John O'Neill in his long post about the decline of sovereign control by
nations and the ascendency of control by transnational corporations
(which if you haven't read bears spending the time) ends with
>I think the paradigm of dependencies between economies has huge
>implications for the work we're trying to do with learning organizations,
>especially when we start moving from the Western, individual based
>societies to the Asian, collective societies.
There seem to be two powerful forces that are changing our world economic
system, and the economies of all of us. You identify the transnational
companies that wield great influence on the flow of goods, services, and
money throughout the world. With this ability these hugh companies
influence the behavior of governments. A book 'The Decline of Sovereignty'
(I think that's right, I am separated from my library) has much evidence
of this. With the ability to manufacture pieces of goods anywhere in the
world these companies are leveling the life styles of rich industrialized
nations with the third world. Germany, Japan, England and the US are
seeing decreases in the quality of life.
The other great force is the distribution of information. CNN spans
the globe, the obvious luxuries of West Germany, when seen in East
Germany made a significant contribution to the decline of the Eastern
block. This same visibility is raising the expectations of emerging
nations. The Chinese government wishes to exclude TV and the
Internet from its general population because China cannot deliver the
quality of life or freedom pictured in open conversation with
industrialized nations.
The implications for learning organizations? We must be able to
practice the precepts of respect, openness and collaboration on a global
scale. How many generations will it take? Anyone know how to start?
bhobler@cpcug.org ( William J. Hobler, Jr.) Bill
--"William J. Hobler, Jr." <bhobler@cpcug.org>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>