preview

An Ethnographic Study of a Subway Resturant

Better Essays

Introduction Globalisation is a force that became the buzzword of the 1990s. Various countries around the world have experienced a thrilling increase in trade, innovation transfer and cross-border investment flows in recent years. The effects of globalisation and the evolution of the most developed economies are difficult to separate and a few authors believe the effects of multinational enterprise to be a defining feature of globalisation (Strange, 1986). In this essay, I am going to deliver a wider understanding of globalisation through the study of a fast food restaurant, subway to be precise. I am focusing on a branch of the restaurant in Bradford, paying attention to the sorts of customers who patronise it as well as the staff who …show more content…

create a win-win effect. Enthusiasts argued that there would be a transfer of technology, undermining of elite privilege and that globalisation would contribute to the general economic growth of nations. On the contrary, taking a more critical view on the effects of globalisation, the findings seem to differ. The fact is that globalisation is pretty much centralised on only a few countries run by a handful of governments. China and India, For example, have been the only two countries to realise any advancements in terms of development and poverty eradication through globalisation, whilst trade openness has led to a rise in income inequalities and generally very uneven gains in the South American regions. And one entire continent, Africa, has actually become more marginalised (Tsikata, 2001, p. 12). The governmental and economic institutions of the developing countries, especially the latter, put them at a disadvantage where weak political, economic and legal structures led to wide spread corruption, conflict and insecurity. Whereas, developed countries already had good infrastructures coupled with high levels of skilled labour, managerial competence and advanced technology making it almost impossible for developing countries to compete. For example, the Japanese government vs. Indonesian government car industry case at the WTO (Kompas, 19 July 1999 ed.). Anti-globalisation

Get Access