Abstracts and links to papers
Our paper provides insights into the evolving temporal features of global work by examining the transformation of traditional futures markets facilitated by e-trading. This study allows us to examine the temporal features of leaders' strategic response to processes of globalisation as well as changes in traders' work. We highlight the connections and mutual implications between work (industrial) and global times, which have the potential to facilitate or hinder the transformation process.
The different exchange leaders' strategic response is influenced by the tempo of uncertainty and the emergence of past/ present/ future relationships, which leads to a unique appropriation of e-trading associated with the process of 'glocalisation' across their markets. Furthermore, with the development of a virtual pit community, new levels of 'flexibility' are increasingly required of traders in accessing several markets across multiple zones. In this process, time boundaries shift and expand and there may be increased social risk for some traders with particular skill sets and traditional forms of expertise.
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Cross-Cultural Issues in Global Software Outsourcing, Geoff Walsham, Judge Institute of Management, University of Cambridge
Global software outsourcing has become an important strategy for organisations in the richer countries of the world to cope with problems of IT skills shortages, and to reduce costs. India has been a notable beneficiary of this phenomenon, with companies in locations such as Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai achieving spectacular growth rates over the last decade. The main market for these Indian companies has up to now been the USA and, to a lesser extent, Europe. However, in recent years, some Indian companies have turned their attention to Japan in addition to their traditional markets.
This presentation will describe an ongoing research study on Japan-India software outsourcing. In particular, I will tell the story of one particular software company, which will be called Softco, and its efforts in the Japanese market. A set of cross-cultural issues will be identified and discussed. I will then outline some alternative approaches to theorising cross-cultural working, and discuss their relevance to the specific area of software production and use.
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E-Marketplace Services: do they support a global marketplace?, Robin Mansell, media@lse, LSE
Electronic commerce seems to hold enormous promise for producer firms - especially those that face difficulties in accessing global markets. Electronic commerce is expected by some at least to enable easier access to the markets of wealthy countries and higher incomes resulting from these new trading opportunities. Many policy documents underestimate the obstacles to reaping these benefits.
The internet provides an open global network and access to this network is relatively inexpensive. This has led to renewed claims that internet-based electronic commerce will grow rapidly and help producer firms to overcome problems of exclusion from the world economy and to improve the terms of their participation.
Despite the many stories about the potential benefits of e-commerce, especially for small-scale producers, there is extraordinarily little empirical evidence on how the global spread of business-to-business electronic commerce is actually affecting producer firms.
Many prognoses are based on an assumption that the new e-marketplaces will provide a range of services and functions that have the effect of reducing the transaction costs that producer firms must incur in order to participate in international trade.
This presentation draws on the results of a detailed examination of over 100 'e-hubs' in the garments and horticulture sectors. The study suggests that the kinds of transaction-related support services available at these online trading platforms are much more limited in scope and functionality than is often assumed.
The presentation draws upon 'new' and 'old' institutional economics theories to explain these empirical results and to argue that the application of, and access to, technologies such as the public internet and the web are unlikely to enable a reduction in transaction costs that is sufficient to facilitate the entry into global markets of many producer firms, at least not on the scale envisaged by those who see opportunities for previously disadvantaged firms.
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Got Infrastructure? How standards, categories and other aspects of global infrastructures influence communication (PDF), Susan Leigh Star, University of California, San Diego
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Comparative Ethnographies of the Internet: locals in the global, Don Slater, LSE
From the start, internet research has been characterised by rather global (over-generalised) claims about globalisation: it has proven hard to evade the technology-driven assumption that networked communications systems have an automatically disembedding and disembodying effect on localities.
By contrast, this paper draws on ethnographic approaches and material - largely drawn from studies of Trinidad and of Sri Lanka - which start from an investigation of how the internet is locally constructed, and of how particular communities globally position themselves through available communicative media. Finally, the paper asks how we might build up a picture of both internet and globalisation by way of comparative ethnographies rather than the production of global generalisations.
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A Framework for Achieving Sustainable Development through ICT Interventions, Dewald Roode, University of Pretoria
Most developing countries are aware of the challenges of globalisation. In particular, the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICT) is fairly well recognised. Accordingly, ICT policies and strategic plans have been developed to exploit the developmental promises offered - often with the assistance of developed countries.
This paper has several objectives. First, a brief overview will be given of South Africa's initiatives in this regard. Second, a critical analysis will be presented of the South African ICT Sector Development Framework that was presented in November 2000. The focus in this analysis will be in particular on the question of sustainable development, which is seen as a necessary precondition for developing countries to meet the challenges of globalisation.
Third, an initiative which was recently launched in October 2001, the Sustainable Development Initiative, will be presented and analysed. Lastly, the paper will conclude by presenting a framework for achieving sustainable development through ICT interventions. ^
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