11. Globalization: interdependencies, harmonization and societal specificity

Chapter Outline 11.1Introduction 11.2Corporate governance 11.3The personnel and employment relations systems Germany Japan 11.4Conclusions Study questions Further reading Case: Global outsourcing: divergence or convergence? Notes References

Table 11.1 Stock market capitalization (market value as a percentage of GDP)

Table 11.2 Structure of ownership (percentage of outstanding corporate equity held by sectors, 1998)

Table 11.3 Financial assets of institutional investors* (as % of GDP)

Study questions 1.Assess the regulatory and economic international context of civil aviation. Analyse and compare forces working towards cross-national assimilation and harmonization, with the forces working towards specific and different business models and strategies. 2.For each airline discussed above: analyse the economic rationale of the business model and the strategy, the mode of internationalization and organizational characteristics. 3.Again for each airline discussed above: show what in the behaviour or policies of the airline is clearly rooted in established national cultures and institutions. 4.Again for each airline discussed above: is there something in the behaviour and policies of the airline which strikes you as going against national culture and institutions? How can the deviation conceivably be explained? 5.How do cultural and institutional factors relate to one another, in the comparative analysis of the airlines you just did? 6.Look at the overall evolution of civil aviation regulation and airline business models and modes of organizing since the end of the Second World War. Are airlines becoming more alike or different? In the diversity that you see, which role is played by countries in which the airlines are embedded?