February 1, 2000 - The World Trade Organization: Dove or Demon? The World Trade Organization (WTO) scheduled a series of negotiations among its members to begin on November 30, 1999 in Seattle, Washington. Opponents of the WTO- environmentalists, trade unionists, anarchists, and anti-globalists-demonstrated in the streets and disrupted the start of the conference. After several days of civil unrest that included violent clashes between the protesters and police, the talks began.
Although they stand for a variety of viewpoints, the basic theme of the demonstrators was that the WTO represents the interests of large multinational and global corporations and powerful governments to the detriment of ordinary citizens, developing nations, the environment, and even world peace.
A recent advertisement in major American newspapers by groups critical of globalization had the headline:
Global warming-how will it end?It continued:
Economic globalization accelerates the causes of climate change: global deforestation and the use of fossil fuels. Either we stop this immediately, or the next century will bring unimaginable disaster. Politicians say that real solutions to global warming are "not politically feasible." But is global suicide feasible?In addition, some anti-WTO groups see the WTO as a major factor in creating a homogenized culture of consumption throughout the world. In their view Seattle is not significantly different than Moscow or Bombay; the WTO will eventually eliminate any differences among nations and cultures.
Web Exercise
What are the practical implications of the WTO for organizations around the globe? Can we expect that organizations wherever they are located will eventually operate in the same way? If yes, will the WTO and similar organizations accelerate the process? Or will other factors, for example, national cultures and culture specific management philosophies and techniques, preserve current differences in organizational behavior?
A good place to begin looking for information on the Web about the World Trade Organization is its Web site at http://www.wto.org. This site contains a wide array of information including the statement by the WTO Director-General Mike Moore that:
We all left Seattle last Friday disappointed but not dismayed that it was not possible to finish the job we went there to do. A great deal was achieved in the short time Ministers had for serious negotiation. Gaps were narrowed considerably in a number of important areas.Through the use of the WTO Web site and other sites that you locate using a search engine such as http://www.yahoo.com, or http://www.altavista.com attempt to determine what "the job we went there to do" is according to the WTO. In your view, is the WTO the demon that its opponents claim, or are its efforts more benign like those symbolized by the peaceful intentions of a dove.
What is the understanding and reaction to the activities of the WTO from the perspective of countries and cultures other than your own? Do environmentalists in Hong Kong, Moscow, and Mexico City view the WTO as detrimental to the environment or as helping to preserve it?
Finally, from the information that you gather, form an opinion concerning the role of the WTO in shaping management practices and organizational behavior. Are the critics who descended on Seattle right? If the WTO does intend to create a homogenous world, is it a bad thing? Or will it permit cooperation among business and nations in ways never before realized?
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