Understanding Globalization: A Systems Perspective

1. Chapter 3Taking a Systems View (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

2. Globalization is a process that is all around us: • When we travel • Through the products we consume • In our work life • Numerous players are involved in the process of globalization: • National governments • Organizations • Institutions These players have varied objectives • The scope of events seems beyond anybody’s control (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

3. Individuals, groups and nations operate within a space referred to as the environment. • This environment influences us: • Direct effects: as employees or as consumers • Indirect effects: through organizations we are associated with • Globalization is a process operating in this environment (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

4. Organizations and the Environment • Organizations are groups of individuals working toward some set of objectives. • Organizations dominate every aspect of our lives: • We work in organizations • Buy their goods and services • Are governed by another organization – the government (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

5. The System Approach • A system is a collection of identifiable parts whose relations are known, and collectively relate to other systems. • Closed system: All the relevant parts are identified and their linkages known • Say, an automobile • Open system: Fluid boundaries leading to entry and exit and the building of new linkages • Say, globalization • A system approach allows one to understand the parts, their linkages internally and externally, and derive implications (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

6. General System • Studies the inputs, conversion, and outputs • Allows one to focus on a problem in the system and arrive at a resolution • Provides a methodology to understand the fundamentals of a problem, to look at it holistically, and to recognize patterns (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

7. General System Conversion Inputs Outputs Feedback (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

8. Automobile System (Source: Visual Dictionary) (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

9. World System • A set of networks of primarily economic activities that further drive political, social, and cultural relations • The relations overlap and link individual groups and nations • Focus is to examine interrelationships between nation-states to understand and make predictions about social change (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

10. World System View (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

11. Autopoietic System • The system as a network of self-referring and interacting communications • Independent of the people involved who may change • Self-producing • Fluid boundaries (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

12. A human cell as a system (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

13. Conceptualizing Globalization as a System Drawing upon: • General system: Examining effectiveness and efficiency • World system: World as a society with winners and losers • Autopoietic system: Self-referential nature of the system built around communicative events (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

14. Elements of the Globalization System • Globalization is a part of the environment • Revealed through the communications and actions • Five domains (parts) of the system: social, economic, business, political, and physical • Effects are felt directly or indirectly • There is no coordination of the globalization process – it is constant self-production of the communications and actions • Globalization does not produce an output • An on-going process – there is no end state • Studying interactions enables us to understand and make predictions (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

15. Social Domain • The structure of society – how humans organize themselves to conduct intragroup and intergroup relations • Culture – the software that emerges from the hardware of society’s structure • Culture encompasses attitudes, values, and beliefs. These are learned norms. • This domain will encompass religion, language, and belief systems, feelings of nationalism and ethnic identities (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

16. Economic Domain • An important and dominant domain • National approaches: Range from central planning to free market determination of resource allocation • Connections through: • Trade in merchandise and services • Capital flows (FDI) • Interventions through fiscal and monetary policies (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

17. Political Domain • Political system – determines how the country is governed • Seeks to integrate parts of the society into a whole • Deals with how power is generated and distributed through society • Historical factors often determine the nature of the political system (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

18. Political systems: • Democracy, Totalitarianism, Dictatorship, Theocracies • Formal system: Institutions of government, their functions and decisions • Informal system: Political aspirations of the people and how they are expressed • Legal systems: • Common law, Civil law, Theocratic law (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

19. Business Domain • Business domain (micro economics) closely related to the economic domain (macro economics) • Individuals are customers and employees • Commercial enterprises enter nations seeking a market and as sources of inputs • Multinational corporations exert significant influence (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

20. Physical Domain • Includes both the natural and the technological environment • Natural environment comprises both the nonliving and the living (but nonhuman) • Nonliving: landmasses, geological resources (i.e. oil, minerals), and water • Living: plants, animals, and insects • Concerns about global warming and sustainability • Technological environment: Includes the knowledge and procedures that explain how things are done • Basic research that leads to invention • Innovation (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

21. (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

22. The ACE Framework Articulation - Issue or problem in focus. - Gather data. Cogitation - Interactions. - Convergence/divergence. Evaluation - Winners/losers. - Decision? (c) C. Gopinath, 2018