Cross- cultural Communication This page intentionally left blank

Definitions of globalization
Globalization has been described as: ‘The production and distribution of 
goods and services of a homogeneous type and quality worldwide … the 
operation of dispersed organizations with sales and production units close 
to markets’ (Rugman and Collinson, 2006: 454). It is the interlinking of 
national and regional cultures economically, politically and culturally under 
the impact of international trade and international trade organizations, such 
as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund 
(IMF) and regional groupings such as the EU, NAFTA, Asia- Pacific Economic 
Cooperation (APEC) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
If we take the fashion industry as an example of globalization’s effect on 
working practices and cultural convergence, multinationals such as Marks 
& Spencer, Gap, Next and Sainsbury’s ‘Tu’ brand source their materials and 
outsource their production all over the world. Raw materials such as cotton, 
wool and silk provide employment for workers in less developed countries 
(LDCs). Alpaca wool comes from South America, cotton comes from Egypt, 
wool comes from New Zealand and silk traditionally comes from China 
and Thailand. Their manufacturing process is equally international, as, for 
example, Marks & Spencer’s products are made in a wide range of countries 
where local labour is cheaper than in the UK, such as Indonesia, Madagascar, 
Turkey, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. A pair of jeans will often be the product 
of several countries, with the design in the USA, cotton from Benin, the 
pockets from Pakistan, the material being dyed in Spain, France making the 
zips and Germany the buttons. As a result, a typical teenager’s wardrobe may 
contain jeans, shirts and belts from China, T- shirts from Peru, a hoodie from 
Pakistan, other shirts from the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Vietnam, 

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210 Cross-Cultural Communication
and other jeans from Egypt. After China, Bangladesh is now the world’s 
second largest manufacturer of clothing.