Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to present a new paradigm of culture and society within the context of global management, introducing the concept of a “multi-cultural company” instead of a “multinational company.” Globalization and multi-polarization of consumer markets are expanding in the world. The well-documented cases of both the BRICS and MINTS+V countries illustrate this new and borderless trend. Two further examples beyond these two point to a future trend. First, the Islamic market is expanding with a little over two billion people, its consumers backed up by the Islamic financial system. The second example comes with the ever-increasing populations and the expanding BOP (Base of Pyramid) markets worth US $5 trillion dollars in Asia and Africa, with about 4 billion people whose annual income is less than US $3000 dollars per capita. The core of global management strategy is to think and plan how to cope with the development of multi-polarized global economic environments.
In order to identify such target markets, multinational enterprises have to realize that these regions are overlapped by multiple cultures, religions, and societies. It is hardly possible now to map world markets based on the simple notion of national borders. A “multi-polarized society” signifies a chaotic state in which different cultures and societies exist both within and across national borders.
Recommended Citation
Kameda, Naoki
(2013)
"Japanese Global Companies: The Shift from Multinationals to Multiculturals,"
Global Advances in Business Communication:
Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://commons.emich.edu/gabc/vol2/iss1/3