylis, Owens and Smith 2017). In this phase Friedman, explains that the idea of
being multinational was coined. Several business organisations recognised the opportunity of
expansion to a new country also the socio-economic as well as political scenario of the countries all
around the world were on a lead to change for the betterment of the people encouraging
international trade and acceptance of the idea of globalization (Hirst, Thompson and Bromley 2015).
Globalization3.0: This phase refers to the time period we are at the current moment. This
phase is described as a tiny world in the words of Friedman. He explains the importance of
technology and internet in this world and how it has changed the world making it small and
approachable. Friedman explains that with the changing technology and the availability of internet
connections in cheaper rates. In this phase he emphasises the potential of individuals to take over
the world with the help of social media platforms. He explains that the potential of human beings at
this stage is exponential and there are hardly any guidelines to monitor which is frightening. This
phase heavily depends on the personal thinking and sense of responsibility among the individuals
(youtube.com 2017).

Week 3 – Activity 2 – Definition of culture
The foundation of any organisation lies in the values and principles the company follows.
And the culture of the organisation depends on these values and principles only. Usually the
company while formulating the strategies and policies for the betterment of the organisation keeps
in mind the culture and the values as well. Culture is the collective beliefs, values, principles and
assumptions people have regarding the place of their work and the nature of their work (Babnik et
al. 2014).
Retention of the employees, smooth operation and production process, strategies of the
management are all based on the organisation culture. The organisation behaviour depends
significantly on the culture (hbr.org, 2017). In the article Michael D. Watkins, says that there is a gap
in understanding what exactly culture is. The writer used the platform of LinkdIn to analyse the
concept of culture form the perspective of various people from various back ground (Giles and Bills
2017).
The definition that was received from people were also varied in nature as the perspective
of each individual is subjective and culture in terms of an organisation is something that does not
have a concrete answer. In the survey, the Watkins picked up some aspects of the most appropriate
answers. Based on the selected answers he describes what culture is a regulated pattern of
behaviour in organizations. The culture of an organisation channelizes the resources to shape the
behavioural pattern. According to another individual culture is an output of the compensation and
the incentives that are offered to the stakeholders, the reason for this perspective is the people
think that depending on the way a company compensate the employees the culture prevalent can
be recognised. The next idea is that it is a jointly shared description of the organisation it is the
perception of the stakeholders about the organisation (hbr.org 2017).
Culture is then defined by one as the collective measure of the values and principles that
drive the formulation of decision and policies. It is also regarded as the foundation. This is the
definition that is the most appropriate as it provides a holistic approach to the definition of culture
(Carlos et al. 2014).

Conclusion
The definition of culture as researched by Michael D. Watkins, with the help of social media
platform is a unique and a very effective way of collecting new data. The article states an overall
perspective of the term from diverse people who belong from a diverse background. The idea of the
article is to enlighten the reader the concept of culture. The fist activity states the idea of the world
being flat and the evolution of globalization form the perspective of Thomas Loren Friedman. The
three stages clearly explains the factors driving the evolution in the given time period.

References
Babnik, K., Breznik, K., Dermol, V. and Trunk Širca, N., 2014. The mission statement: organisational
culture perspective. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 114(4), pp.612-627.
Baylis, J., Owens, P. and Smith, S. eds., 2017. The globalization of world politics: An introduction to
international relations. Oxford University Press.
Carlos Pinho, J., Paula Rodrigues, A. and Dibb, S., 2014. The role of corporate culture, market
orientation and organisational commitment in organisational performance: the case of non-profit
organisations. Journal of Management Development, 33(4), pp.374-398.
Giles, D. and Bills, A., 2017. Designing and using an organisational culture inquiry tool to glimpse the
relational nature of leadership and organisational culture within a South Australian primary
school. School Leadership & Management, 37(1-2), pp.120-140.
hbr.org. 2017. What Is Organizational Culture? And Why Should We Care?. [online] Available at:
https://hbr.org/2013/05/what-is-organizational-culture [Accessed 2 Dec. 2017].
Hirst, P., Thompson, G. and Bromley, S., 2015. Globalization in question. John Wiley & Sons.
White, R., 2015. Cultural Differences and Economic Globalization: Effects on Trade, Foreign Direct
Investment, and Migration. Routledge.
youtube.com. 2017. Thomas Friedman's Three Eras of Globalization. [online] Available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp4znWHvsjU [Accessed 2 Dec. 2017].