TABLE OF CONTENTS To answer the questions posed in the previous sections, we need to understand not only how societies differ but also whether these differences are significant and if, as a result of globalization, these differences are likely to diminish. For instance, some people believe that societies are becoming alike, so understanding international differences and developing strategies to take these into account will be much less relevant in the near future. On this issue, informed opinion is divided over the extent and rate of convergence of national economies as a consequence of these changes. It splits between those who emphasize the forces for convergence, most notably the globalization of business, and those who emphasize the forces for divergence, principally the existence of what might be called 'national mindsets' (Sparrow and Hiltrop, 1997).
The convergence ' thesis' has become an established paradigm in the management literature: it is based on evidence that organizations and their managers around the world embrace many of the same values, attitudes and behaviours, and are increasingly likely to do so given the internationalization of technology and markets. Convergence exists, it is argued, despite the influence of obvious historical differences in national culture and key institutions in these countries, such as the legal, political and educational systems. A modified and more recent form of the convergence thesis is the globalization ' thesis', which has been used to herald the creation of worldwide...
