LOG BOOK AND REFLECTIVE REPORT GUIDANCE

LOG BOOK AND REFLECTIVE REPORT GUIDANCE

LOG BOOK AND REFLECTIVE REPORT GUIDANCE

The evolution of different types of global organizations and approaches to business

Globalization has been a subject of intense debate and continual investigation in academic circles for almost 20 years. However, the opinions on what it is and what impact it makes on national systems are still as diverse and divided as ever. This research is an Endeavour to contribute further to the understanding of the processes and outcomes of globalization by undertaking a cross-national historical study of four university systems and four elite universities over an extended period of time. By comparing and juxtaposing the changes in university objectives, provision, funding and regulation between 1946 and 1996, it seeks to establish whether globalization has reduced national variations and led to convergence in university policies and practices (Bartlett 2004 12).

These standards have been caused by major studios and educational efforts of different entities, financial and accounting professionals worldwide to standardize the financial information presented in the financial statements.

This research is structured in three parts. Part I incorporates three chapters: one on the analysis of globalization and its driving forces; one on the concept of convergence and its manifestations in higher education; and one on the methodology of research. These three chapters together advance an understanding of the mechanisms constituting the convergence hypothesis and its investigation. Part II is comprised of four case studies which provide empirical evidence on the impact of globalization and the investigation of the hypothesis. Part III provides an integrated analysis of the outcomes as well as a final appraisal of the study itself. Findings show that global forces do have a strong homogenizing tendency causing a high level of convergence across cultures and nations. But convergence is not an inevitable outcome of globalization. A complicated picture of convergence and divergence is found. It is shown to be possible to have convergence in one aspect of the same policy and divergence in another, as in the examples of female participation and medium of instruction. It is also possible to have convergence among some countries but not others, as in the case of university regulation (Machado 2000 127). The actual result depends on, one, the aspect of policy selected for study; and, two, the dynamic interactions of the following factors: the driving impetus of economic globalization, the powerful influence of hegemonic states and mighty economic and trade supranational organizations, and the willingness and ability of the nation-states to make the changes.

The tensions between competing forces - centralization/ decentralization; standardization/ differentiation

“Globalization” has become a catch-word in the contemporary world and the most talked about social phenomenon on a world-wide scale in the last decade. The high level and sudden surge of interest in the subject can be reflected by the number of publications bearing the name of globalization in their titles in the 1990s (Busch, 2000; Larner & Walters, 2002; Scholte, 2000a), and by the frequent reference to it by ...