The Impact of Globalization on Cultural Identity: An Essay

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Assignment 1: Intercultural Communication
“In this era of globalisation, the notion of different cultures is irrelevant”
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion and Main Body Analysis.........................................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
Reference List............................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
Globalisation is specifically defined as the abolition of barriers to do business,
communication and cultural exchange. The purpose of the essay is to reflect on the
understanding of the intercultural praxis and cultural dimensions in order to practice the skill
of developing an essay. The topic that will be selected and explained in this essay is “In this
era of globalisation, the notion of different cultures is irrelevant”. The existence of modern
humans has developed various numbers of different and distinct cultures. In the modern era,
the increasing cultural adaptation i.e. overall capacity for culture grants has been driven by
the acceleration of globalisation and technology. Globalisation is considered as the power
that has ruined the inheritance and traditions or culture of various ethnic communities from
all around the world. Cultural imperialism is termed as one of the overriding faces of the
globe.
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Discussion
Culture is defined as the cultural determinism i.e. in other terms is a mode of perception or
thought that has been successful in supplanting genetic determinism. This eventually devised
a claim that various groups and communities generate economic success among their
individual members at higher proportions than compared to others and this is due to their
beneficial characteristics (Cantle, 2012). It is known that globalisation is not a new concept or
phenomenon, but recent modernisation or globalisation involves the initiation of various
changes in the form of cognition, scale and many more. On a cultural level, the globe has
transformed from the concept of national cultures to various mixed and amalgamated cultures
across the world, eventually leading to a homogenised global culture instead of nationalism.
Globalisation has played an important and crucial role in instituting the potential global
market. For example, Google’s organisational culture has proved to be synonymous with
employee engagement and there exists more approaches to the concept of employee
engagement for Google. The main motto of the organisation is to appropriately assemble and
organise the world’s information and transform it to be acceptable and important.
A strong and disciplined organisational culture is formed due to the amalgamation of the set
of core values and the core values of Goggle have not been changed since its establishment.
The organisational culture of Google is considered flexible and based on loyalty and trust
(Pieterse, 2015). Collaboration is the main key to their success because individual employees
are motivated enough to manage and guide each other in the specific programme of Googler
to Googler. This consists of various business traits and skills including management and
public speaking. Google has always been so innovating and creative and the main reason
behind this is globalisation. Organisational culture is known as the specific framework in
which the business organisation takes effective decisions. Robbins and Barnwell introduced
the world with the main elements of the business culture, which are individual initiative, risk
tolerance and direction and many more. Individual initiative is concerned with the freedom
and independence of the employees or members that they possess whereas direction stands
for the goals and objectives of the organisation. In the multidimensional scenery of
globalisation, the equilibrium of authority or power has made the notion of cultures irrelevant
and more dynamic.
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The key trend towards the concept of cultural uniformity is considered as the basic part of
technological globalisation or civilisation. The various technical processes in terms of
logistics and supply chain have driven the acceleration of shaped cultural perceptions. In the
modern era of different cultures, the interdependence existing between the concept of
technical development and methods and process of globalisation has evolved as one of the
key determinants in terms of world order (Stromquist and Monkman, 2014). Globalisation
has driven the method of socio-cultural and economic globalisation making different cultures
more complex. This specific interdependence has played the crucial role of an important
factor regarding social change i.e. in other parts of the world is considered as the enduring
situation of political or social unsteadiness. Hence, it can be said that culture under the strain
and dynamics of globalisation is evolving as one of the most hybrid phenomenon and this
method is not irreversible. It can be said that in the technological environment, the
simultaneity of different cultures has been proving to evolve as one of the most concluding
characteristics of cultural identity (Pieterse, 2018).
Hegemonic powers and authority exert various efforts in order to cultivate the people
subordinated to them via inflicting their peculiar perceptions and values making their cultures
as less marginalising or more primitive. For example, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions is one
of the most appropriate arguments to the topic of the essay as the primary aim of the study
was to conclude and determine the different dimensions in which cultures may vary
(Hofstede, 2011). Geert Hofstede explored six different dimensions of culture naming them
as power distance index, collectivism and individualism, uncertainty avoidance index,
feminity and masculinity, long-term and short-term orientation, restraint and indulgence. In
order to understand the dimensions of cultures, this framework of Hofstede will prove to be a
great and essential resource and how cultures differ and vary among the different countries
around the world. Hence, it can be rightly said that in the era of globalisation, the notion of
different cultures is irrelevant (Taras et al., 2012).
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Conclusion
It can be concluded from the essay that in the age of globalisation, culture needs to be
accepted as an identity based on mutuality. The purpose of the essay is to consolidate the
understanding and acknowledgement of the topic that has been selected. The essay includes a
demonstration of the skills required for introducing an essay. It can be concluded that a
forceful and impactful declaration of a cultural concept tends to influence an approach of
resistance and eventually lead to self-awareness required in order to adopt a dominant culture.
This essay includes the amalgamated discussion of the frameworks of Hall and Hofstede that
has helped in understanding the different dimensions of culture and acknowledge that notion
of different culture is irrelevant.
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Reference List
Cantle, T., 2012. Interculturalism: for the era of globalisation, cohesion and
diversity. Political Insight, 3(3), pp.38-41.
Hofstede, G., 2011. Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online
readings in psychology and culture, 2(1), p.8.
Pieterse, J.N., 2015. Globalization and culture: Global mélange. Rowman & Littlefield.
Pieterse, J.N., 2018. Globalization as hybridization. In Sociology of Globalization (pp. 39-
60). Routledge.
Stromquist, N.P. and Monkman, K., 2014. Defining globalization and assessing its
implications for knowledge and education, revisited. Globalization and education:
Integration and contestation across cultures, 1, pp.1-21.
Taras, V., Steel, P. and Kirkman, B.L., 2012. Improving national cultural indices using a
longitudinal meta-analysis of Hofstede's dimensions. Journal of World Business, 47(3),
pp.329-341.
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