 The Lexus and the Olive Tree: a Rising Mode of InternationalisationAli Yakhlef and
Francine Maubourguet ()
No 102, Working Papers from Groupe ESC Pau, Research Department Abstract: his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Friedman (2001) discusses the synergistic relationship between the two emerging cultures in the world economy: the Lexus culture, which stands for efficiency, trans-nationality and technological sophistication of the new global economy, on the one hand, the olive tree culture representing tradition, rootedness, embeddedness in local and cultural identities, on the other. While the world of the Lexus is being promoted by the elite businessmen, politicians, academics and media, Friedman argues, it is in fact profoundly democratising and represents a vision of society that countless poor around the world, voting with their feet, try to realise. This vision of a global culture is transferred through what Friedman calls the ‘golden straitjacket’, that is, the set of rules, routines and procedural knowledge that is enforced by the Lexus culture on the country or the locality that wishes to participate in the world economy. On this view, globalisation as articulated in the Lexus culture and localisation as represented by traditions and local values are meant to go hand-in-hand, complementing and supporting each other. One of the common forms in which this cross-fertilisation of global and local features has come to be articulated is what is called brand-affiliation, whereby a small or medium enterprise affiliates with the values and demands of the Lexus culture. In this sense, affiliation with icons belonging to the global culture is increasingly becoming more and more irresistible for locally-bound small enterprises, which are hampered by their ‘smallness’ and by their limited global reach, compared to their larger, globally omnipresent competitors. Attributes of the global culture – such as brand recognition - may function as an ‘endorser’ to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and an ingress to global customers. Nowhere is this trend more evident than in the hotel industry, where the practice of franchise or affiliation has become the most popular method for independent, small hoteliers to obtain global brand recognition, without compromising their local identity and without relinquishing (too much) operational control. Affiliating with an established, a globally well-recognised endorser-brand, for instance, may enable small hoteliers to gain access to global, central reservation systems, coordinated marketing, collective purchasing systems, loyalty programs, etc. Through affiliation, local hoteliers, although still embedded in their local market, are able to transcend the limits of their regional or national reach, and are able to target clients on a global level. The price paid for this mode of internationalisation by the independent hoteliers amounts to various types of fees and the abiding by a set of rules, values and service standards – which are crucial ingredients in the globally recognised brand. Next to this trans-national brand, which is associated with what Friedman refers to as the Lexus culture – individual hoteliers are also meant to manage their own, locally and culturally anchored brand identity. Keywords: internationalisation; culture, loclisation, organization (search for similar items in EconPapers) Published Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pau:wpaper:0102 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Working Papers from Groupe ESC Pau, Research Department Contact information at EDIRC. |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.