The World Systems

Gezon and Kottak. (2012). The world system and colonialism. Culture. Retrieved from: http://create.mcgraw-hill.com. (Transformational Global Leadership. McGraw-Hill Create p. 6-28).

Traveling to other countries throughout my life, I have witnessed different levels of living. I have observed how nations vary in degree of financial standing. However, I have not taken the time to learn about the differing levels of world systems. Therefore, this vocabulary and information is new to me:

·         Core: powerful nations with control over finance and technologies (US, Germany, Japan)

·         Semi periphery: cheap labor and distributes both above and below their level of living(Brazil and India)

·         Periphery: cheap labor and exports raw materials and agriculture (Haiti and Guatemala)

It seems, basically our entire way of life: what we eat, drink, wear, and usages of communication have been derived from some sort of expansion due to industrialization. Goods and services are moved from one continent to another-country to country-state to state-city to city until everything is one big rotation. I don’t know if I’ve thought of goods and services this way before, but it’s comforting to think that we all have something to share and provide for one another. The question now is why are these same services worth more or less in varying countries? I guess it could be because of the worth of the good in that particular region and the amount of effort put into the service. But, I can’t help but wonder if the service would be better if it had more worth tied to it? 

I like the blurb on McDonalds. The idea was to bring to our attention where foods come from and what we eat daily. It’s amazing that by eating one hamburger, we are really eating one item that has products that originated all over the world. It makes me think there is no such thing as “Chinese food” or “Italian food”. It makes me think that I need to be more aware of how lucky I really am to have my favorite foods right on my table.

Culture Think: I agree with the idea that many Americans believe they are middle class; I too identify with the middle class. Some of the values include work ethic, usage of time, family structure, understanding needs and wants, and education. High class individuals may also value some of these areas, but I think they are valued to a different degree. Middle class families are happy to work for what they want/need and value the fact that they had to work so hard in order to achieve so much. Middle class families also seek a strong balance between work life and family life. They strive to be grounded. Education is essential and they strive for life-long learning rather than monetary items.

It’s sad to look at the map showing which nations are semi periphery, periphery, and core. Obviously, I am grateful that I live in a core nation. However, I feel bad for those who are periphery. I can’t help but wonder what more we could do to help those nations build themselves to move up in the classification. Especially since our country is in such financial danger; it is hard to think about helping other countries when there are plenty of people to help in our own neighborhoods. I think, again, it comes down to needs vs. wants and how people live. The standard of living is very different in other places of the world and I believe our standard to be much higher and our needs to be much stronger since we have lived in such luxury for so long. 

The Challenges of Human Resource Management

Bjorkman, Evans, and Pucik. (2011). The challenges of international human resource management. The Global Challenge. (2^nd ed.). Retrieved from: http://create.mcgraw-hill.com. (Transformational Global Leadership. McGraw-Hill Create p. 5-46).

Robert Owen came to be known as the father of “modern personnel management” because he noticed the amount of money being spent on machinery and not enough money being spent on pay for workers. He then implemented new ideas: child labor laws regarding payment, housing and food for workers, education opportunities, and even opened evening recreation for workers. He would have definitely been the man to work for at such a hard time in the industrial field. It seems that he just took common sense-care-and implemented that into the workplace. This obviously creates happier workers who in turn work harder. It was then that the ideas of industry started to change and throughout time evolved with each and every change in the economy.

I thought it was also interesting to think about the change in women vs. men workers during the war. When women came to work in the factories for men, the management had to adapt the machines and change the work for novice workers since women had no former experience in these types of fields. I find that so intriguing because in the workforce now, women have many of the same jobs as men and some women are even more successful. I can’t help but think about how if we had novice workers come into a field, it would be young employees. These younger employees would probably find a better, more efficient way to get the same job completed because they are of the new generation of problem solvers.

Basically, globalization has been around for centuries. It just took time for each organization and country to figure out HOW the globalization was being implemented and when. It then took time and effort from companies to make it work from one country to the next, but that is still an ongoing problem. Some of the main issues that need to be addressed when working globally include: technical systems, people skills, and cultural values. I believe these three areas to be an ongoing issue for the world forever; especially as technology is changing and the generations are improving rapidly. Values will continue to change and people skills will increase and decline due to that same technology increase. We as a community have to work together to keep it all functioning properly-even across borders. Without this communication ability, companies will falter.

Thomas Friedman suggests that the world is now “flat.” I don't know if I agree that the world is flat. I think the examples he describes as "flatteners" have actually made us more well-rounded people. I think they have made us who we are today and that we are working with people all over the world to make the world circular.

This literature made me think and consider further the changes companies face as they become global and what will make them successful in the future. It’s interesting to note that companies with strong areas of communication find more success…isn’t that in everything in life?