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On the Cutting Edge of Globalization
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On the Cutting Edge of Globalization page 3 Rosenau et. al. pursued in any available systematic surveys.
5
Here, after first defining what we mean by
globalization and its cutting edge, we offer the results of an early and perforce limited survey designed to reduce this important knowledge gap. It is a limited effort because our random sample of possible Cutting- Edgers consists entirely of Americans, of 889 persons listed in leadership compendia such as the CD-Rom edition of Who’s Who in America, released in the summer of 1998. Our resources for the survey were such that we were unable to administer our research instrument to those on the cutting edge in other countries, a limitation we recognize as serious enough to treat our findings as a pilot study that we hope will lead to a revised and much more extensive, cross-country inquiry.
Globalization and Its Cutting Edge Defined
To employ our research instrument in the service of our theoretical concerns is to
pose the questions of what is meant by globalization and its cutting edge. The literature offers a variety of answers, some narrow and some broad, to the questions. We have opted for a broad conception in which globalizing dynamics are conceived to be any processes that underlie the expansion of human activities beyond national boundaries on a scale that has the potential of becoming global in scope. The numerous processes that contribute to this expansivity consist of economic, social, cultural, political, and communications activities that result in flows of people, ideas, goods, money, pollution, norms, authority, and practices across borders.
Individuals who give structure and meaning to these flows are regarded as
comprising the ranks of those on the cutting edge of globalization. But Cutting- Edgers are not simply those at the top of their organizations, or those with the highest salaries, or those who regularly attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. Rather we employ a complex and multifaceted conception of Cutting-Edgers as persons who configure the flows through extensive experience abroad, through networking or otherwise maintaining a growing acquaintanceship with counterparts in other lands, and through recognition that their work entails responsibilities for sustaining the processes of globalization. In effect, Cutting- Edgers are conceived as persons highly involved in globalizing processes (or put in operational terms, as will be seen, as those who score high on an Involvement Index).
“Cosmopolitans and Locals in World Culture,” in Mike Featherstone (ed.), Global Culture: Nationalism. Globalization and Modernity (London: Sage Publications, 1990), pp. 237-52; Christopher Lasch, The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy (New York: W.W. Norton, 1995); Robert Reich, The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21
st
Century Capitalism (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1991).
5
For a narrow and partially available survey, see Inside the Mind of the CEO: The 2000 Global
Survey Report (
http://www.pwcglobal.com
, January 2000). PricewaterhouseCoopers, which “designed and
carried out” the survey “with the support of the World Economic Forum,” has conducted several surveys of businessmen, but its latest inquiry was confined to 1,020 CEOs worldwide, whereas our inquiry was not confined to a single occupation or to a narrow set of questions about business. For another study that was also confined to business people and employed a very different methodology than the one used here to probe the identity of cutting-edge leaders in Australia, see Leslie Sklair, “Who Are the Globalizers? A Study of Key Globalisers in Australia,” Journal of Australian Political Economy , No. 38 (December 1996), pp. 1-30.
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| | Authors: Rosenau, James., Earnest, David., Ferguson, Yale. and Holsti, Ole. |
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On the Cutting Edge of Globalization page 3
Rosenau et. al.
pursued in any available systematic surveys.
5
Here, after first defining what we mean by
globalization and its cutting edge, we offer the results of an early and perforce limited
survey designed to reduce this important knowledge gap. It is a limited effort because
our random sample of possible Cutting- Edgers consists entirely of Americans, of 889
persons listed in leadership compendia such as the CD-Rom edition of Who’s Who in
America, released in the summer of 1998. Our resources for the survey were such that
we were unable to administer our research instrument to those on the cutting edge in
other countries, a limitation we recognize as serious enough to treat our findings as a pilot
study that we hope will lead to a revised and much more extensive, cross-country inquiry.
Globalization and Its Cutting Edge Defined
To employ our research instrument in the service of our theoretical concerns is to
pose the questions of what is meant by globalization and its cutting edge. The literature
offers a variety of answers, some narrow and some broad, to the questions. We have
opted for a broad conception in which globalizing dynamics are conceived to be any
processes that underlie the expansion of human activities beyond national boundaries on
a scale that has the potential of becoming global in scope. The numerous processes that
contribute to this expansivity consist of economic, social, cultural, political, and
communications activities that result in flows of people, ideas, goods, money, pollution,
norms, authority, and practices across borders.
Individuals who give structure and meaning to these flows are regarded as
comprising the ranks of those on the cutting edge of globalization. But Cutting- Edgers
are not simply those at the top of their organizations, or those with the highest salaries, or
those who regularly attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos,
Switzerland. Rather we employ a complex and multifaceted conception of Cutting-
Edgers as persons who configure the flows through extensive experience abroad, through
networking or otherwise maintaining a growing acquaintanceship with counterparts in
other lands, and through recognition that their work entails responsibilities for sustaining
the processes of globalization. In effect, Cutting- Edgers are conceived as persons highly
involved in globalizing processes (or put in operational terms, as will be seen, as those
who score high on an Involvement Index).
“Cosmopolitans and Locals in World Culture,” in Mike Featherstone (ed.), Global Culture: Nationalism.
Globalization and Modernity (London: Sage Publications, 1990), pp. 237-52; Christopher Lasch, The
Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy (New York: W.W. Norton, 1995); Robert Reich, The
Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21
st
Century Capitalism (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1991).
5
For a narrow and partially available survey, see Inside the Mind of the CEO: The 2000 Global
Survey Report (
http://www.pwcglobal.com
, January 2000). PricewaterhouseCoopers, which “designed and
carried out” the survey “with the support of the World Economic Forum,” has conducted several surveys of
businessmen, but its latest inquiry was confined to 1,020 CEOs worldwide, whereas our inquiry was not
confined to a single occupation or to a narrow set of questions about business. For another study that was
also confined to business people and employed a very different methodology than the one used here to
probe the identity of cutting-edge leaders in Australia, see Leslie Sklair, “Who Are the Globalizers? A
Study of Key Globalisers in Australia,” Journal of Australian Political Economy , No. 38 (December 1996),
pp. 1-30.
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