Week 11 & 12: Participation and action as a Global Citizen in the Workplace

Organisations nowadays are moving from a mere profit making business model to a more sustainable business model.

This week’s Hewlett Packard (HP) case study shows how organisations take various measures to incorporate sustainability across all areas of their business models and supply chains.

HP has a very strong focus across three areas - Environment, Society and Integrity.

HP is aiming to reduce the environmental impact of our products and services at every stage of the value chain. This to me reflects how sustainability can affect every stage of the production change.

For society, HP uses technology, innovation, and scale to create a more just and inclusive society. Throughout the supply chain, workers are empowered. This shows how sustainability moves the focus of organisations from barely profit and money making to more caring and inclusive of those who work for them.

Lastly, HP is committed to always acting with integrity, fairness, and accountability. It aims to ensure that all its employees are treated well. HP also has a separate Ethics and Compliance Office. This reflects the importance of ethics and fairness in all its operations.

The reading of Crittenden et al. (2011), demonstrates some important issues for global citizenship in a corporate context.

Crittenden et al. (2011) argue that for an organisation to reap the benefits of global Corporate Citizenship an integrated framework for implementation must be present. This framework must take into account the main purpose of the business, the key values, the products and services of the business, the affected stakeholders, management systems, and finally reporting and measuring strategies.

Global Corporate Citizenship thus not only affects an organisation socially but can also have various financial and strategic benefits.  I hope all organisations come to realise this is in the not too distant future!

Week 9: World issues of concern to Global Citizens

The lecture this week began by defining the characteristics that define what an issue of global concern actually is. According to the guidelines created by Vinay Bhargava of the World Bank the issues of concern are global economy, global human development, global environment and natural resources, peace and security and global governance.
It is true that global issues are there in every area of our lives as citizens of this world. They can have a direct and indirect impact on our economies, our environment, our abilities as humans, and our processes for decision-making at the global level which is known as global governance. Also the issues are actually interconnected for instance, energy consumption leads to climate change, which consecutively threatens marine life through changes in ocean temperatures.

In the lectures Annabelle pointed out that these problems can be seen as daunting and impossible to solve but she mentioned Jared Diamond who in his book “Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed “gives practical examples and advice on how to think globally and act locally.

For example, he advises to vote for those who show a preference to solve global issues. He advises to make donations to organisations promoting actions on global issues which reminds me to continually keep supporting some of my favourite charities like UNICEF. He also advises to influence the policies of big companies by choosing to buy based on the company’s corporate social and environmental responsiveness. I think there is some very practical advice given by Jared Diamond as well such as talking to family and friends about global issues and getting them involved as well.

Week 7 & 8: Challenges to Global Citizenship

While there are many challenges to global citizenship the main challenge that has been reflected in this week’s reading is the lack of education when it comes to knowing about global citizenship.

I think Andrzejewski & Alessio (1999) have given reasonable explanations for the various reasons why there is a lack of global citizenship education.
I agree with one of the reasons that issues of political contention are avoided by teachers or educators. The issue of global citizenship can be outside the boundaries of what is considered conventional.

Also, with media especially social media having a huge impact on shaping our views and ideas global citizenship is also heavily influenced by media. As Andrzejewski & Alessio (1999) propose there must be other alternatives besides media to self re-educate on global citizenship issues.

Hower (2013) in the reading “The Making of a Global Citizen” presents active participation as a way of overcoming some of the challenges associated with global citizenship. According to Hower civic engagement can be an effective way for students to learn global citizenship skills. This reminds me of a program at UNSW that I have taken part in called the UNSW Leadership Program which encourages students to learn about leadership not only through workshops but also learn by community engagement and volunteering.

Also this week it was interesting to learn how to draw a line between travellers and tourists. I agree with what Daniel Vera is saying about how a traveller wants to be deeply emerged into the culture whereas a tourist wants to explore.
My travel to Thailand a few years back made me appreciate different aspects of the Thai culture including its history, customs and way of living. It was shocking to see many young children beg on the streets which made me appreciate how privileged I am. My travel to Thailand also made me understand the value of languages since in Thailand it is rare for people to speak in English and by having basic knowledge of the Thai language before travelling I could have a better connection with the Thai people.

Week 5 & 6: Ethics, Leadership and Global Citizenship

I believe that education plays a vital role in informing people about global citizenship and the Takkaca and Akdemirb reading “Training Future Members of the World with an Understanding of Global Citizenship” does a great job in explaining this.

Takkaca and Akdemirb explain that global citizenship means that ‘every human being is an equal inhabitant of this planet’ while sharing a set of globally acceptable moral values. For me, growing up in Dubai where there are people from all over the world I got to learn about different cultures in class and to treat everyone equally from a very young age which made me appreciate cultural differences and led to my passion for travelling to experience different cultures.

The second reading “What Does It Mean to Be Globally Competent?” by Hunter was very insightful in helping me to realise what does it mean for me to be a globally knowledgeable person.

I learnt that it is important not only to have knowledge and understanding of different cultures but also to empathise and have a positive attitude towards cultures even though there might be huge differences. Understanding someone from a different cultural viewpoint takes time and patience in my opinion but it is always important to show respect. I think this definition can also be applied to a business environment to understand employee cultural norms and expectations in order to communicate more effectively with employees and thereby enhance the productivity of employees. For instance, in India head nodding shows acceptance so it is important for foreign managers to understand that cultural behaviour to know whether what is being communicated is well understood.

Week 3-4: Globalization and History

While there are many different definitions of globalisation present I particularly liked the definition of globalisation by Chanda (2003) which states that globalisation is a historical process that first began with the movement of people out of Africa into other parts of the world. Globalization has had a huge impact and resulted in an increased connectedness between different cultures. Could this mean that we are now part of a single global culture? 

Chanda (2003) says that through increasing global connectivity the world is made an economically and politically unified place. However, I do disagree a bit with Chanda since global connectivity could also result in economic and political disconnection especially for developing countries. 

Week 2: Learning and Teaching Philosophy

The Dower reading for this week was helpful in understanding if global citizenship is actually attainable.  Dower proposed common values for all global citizens. (Dower et al, 2002).

The first common value is global scope of responsibility where it is necessary not to just act according to what is valued but to also provide support to those who promote the values. For instance, I make sure to regularly donate to children’s charities since I believe that all children should have access to clean water, food, shelter etc.

The second value is attitude towards one's society or nation. There are global morals and ethics which we have responsibility to as a global citizen. However, according to Dower this doesn’t imply that we reject the values of our own national communities but it means balancing the two. For example, if there was a crisis in my country I would first donate funds to my country then consider donating to other countries.
 

The third value is that all humans have an equal moral status. All humans have the right to basic necessities such as food, water, shelter. However, I think this is the toughest value to follow as it is impossible to promote these values equally around the world. Although there are difficulties involved in following each of these three values, I think it's important for us as global citizens to be able to realize and share these values.

Week 1: My definition of global citizenship

Before we learn what global citizenship is based on the readings and videos shared in the course, I would like to share what being a global citizen means to me.

For me, a global citizen is someone who considers themselves part of the global community instead of being from a particular country or nation.  Having lived in the Middle East where the population is made up of a people from many different countries, I believe that even though we can come from different cultures what brings us all together is the idea that we are all from one global community with shared values. I hope throughout the course my knowledge of global citizenship would be enriched via the course material and discussions.