Mind mapping the knowledge structure of globalization

Mind mapping the knowledge structure of globalization

Joseph Kim-keung Ho

Independent Trainer

Hong Kong, China

Abstract: The topic of globalization is a main one in Social Sciences and public media worldwide. This article makes use of the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach to render an image on the knowledge structure of globalization. The finding of the review exercise is that its knowledge structure comprises four main themes, i.e., (a) Definitions and underlying perspectives of globalizations, (b) External contexts and impacts of globalizations, (c) Specialized topics in globalization and (d) Business management considerations. The article offers some academic and pedagogical values on the topics of globalization, literature review and the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach.

Key words: Globalization, literature review, mind map, the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach

Please cite the article as: Ho, J.K.K. 2016. “Mind mapping the knowledge structure of globalization” Joseph KK Ho e-resources blog November 5 (url address: http://josephho33.blogspot.hk/2016/11/mind-mapping-knowledge-structure-of.html).

Introduction

Globalization has long been a main topic in both Social Sciences and public media worldwide. It is of academic and pedagogical interest to the writer who has been a lecturer on global business management for some tertiary education centres in Hong Kong. In this article, the writer presents his literature review findings on globalization using the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach. This approach was proposed by this writer this year and has been employed to review the literature on a number of topics, such as supply chain management, strategic management accounting and customer relationship management (Ho, 2016). The MMBLR approach itself is not particularly novel since mind mapping has been employed in literature review since its inception. The overall aims of this exercise are to:

1.      Render an image of the knowledge structure of globalization via the application of the MMBLR approach;

2.      Illustrate how the MMBLR approach can be applied in literature review on an academic topic, such as globalization.

The findings from this literature review exercise offer academic and pedagogical values to those who are interested in the topics of globalization, literature review and the MMBLR approach. Other than that, this exercise facilitates this writer’s intellectual learning on these three topics. The next section makes a brief introduction on the MMBLR approach. After that, an account of how it is applied to study globalization is presented.

On mind mapping-based literature review

The mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach was developed by this writer this year (Ho, 2016). It makes use of mind mapping as a complementary literature review exercise (see the Literature on mind mapping Facebook page and the Literature on literature review Facebook page). The approach is made up of two steps. Step 1 is a thematic analysis on the literature of the topic chosen for study. Step 2 makes use of the findings from step 1 to produce a complementary mind map. The MMBLR approach is a relatively straightforward and brief exercise. The approach is not particularly original since the idea of using mind maps in literature review has been well recognized in the mind mapping literature. The MMBLR approach is also an interpretive exercise in the sense that different reviewers with different research interest and intellectual background inevitably will select different ideas, facts and findings in their thematic analysis (i.e., step 1 of the MMBLR approach). Also, to conduct the approach, the reviewer needs to perform a literature search beforehand. Apparently, what a reviewer gathers from a literature search depends on what library facility, including e-library, is available to the reviewer. The next section presents the findings from the MMBLR approach step 1; afterward, a companion mind map is provided based on the MMBLR approach step 1 findings.

Mind mapping-based literature review on globalization: step 1 findings

Step 1of the MMBLR approach is a thematic analysis on the literature of the topic under investigation (Ho, 2016). In our case, this is the globalization topic. The writer gathers some academic articles from some universities’ e-libraries, books on globalization as well as via the Google Scholar. With the academic articles collected, the writer conducted a literature review on them to assemble a set of ideas, viewpoints, concepts and findings (called points here). These points from the globalization literature are then grouped into four themes here.

Theme 1: Definitions and underlying perspectives of globalizations

Theme 1.1 – related to definitions

Point 1.1.1.       “For the English sociologist Anthony Giddens, globalization designates the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.1.2.       “As for the more recent developments of globalization, …. the term ‘globalisation’ is used to indicate the social process, highly influenced by technological development, increasingly rapid means of transport and the ‘information revolution’, which has created a truly world-wide web of spatial connections and functional interdependence” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.1.3.       “For some it [globalization] is primarily an economic process (Globalization One), and of fairly recent origin. For others, it is a huge evolutionary unfolding (Globalization Two) which has been underway for centuries if not millennia and which involves not only economic but also political, cultural and biologicaltransformations—and not only the processes, but also consciousness of globalization…” (Anderson, 1999);

Point 1.1.4.       “Globalization is more or less elegantly equated with growing Mobility” (Bude and Dürrschmidt, 2010);

Point 1.1.5.       “…globalization as a process need not apply solely to the world. In a single act, such as an act of recycling, an individual can exhibit globality, because in that act she is engaging directly with the world as a single place. A corporation can do the same through its marketing campaign, if that campaign is specifically designed to reach out to the world regardless of borders as its audience..” (Bond and O’Byrne, 2014);

Point 1.1.6.       “The Italian sociologist Luciano Gallino has put forward a concise, selective definition of globalization as the acceleration and intensification of the process of formation of a world economy which is emerging as a single system operating in real time…” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.1.7.       “The term ‘globalisation’….became current in the West in the domains of economics, politics, sociology and the mass media during the 1990s. It refers to the process by which the social relations between human beings have tended to extend ‘globally’, to cover the territorial and demographic space of the entire planet..” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.1.8.       “Globalisation is essentially the expansion of modernity outwards from the sphere of Western Europe to the world at large.” (Zolo, 2007);

Theme 1.2 – related to underlying perspectives

Point 1.2.1.       “…there are the apologists of globalization. They view globalization as a coherent extension of the Industrial Revolution and the ensuing ‘modernisation’ in Europe” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.2.2.       “According to the mainstream ‘globalist’ position, ….The economy in its present state is indeed a ‘global economy’: the main production factors are characterized by a degree of interdependence, integration and openness without precedent in the history of humankind” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.2.3.        “..the debate [on globalization] should center on how best to manage the process of globalization – at the national and international levels – so that the benefits are widely shared and the costs kept to a minimum.” (Aninat, 2002);

Point 1.2.4.       In the middle ground between these opposing camps we can identify two other positions. One, … ……is skeptical about the ‘strong versions’ of globalization and questions both the novelty and the importance of its economic effects… … The other intermediate position … sees globalization as a new and highly significant process, producing both positive and negative effects” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.2.5.        “One constant focus of AGM [antiglobalization movement] critique ….is the cluster of organizations such as the WTO and the World Bank, whom they accuse of being unwilling to address environmental problems and other detrimental effects of economic globalization..” (Wissenburg, 2004);

Point 1.2.6.       “Other authors ….. trace the dawn of globalization back to the great geographical discoveries that marked the Renaissance in Europe and the development of trade between continents” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.2.7.       “For Gallino, globalization …. Is the product of policies adopted by the world’s superpowers and the international institutions they sponsor. The criteria for these policies include the liberalization of capital transfer, deregulation of the labour market and reduction of public funding in numerous sectors including health, social security and education…” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.2.8.        “The antiglobalization movement (AGM) focuses on action directed against neoliberal economic globalization..” (Wissenburg, 2004);

Point 1.2.9.       “The extent to which anything “becomes global” is measurable by the extent to which it exhibits globality, i.e. the extent to which it engages directly with the globe. Globalization thus involves the erosion of mediating layers, such as that of the nation-state, and the emergence of the world itself as a meaningful unit of analysis” (Bond and O’Byrne, 2014);

Point 1.2.10.   “the rhetoric of globalization tends to gloss over the fact that the increasing standardization of a range of social factors – lifestyles, linguistic and cultural forms, political ideologies, models of production and consumption – does not necessarily produce order and social integration..” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.2.11.   “The very “global” activities that enrich the experience of people in different countries, regardless of nationality, are treated as “domestic” possessions and sources of “national” pride…” (Toulmin, 1999);

Point 1.2.12.   “..there is a great tendency among the anti-globalists to …. to persuade themselves that anything describable as globalization is an evil conspiracy of power that they can and should bring to a halt..” (Anderson, 1999);

Point 1.2.13.    “Bourdieu considers globalization a ‘pseudo-concept’ because it is both descriptive and prescriptive. On one hand it describes the unification of the global economy as an objective reality, while on the other it has a performative role, designating an economic policy comprising a wide range of legal and political measures designed to unify the world’s economy..” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.2.14.   “…the radical critics of globalization…… denounce the increasing polarization of wealth distribution, the persistent instability of financial markets dominated by massive and ungovernable speculative operations, the irrational use of resources – including water and the ‘Westernisation’ of lifestyles and consumer habits which is destroying the pluralism of cultures and symbolic systems” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.2.15.   “Bourdieu views globalization as an ideological construct that uses the tools of rhetoric to legitimize the global neo-liberal project and undermine the European social-democratic model…” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 1.2.16.   “Globalization has been framed in terms of a gravitational field emanating from a core source (Wallerstein, 1979). Those stakeholders closest to the center of the field are ever more tightly integrated economically, politically, and culturally. Yet, those further out in the “system” are increasingly left behind…” (Jones and Fleming, 2003);

Point 1.2.17.   “Proponents of convergence focus on the increasing tendency for economic and social activity to fall within a range defined by Anglo-Saxon and Western European capitalist systems, a range including the form of government macroeconomic policy; general business practices; organizational strategies, structures, and processes; and cultural orientation, particularly with respect to work and consumption (Hardt & Negri, 2000)…” (Jones and Fleming, 2003);

Theme 2: External contexts and impacts of globalizations

Theme 2.1: related to external contexts

Point 2.1.1.       “..The image of the ‘globe’ provides us with a powerful visual bridge to an intuitive grasping of a shared ‘global environment’ that is otherwise hidden behind scientific formula and contradictory scientific claims..” (Bude and Dürrschmidt, 2010);

Point 2.1.2.       “..more recent tendencies of deglobalization such as the recent fuel crisis and a general tendency towards feelings of insecurity against everything considered ‘foreign’ in the aftermath of 9/11 and related events, that have led to an ‘apparent flight from mobility’ (Urry, 2002: 67) and have simultaneously reinforced ‘immobility regimes’ in an emerging ‘enclave society’ (Turner, 2007)..” (Bude and Dürrschmidt, 2010);

Point 2.1.3.       “Following the failure of the planned economy in the countries which practiced state socialism, there do not seem to be any theoretical or practical alternatives to a free, globalised market economy” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 2.1.4.       “The increasing complexity of our global society means that sustainable development cannot be addressed from a single perspective or scientific discipline” (Martens and Rotmans, 2005);

Theme 2.2: related to impacts

Point 2.2.1.       “There is little doubt that globalisation has produced significant gains at the global level. On a worldwide level, globalisation has facilitated the growth of foreign trade. Goods and services, capital, technology and labour all move more freely across borders. In addition to economic gains, there have been significant benefits in the areas of culture and governance [Falk, 2000]…” (Martens and Rotmans, 2005);

Point 2.2.2.       “Globalization – the process through which an increasingly free flow of ideas, people, goods, services, and capital leads to the integration of economies and societies – has brought rising prosperity to the countries that have participated.” (Aninat, 2002);

Point 2.2.3.       “Some sociologists of globalization… maintain that the compression of the world produces frames of cultural reference which cannot properly be referred as ‘global culture’. Such frames lack the features of ‘culture’ as understood in modern Europe: a vision of the world comprising foundation myths, legends, symbols, heroes and stories narrating episodes from a common past which are jointly re-lived, together a community with a sense of identity and self-awareness..” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 2.2.4.        “Globalization is not a zero-sum game, according to trade theory. And why should it be? Why should economic growth in one country hurt another?” (Walker, 1999);

Point 2.2.5.        “…while the benefits of trade globalization are relatively clear, developing countries need to have a set of preconditions in place to benefit from financial globalization and not to succumb to an increased probability of a currency or banking crisis occurring..” (Aninat, 2002);

Point 2.2.6.        “on the global scale, the market economy proves to be incapable of self-regulation through a normative compensation for its inherent tendency to distribute wealth unequally and therefore to cause economic instability and social conflict..” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 2.2.7.        “…the contraction of spatial and temporal dimensions is seen as being one of the most intensively perceived ‘human consequences’ of globalization” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 2.2.8.        “..globalization is not an irreversible phenomenon, imposed by the inexorable logic of technological development and market forces and immune to political control” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 2.2.9.        “Critics of globalization contend that, even if increased trade promotes material prosperity, it comes with a high spiritual and cultural cost, running roughshod over the world’s distinctive cultures and threatening to turn the globe into one big, tawdry strip mall..” (Anon, 2003);

Point 2.2.10.   “Clark [Ian Clark] sees globalization as being in constant tension with the parallel phenomenon of ‘fragmentation’ (or’localisation’), which tends towards disaggregation, autarchy and isolation as well as ethnic or nationalistic separatism and regional integration.” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 2.2.11.   “Within globalization, there are both centrifugal and centripetal cultural pressures. This was neatly encapsulated by Roland Robertson in the strikingly successful term ‘glocalization’..” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 2.2.12.   “…the effects of globalization are best understood in terms of the following three sets of simultaneous contradictions: convergence and divergence, inclusion and exclusion, and centralization and decentralization. These contradictions can be fruitfully “unpacked” and examined through critical stakeholder analysis (CSA)…” (Jones and Fleming, 2003);

Point 2.2.13.   “globalization theory is aligned with post-modern thinking in suggesting a networked world of simultaneity and juxtaposition of difference instead of a linear progression in time..” (Bude and Dürrschmidt, 2010);

Theme 3: Specialized topics in globalization

Point 3.1.              “..the new warfare can be called ‘global’ in the systemic sense, inasmuch as it is a hegemonic war…. ‘Global wars’ are fought to decide who is to assume the function of leadership in the world system of international relations, who will dictate the systemic rules, who will have the political power to control the allocation of resources of wealth and power, and who will succeed in imposing his own world view and concept of order..” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 3.2.              “The processes of globalization are accompanied by a gradual transformation not only of political structures but also of legal institutions, above all in the domain of international law” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 3.3.              “The philosophical premise of legal globalism is the moral unity of the human species” (Zolo, 2007);

Point 3.4.               “Castles and Miller (…2003) have paradigmatically declared the global age to be the ‘age of migration’…” (Bude and Dürrschmidt, 2010);

Point 3.5.              “Globalization has certainly changed our sense of belonging in that it allows nested identities and loyalties, as well as multiple homes..” (Bude and Dürrschmidt, 2010);

Point 3.6.               “A pressing question of our time is the fate of labor and the working people of the world in the face of the rampant globalization of capitalism.” (Walker, 1999);

Theme 4: Business management considerations

Point 4.1.               “…corporations operating in a pure free market environment are no guarantee for environmentally friendly production. Under free market rules, there is no principled protection of the environment..” (Wissenburg, 2004);

Point 4.2.              “Over the last decade there has been an increasing interest in exploring the processes and challenges of globalization in business and management literature. Much of the literature within this field examines both the concept and processes of globalization from a single perspective. Key literature within the field has considered globalization as processes of: economic integration …; convergence of markets ….; application of cross-cultural management practices …; and the role, relationship and effects of globalization and technology ….. There has also been an interest in the effects of globalization on strategic choice” (Bond and O’Byrne, 2014);

Point 4.3.              “We consider globalization to be an important discourse for corporate executives because it is frequently presented by consultants, gurus, business schools and the business press as a sensemaking response to emerging opportunities and threats in the world economy” (Cooper and Ezzamel, 2013);

Point 4.4.              “Ben Verwaayen, the former BT chief executive who is now CEO at Alcatel-Lucent, adds: “When people talk about globalization and emerging market and doing a joint venture in China in a product-type environment, that’s not globalization. I think it is export-oriented internationalization….”…” (Tappin and Cave, 2009);

Point 4.5.               “..most CEOs see coping with globalization as the single most important reality for the next decade. This may seem surprising, given that globalization has been talked about for years..” (Tappin and Cave, 2009);

Point 4.6.               “Even if various forces dictate a global strategic imperative, implementation and thus the attainment of that organizational strategy may be constrained – even prevented by – internal factors. One potential impediment is the corporation’s inability to develop the international team of managers which forms the backbone of a global organization...” (Welch, 1994);

Point 4.7.              “…in order to achieve global integration yet maintain local flexibility, it is necessary to have an appreciation of the entire global network of affiliates as well as headquarter operations.… one effective way of ensuring such a global appreciation is to transfer staff throughout the global network…” (Welch, 1994);

Point 4.8.              “High-skill workers (so-called symbolic analysts; Reich, 1991) face greater opportunities as employers compete for their services, whereas low-skill workers are increasingly threatened by automated systems, relocation of their jobs to offshore sites where labor costs are lower, a lack of union protection, and a general lowering of the social wage (Bailey, Parisotto and Renshaw, 1993)…” (Jones and Fleming, 2003);

Each of them has a set of associated points (i.e., idea, viewpoints, concepts and findings). Two themes have subthemes; they are theme 1 (Definitions and underlying perspectives of globalizations) and theme 2 (External contexts and impacts of globalizations). Together they provide an organized way to comprehend the knowledge structure of the globalization topic. The referencing indicated on the points identified informs the readers where to find the academic articles to learn more about the details on these points. The process of conducting the thematic analysis is an exploratory as well as synthetic learning endeavour on the topic’s literature. Once the structure of the themes, sub-themes and their associated points are finalized, the reviewer is in a position to move forward to step 2 of the MMBLR approach. The MMBLR approach step 2 finding, i.e., a companion mind map on globalization, is presented in the next section.

Mind mapping-based literature review on globalization: step 2 (mind mapping) output

By adopting the findings from the MMBLR approach step 1 on globalization, the writer constructs a companion mind map shown as Figure 1.

Referring to the mind map on globalization, the topic label is shown right at the centre of the map as a large blob. Four main branches are attached to it, corresponding to the four themes identified in the thematic analysis. In the same vein, two branches have sub-branches, which represent the sub-themes recognized in the thematic analysis findings (i.e., the MMBLR approach step 1). These sub-themes are themes 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 and 2.2. The links and ending nodes with key phrases represent the points from the thematic analysis. As a whole, the mind map renders an image of the knowledge structure on globalization based on the thematic analysis findings, see also the Literature on globalization & internationalization Facebook page for additional information on globalization. Constructing the mind map is part of the learning process on literature review. The mind mapping process is speedy and entertaining. The resultant mind map also serves as a useful presentation and teaching material. This mind mapping experience confirms the writer’s previous experience using on the MMBLR approach (Ho, 2016). Readers are also referred to the Literature on literature review Facebook page and the Literature on mind mapping Facebook page for additional information on these two topics.

Concluding remarks

The MMBLR approach to study globalization provided here is mainly for its practice illustration as its procedures have been refined via a number of its employment on an array of topics (Ho, 2016). No additional MMBLR steps nor notions have been introduced in this article. In this respect, the exercise reported here primarily offers some pedagogical value as well as some systematic and stimulated learning on globalization. Nevertheless, the thematic findings and the image of the knowledge structure on globalization in the form of a mind map should also be of academic value to those who research on this topic.

Bibliography

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2.      Aninat, E. 2002. “Surmounting the Challenges of Globalization” Finance & Development March: 4-7.

3.      Anon. 2003. “Policy Forum: Globalization and Culture” Cato Policy Report May/June: 8-16.

4.      Bailey, P., A. Parisotto and G. Renshaw (Eds). 1993. Multinationals and employment: The global economy of the 1990s. Geneva, Switzerland: ILO. Wissenburg, M. 2004. “Globotopia: The Antiglobalization Movement and Utopianism” Organization & Environment 17, Sage: 493-508.

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