In this age of globalization, or more specifically, partial globalization, the significance of cultural shifts in various parts of the world, is considerable. In consideration of cultural convergence and divergence, it must be investigated whether or not cultures are gaining more similarities and less differences (convergence) due to globalization and whether or not standard business practices will emerge as a result.
An adaptation of the Dorfman and Howell (1988) survey was used to provide a better understanding and comparison of the special conditions that characterize business practices of Jamaicans living in Jamaica, and Jamaicans living in the U.S.A. or whose behavior have been impacted by the U.S. culture.
The results indicate that there are no significant differences in the areas of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and paternalism which suggest strength of the Jamaican culture. However there was some evidence of crossvergence or possibly divergence as there was a significant difference in individualism between the native Jamaican and the global Jamaican. The apparent shift in individualism, which is in alignment with Hofstede's (1986) belief that as a result of westernization and teaching in a multinational classroom a shift in individualism is possible, needs to be further investigated in light of the relatively small sample size used in the study. There was no difference between the native male Jamaican and the global male Jamaican in all the five cultural dimensions.
This research provides students, managers, business leaders and entrepreneurs with information that can help business practices, through the better understanding of cultural orientation of the NATIVE Jamaican (Jamaicans living in Jamaica) and the GLOBAL Jamaican (Jamaicans living in the U.S.A. for an extended period or who have been exposed to the U.S. culture for an extended period of time, leading to improved business and economic performance.
The researcher suggests further research utilizing a larger sample size to investigate not only how demographic factors such as gender, age, and educational level affect cultural orientation but also to explore the effects of economic ties, family ties, cable television and internet usage on the cultural orientation among the native and global Jamaican and whether convergence, crossvergence and divergence occurs. Also, it is worth undertaking a study of the observed shift in greater individualism for the global Jamaican to discover whether the change is of any permanence and the contributing factors to the differences to these values.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nova.edu/oai:nsuworks.nova.edu:hsbe_etd-1033 |
| Date | 17 June 2009 |
| Creators | Flynn, Colleen Evadne |
| Publisher | NSUWorks |
| Source Sets | Nova Southeastern University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | HCBE Theses and Dissertations |
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