The case presents a dilemma that is very common for many generations of young people all over the world. I think that this identity crisis brought upon by the introduction of foreign ideals is going to keep getting bigger as globalization keeps opening boundaries.1.I would feel responsible for the emerging social trends among young Asian professionals if my company would be doing business there.
The case mentions that the young call center staffers are not only answering technical questions over the phone but they are also learning about the way of life of westerners. I understand that my company is not solely responsible for the social change because there are other factors that add to this effect such as movies, clothing, music, nightlife etc. All of these are of interest to young people like me because most of the time we tend to be very impressionable.International companies are just one step in the ladder of social change.
Young Indians are able to earn the means to cover the life style that they wish to emulate. If it were up to me I would allow for my Asian employees to practice and take part in their religious celebrations and traditional customs. I would not make them feel like they have to change their whole persona and behave a certain way in order to qualify to work in my company. I understand that in order to keep tradition alive people have to practice them and we would not be doing a favor to a local culture if we interfered in it.2.I think that globalization is partly responsible for the increasing incidence of divorce, crime, and drug abuse in Asia.
Is safe to assume that those problems existed in Asia way before the current movement of globalization but the ease of communication that globalization created has amplified the problem. Younger generations of easterners are very much influenced by western ideas because they can very easily access information through media outlets such as the Internet.They are up to date with what’s “cool” in the western world and a lot of them wish to emulate it. For example, many American and European TV shows portray the image of a single and independent young woman having a successful profession career and social life in the city.
This sounds very similar to what the Roopa from the case study is aspiring to be. This is not saying that a lot of them will go be easily influenced but if they do not have a strong traditional upbringing then the western ideal seems more appealing. Over time these ideals of western freedom and individualism shape the lives of these young Asians and slowly erode their traditional upbringing.3.I think that we can argue that there are Asian values. The fact that there are many different cultures practiced within the Asian countries does not rule out the possibility of having a set of values that most Asian can abide by.
Many of the western cultures are followers of Christianity but not all of our Western values are derived from religious beliefs. Many of our values are based on other factors of our lives such as work and social life. We tend to be value individuality, hard work, and competitiveness. All of these are not always portrayed in religion but they are very important values that we have abide by for many years.The same way we can talk about basic Asian values being brought up from non-religious sources.
Without looking at religion we can conclude that Asian cultures value their elderly and ancestors, collectiveness and modesty. Many of their behaviors and practices have been shaped by these values and they are not exclusively taught by a specific religion. Young people might want to adhere to the western values but they know that they are bound to their Asian values because they care very much about their parents and ancestors. But it still is hard for them because they have to compromise their traditions in favor of new values.4.I disagree because business at a global level is relatively new compared to many business practices that been in place for hundreds of years in some cultures.
We still have quite a ways until we come up with a “standard” for doing business in the 21st century. When we ask about the Asian countries being able to adapt I feel like we are asking them to adapt to the western way of doing business. This should not be the case as not all countries make a separation of business everything else. What I mean is that in some cultures business is highly influenced by other cultural factors such as politics, religion, and tradition.
In western cultures we tend to do our best to keep business separate from those other influences.I believe that the way of doing business in the 21st century should be more balance and not one that favor one over the other. I feel like we should not blame international business opportunities for the erosion of local cultural traditions in young generations of Asians. I have to admit that it is hard enough for these young people to live up to a foreign standard but it is even harder to do when they want to keep traditions alive. International companies should provide new opportunities for these young people but not try strip away their traditions.
