Dysfunctional development pathways of Information and Communication Technology: Cultural conflicts

G Roland Kaye and Stephen Little

Reference: Kaye G.R. & Little S.E. (2000) "Non-linear and Dysfunctional Development Paths of Information and Communication Technology: Cultural conflicts" Journal of Global Information Management Vol.8 no.1 Jan-Mar 2000, pp.5-13

Introduction

This paper argues that there are three factors, which counter the inevitable movement towards globalisation. Firstly the incremental force of technology as illustrated by the growth stage model of the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is flawed. This model implies a linearity of development and an inevitability of stage following stage. While this stage model may provide historic explanation for the development in the developed world and amongst the mature users, the model fails when used predictively for the developing nations or for the late adopters.

Secondly the imperialism of technology overcoming all barriers fails to reconcile the cultural dimensions of both the developing context or the application domain. Technology is not culturally neutral but is developed in a cultural context and in the case of information rich applications carries that cultural within its design. Applications of culturally developed systems such as Office and Management systems assume the user’s compliance with the design culture, but this inevitably leads to cultural clashes as we apply outside the design context.

Thirdly the assumption of universality of economic access and development is incompatible with both the reality and development paths in both developed and developing countries. This inevitably will lead to a divided society split between the internationally mobile technology supported communities and those communities disadvantaged economically and technologically but culturally rich. The failure to bridge this gap may leave society as a whole weakened through lack of access to ‘variety’.

The paper discusses these perspectives and illustrates the case with evidence from NE Asia and the United Kingdom. In particular it focuses on software development and information rich contexts.

Technological Inevitability - Growth Stage model:

Gibson and Nolan (1974) provide a growth stage model (GSM) of the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The initial model had four stages:

Initiation Expansion Formalisation Maturity.

Nolan (1979) extended this model to a 6-stage model reflecting recognition that there were more sub stages reflecting the growth of knowledge and technology from the implementations. The model reflected not only a shift in the objectives being sought (explanation of budgetary expenditure on ICT) but the involvement of management and the control and orientation of the evaluation. The revised model (fig 1) demonstrates a balance between slack permitting growth and innovation and phases of control ensuring cost effectiveness and integration. The rate of growth inferred in the graph below is quite gentle but for many the actual rate is explosive causing problems of control. The stages reflected distinct categories of evolution from batch processing through time-share data processing, to PC’s and networks of communicating processors. With hindsight that may have been the experience of the larger US companies who had been involved with computers from the early days. This could not be described as the experience of the later entrants often SME’s whose first foray into the arena came with turnkey and proprietary software or the more recent entrants with commodity based PC’s and software.

Figure 1 Nolan’s 6 Stage Model About Here

Freidman (1994) suggests that GSM is not purely a description but rather reflects a dynamic process embracing all of the stages and dictating their order of appearance. It is the "likely crises in the organisation’s experience of computers" and management reaction’s to large scale and poorly understood technical events and organisational change. Freidman suggest the underlying emotional characteristics are:

Caution when dealing with unfamiliar subsidiary issues

Optimism that follows success

Pessimism that follows disappointment

Balance that follows experience of variations.

GSM inevitably suggests a product life cycle S-curve but perhaps the difficulty encountered with the model rest with the lack of separation of the life cycles of individual component technologies from the long run product life cycle. If we select any phase within the model we find that that it incorporates several technologies some of which are in maturity others that are only emergent and some which are expanding. This overlapping of life cycles confuses the long-term trend as some technologies superseded stepwise changes, other technologies were additional (fig 2). In the early phases certainly many hardware developments led to straightforward replacement but later complex networks developed involving several generations of hardware and likewise software.

Figure 2 Product Life Cycle S-Curves About Here

One area where the proliferation of technologies may be found inter-working is the office where office automation has not replaced but rather led to increasing varieties of technologies used to perform overlapping tasks. Only recently have we seen attempts at reducing the redundancy and integration of the technologies of printers, faxes, copiers and scanners. This represents the micro-level of the problem represented by the "information archipelago" of Macfarlan and McKenney (1982) in their extension of Nolan’s model to office automation in general.

The GSM model purports to provide identifiable stages and categories that are identifiable. However the empirical evidence to this position is lacking and the underlying time dimension as expressed in age of IS function does not correlate. Despite the evidence from, Drury (1979, 1980, 1983), Benbaset et al (1984) the model continues to be used either explicitly or similarly: Galliers and Sunderland (1991), Jayasuriya (1993), Wastell and Sewards (1995) to project and suggest development pathways for ICT. Freidman suggests the continued usage reflect:

1 The only explicit model of time pattern of IS function development,

2 Clear and testable hypothesis

3 Prescriptive content

4 The model does summarise some experiences of organisations.

Alternate models:

Earl (1996) accepts the prescriptive nature of the GSM model, and argues for its use to judge the balance between users focus and specialist focus as a measure of technological maturity. Mature use should by now be common, yet the "productivity paradox" arising from the lack of correlation between performance measures and IT expenditure suggests that the mature phase itself is either elusive or extremely varied in outcome. Brynjolfsson and Hitt (1993) and Brynjolfsson et al (1994) offer evidence that productivity gains are achievable ultimately, reflecting a tendency towards smaller IT driven organisations.

Freidman with Cornford (1989) divided the history of Information Systems (IS) into a series of phases reflecting the domination of a particular problem that was seen as a constraint on computerisation. They separated the phases into hardware capacity constrains - until mid 1960’s, software productivity constraints - mid 60’s to early 80’s, user relations - early 80’s to 90’s and organisation environment constraints- 90’s to ? Freidman (1994) suggests these phases may be seen as overlapping but with increasing stretch resulting in the shift in the location of IS control. He argued that at the boundary between the phases there was mediation between the respective environments. This shift in control demonstrates how IS reaches out to seek to control and influence its boundaries as each problem or constraint is overcome.

Figure 3 Freidman’s 4 Phase Model About Here

All these models assume a linearity of development that is incompatible with the opportunities faced by later entrants into the technology. Not only does a late entrant have access to the development path of others but also their experiences. The lessons from experience are available to both the new entrant and old. Thus the new entrant may gain access to the current technologies and applications without recourse to working through he development path. Okot-Uma (1988) presents a matrix to represent the varying levels of capability in information technology that exists between developing countries within the British Commonwealth. Such a model demonstrates the need for suppliers to address the capabilities of users. Later entrants are able to ‘leap-frog’, the early development stages and gain access to the more mature technology but they still must assimilate the learning from the early stages. This learning may be facilitated with experience of neither the associated organisational structure and task changes nor the primitive technology. The possibility of ‘leap-frogging’ (i.e. missing out the early stages and going straight to the latest technologies) suggests that access to technology as it develops should increase. However, evidence from North East Asia suggests that late entrants to the technology have not assimilated; rather dysfunctional divisions are appearing between the ‘have’s and have nots’.

Okot-Uma also introduces the concept of ‘back-frogging’ where technologies are prematurely deployed, and either negative experience occurs or there are problems in assimilation. In those circumstances not only can the technology fail but barriers to other new technologies may be created. A choice of "back-frogging", (i.e. backward steps in development) related to concepts of "appropriate technology" is presented as an equally necessary strategy to leapfrogging the competition. Perrin (1982) shows in an intriguing study that the Japanese were familiar with gunpowder and guns and had in fact developed them in the 16th century. However when the American traders forced them to open their harbours in the 19th century they had none. The Samurai had banned firearms as un-chivalrous, preventing the personal confrontation implied in warriors engaged in battle. This example, further reinforces the view that linear technology development is not a forgone conclusion.

The concept of inevitable technological development along a linear growth path may explain some developments but is not universal. Opportunities to enter later stages or to retrace earlier stages are possible.

Diffusion and localisation

Institutional and technical aspects of diffusion of innovations in technology have been subsumed in the S-Curve representation discussed by Rogers (1983). Strang and Meyer (1994) distinguish between diffusion: "flows among formally autonomous units" and implementation: "flows among hierarchically placed units". Organisations seeking to diffuse centrally developed systems must either accommodate intra-organisational cultural differences, or demand that the end user groups adapt to the technology. This raises interesting questions for the movement of technology developed in one cultural context and transferred to another cultural context where the hierarchical controls may not exist to force the acceptance of the new technology.

Software systems may be carriers of implicit values and styles that may be alien or even subversive to other cultures. ‘Localisation ‘ may be a response to this perception but this fails to recognise that the software assumes a cultural context at the design stage and this deep seated cultural value cannot be overcome by cosmetic redesign of interfaces. Keniston (1997) discussed the software localisation process where-by software is localised through a process of initially retro-fitting appropriate user interfaces to more current practice of joint modular development of software with appropriate user interfaces. For Keniston the translation of software to allow for different character sets and right left or vertical scrolling reflects the industries valid response given the importance of software to the US economy. However cultural dimensions reach far beyond the character sets of the user interface.

It is however important to separate software into the socially influencing and the technically dominant. The former are those for which the assumptions of organisation structure and process as well as individual user interfaces are culturally sensitive e.g. Accounting and information systems, groupware, etc. These contrast with the technical systems such as CAD-CAM where the cultural aspects of the interface are cosmetic and the underlying structure and processes are technically dependent and culturally neutral.

Further, communications differ reflecting the cultural attributes of the respective languages. Hall (1976) provides a clear split between:

High Context cultures

Much of the information being transmitted is in the physical and social context of the conversation; relatively little information is in the explicit message. Communication is indirect, there is room for ambiguity and interpretation. People expect others to know what they mean - associated with collectivist cultures.

Low Context Cultures

Most of the information is conveyed explicitly, directness is valued and little ambiguity, explicit, clear and to the point information - associated with individualistic cultures.

Kaye and Little (1996) illustrate the problems of diffusion through two case studies and demonstrate how diffusion from the developer and adoption in context, leads to adaptation and redevelopment, leading to version drift and eventual incompatibility. Figure 4 presents two dynamics of diffusion. In the first, an initial adopter, Organisation A undertakes a technical development on the basis of the needs of the organisation at time Tl. This technology is deployed in the organisation at time T2 at which point the organisation itself has developed institutionally through interaction with its environment. In order for the technology, based on a snapshot of the organisation at TI to be usefully employed the organisation must enter into a period of adjustment between the delivered system and the changed needs.

Organisation A reaches the beginning of its payback period on the innovation at T3. Organisation B, having observed A's process of deployment initiates its own development of the new technology at T3. In order to adapt the technology to their own needs they pursue a process of redevelopment followed by their own process of adjustment, so that payback for Organisation B begins at T5. Organisation C may follow the same development path as B but in this case it would trail technologically. Alternatively it may seek to mimic and develop at the same time as B. If this latter strategy is adopted then it will not be able to draw on B’s experiences and must instead attempt to reverse engineer which may achieve the earlier payback but entails a higher risk.

This example demonstrates that linearity of diffusion may not always occur and localisation can be problematic. Localisation has problems of cultural barriers of which the most obvious is language that restricts access. Making the software culturally accessible places an additional translation cost in the system that may further raise barriers to acquisition of the system. These problems of localisation place a limit on the globalisation and universality of ICTs.

Figure 4: Diffusion under the S-Curve About Here

Problems of Universality:

Sachs et al (1997) suggests there are limits to convergence. Transportation costs associated with distance and physical barriers create economic limits and inequalities of income. Physical geography, government policy and demographic changes have been shown to influence economic growth in the period 1965-90. While specific policies such as openness of markets combined with regulation may overcome some deficiencies, the long-term aspects of physical geography may limit growth.

Under free trade each country should specialise in those products in which it has relative advantage, however Matsuyama (1992), suggests that those endowed with good arable lands and natural resources might encourage agricultural growth at the expense of industrialisation. Evidence from the growth of Latin American countries suggests that economic growth can be achieved from both agriculture and industry by ensuring that not only does productivity rise in the factory but also on the farm. This increase in productivity can be achieved by increasing the value added by moving from production of fruit to production of wine. However ‘Engels’ law’ suggests that as incomes increase the proportion spent on food will decrease, setting a limit on agricultural growth. This limit has a consequence for the distribution of incomes and may ultimately limit industrial growth if redistribution is not facilitated to avoid economic migration. Rodrik (1997) suggests that those favouring globalisation underestimate the effect of free trade and capital flows, which allow organisations to relocate production to low wage economies. The very threat of this causes insecurity and weakens established capital-labour relationships. Further the quality of working conditions are more than a projectionist cry but reflect genuine concern for minimum standards of decency and reflect the lack of social insurance and the increasing burden on the state.

Rapid growth in favoured areas creates regional imbalances while localised growth may cause instabilities. Ohmae (1990) argues for regional synergies to maximise development regardless of pre-existing national boundaries. However the sustainability of such development is dependent on a balanced economy and any unevenness may result in internal, international or regional migration on such a massive scale as to create instability. In the UK imbalances may be found between the forecast GDP for 1997 of 4% for the whole UK with regional variations of 1% in Wales and 5% in Greater London. (Economist 18th October 1997, 47.)

Empirical evidence from NE Asia and the UK:

Japanese Factories have achieved worldwide acclaim for their productivity and quality, of their automation and technology, for innovation and market awareness. The high technology factories are in stark contrast to the office and administration systems. The factories use the latest technology of CAD/CAM, FMS, etc. to achieve World Class manufacturing of the technologies that the West then utilises in their offices and administrative systems. Meanwhile the Eastern offices and administrative systems are reminiscent of an earlier generation of western practices with large generally open plan offices, long rows of uniform desks and a proliferation of calculators, telephones and faxes but few workstations or personal computers. Computers are shared and as such cannot easily be used for networking with e-mail and groupware products, which now form the backbone of many western systems.

Graven (1994) describes attempts by Shiseido, Japans oldest and largest cosmetic company attempts to office automate. In 1957 it introduced its first IBM computer to track orders, plan production and handle logistics. In the 1970's it computerised its distribution system. However it still faces the challenge of office automation as it moves from this centralised information and data processing systems to distributed end-user computing where the individual user must interact through the technology.

Facsimile transfer developed in Europe in 1890's led to the modern day electronic fax, which was jointly developed by Xerox and Magnavox in 1965. The adoption of this technology was most rapid in Japan (by 1985 an installed base of 850,000). Where the telegraphic systems of communication had required either the adoption of English language or the development of a separate Japanese code to represent Kanji characters, the fax allowed the direct transmission of traditional Japanese characters thus overcoming the language barriers within the technology. The acceptance of Fax in US and Europe was much slower and the comparable figure for 1985 is 550,000 and 120,000 respectively. While many fax machines sold carried Western brand names the bulk were manufactured in Japan.

During the same period 1981 to 1984 the sales of Word processing packages in the USA increased more than tenfold to approximately 2 million and by 1987 two of the more popular versions were selling in excess of 600,000 copies per annum. In a similar period the sales of faxes rose from 50,000 in 1983 to 295,000 by 1987. Word-processing was not only compatible with western culture but also with western business practices. The ability to send text through teleprinters had been available from 1897 and while sending digital messages across networks was common practice, there was some delay before wide-scale usage of electronic mail emerged. In the meantime the fax could be used. This apparently retrograde step was a surprise to many technology forecasters who had expected the next step to be e-mail. However while the technology was available there were few wide area networks with the necessary capability to allow e-mail. The large scale development of the Internet provided that facility internationally but within closed community systems had been in use for a considerable time.

A recent report suggests that corporate Japan is now commencing the wiring of offices, which the USA undertook nine years ago. Sales of PC’s have risen in the last 5 years from 2.2m units in 1992 to 8.3m in 1996 of which 5.6m were corporate purchases. Suddenly Japanese office workers have access to computing with 20% of desks sporting a PC. Most of these PC’s have been used for Japanese word-processing reflecting the long awaited access to Kanji and kana character sets.

In recent months sales of fileservers to support network systems and UNIX machines have increased by 89% in Japan (IDC Japan reported in ³ ) which implies about 1/3rd of all PC’s are networked. However the bulk of these appear to be for e-mail and some access to the Internet (replacing the fax and copier). The dearth of groupware products such as Lotus Notes or other application-sharing and workflow systems available in Japanese are not the only delay. The hierarchical corporate culture of Japan discourages the flatter organisational style assumed in these technologies. A further limit is the lack of Information Managers and Technologists whose specialist development is not possible given the job rotation approach of Japanese management.

Nonaka, Ray and Umemoto (1998) analyse the contrast between knowledge creation and management in Japanese and Anglo-American environments settings these in the context of Japan’s ‘three sacred treasures’ of lifetime employment, age-based promotion and company unions. These support a milieu in which the explicit mechanisms promoted in the west are unnecessary. Davenport’s observations of the rise and fall of business process re-engineering as a fad indicate a growing western appreciation of the role of implicit knowledge and undocumented procedures in delivering performance (Davenport & Short; 1990, Davenport; 1993, Davenport; 1996).

Until recently the most common language on the web after English was German. However a recent survey by the Internet Society (1996) of a global sample of the 30m computers with Internet address found that:

82% were English

4% German

1.6% Japanese

1.5% French

1% Spanish.

Given the population distribution of the world and the languages and character sets, the data indicates a very uneven distribution between the alphabet-based cultures and those using ideograms. However the rapid growth of networked PC’s in Japan is rapidly moving Japan into second place. This reflects a move by the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to counter the American domination of this new technology.

Switching between Japanese and English is problematic, as English requires only one byte to define the character while Japanese needs 2 bytes, (Chinese use a subset, which can be accommodated within the 2byte character set). While the solution has been to run two machines with different operating systems, new product launches of Twinbridge, KanjiKit and Japanese Language Kit for Macintoshes enable some co-working.

The Motorola Report (1996) draws on a survey undertaken on its behalf by MORI of households and leading industrialists in the UK. The report characterises the nation as ‘IT have’s and have-nots’. The division exists on the basis of, sex, age, employment and social class. Not only were the younger (16-44) administrative and managerial groups more likely to have access to computers in their work place but these same social classes were likely to provide access to computers in their homes facilitating educational access for the next generation. In contrast the lower social classes (C2DE) were more likely to be employed in roles where ITC had less impact on their daily activity, part-time working or unemployment further placed barriers in their development of IT skills…’caught in an IT void..’. This survey concludes that barriers continue to the adoption of ITC across the whole of society.

An IMF working paper by Slaughter and Swagel (1997) ‘indicates a widening gap between the high skilled (graduate and above) and the low skilled (secondary educated and below) in the USA and Britain, but less marked in other western economies. This gap has been explained in various ways. Firstly, ‘low wage economies’ drives down the unskilled rates. Secondly, that technological development had boosted the productivity and wages of skilled workers. At the same time theses economies have experienced recession with high levels of unemployment and increased part-time work, leaving workers less able to negotiate a fairer allocation of funds between capital and labour providers. While the explanation for the gap may be disputed, all agree that technology can only increase the gap.

Globalisation and City States

The forces of globalisation and universality lead to two divergent models. In the first case globalisation encourages the city-state to emerge. This produces stronger cultural links to the international standards of exchange and trade with the reference group being similar trading groups elsewhere. Hence the universal language of business is English and the software classically American. In contrast the national identity is at odds with international trading as evidenced by the survival of distinctive national cinemas, and their stalwart defence by national governments in the face of the World Trade Organisation. This disharmony reflects the cultural proximity (or distance) of the emergent global standards. The indigenous culture has strong roots and has evolved to complement the structure and processes of society. In contrast the exogenous culture may be distant both at the surface or deeper. In the case of western organisations, delayering and technological supports have enabled flatter organisations to emerge with short chains of command. In contrast China and Japan have long chains of command and strong hierarchies which permeate deep into society and behaviour. This places these cultures as distant, which when applied to the context of say China, leads to significant gaps between Shanghai’s development and the average province of China. Thus tension between the rural supportive infrastructure and the urban internationally referent city-state. This divergence was not present in the first industrial revolution as developments took place subsequent to an agricultural revoultion within a consistent cultural tradition and context. Today we have two divergent reference groups.

Robertson (1992) uses the concept of relativization to represent the increasing challenge to particular perspectives on, and individual participation in the overall globalisation process. His model draws attention to the increasingly interrelated thematization of societies, individual selves, international relations and humankind. He goes on to identify a temporal-historical path to the current circumstances: Germinal phase - nationalism; Incipient phase -homogeneous unitary state, formalised international relations; The Take-off phase - emergence of a single international society, increasing global communication; Hegemony Phase - international wars and emergence of United Nations and recognition of national interdependence; Uncertainty phase - concept of global consciousness further amplified by space travel, technological acceleration and multicultural societies.

Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (1993) surveyed 1500 ‘upper-middle’ mangers who had some international responsibilities. They found that while managers from Britain, Holland, Sweden and the USA concentrated on individual self interest, which when congruent with the organisational goals, meant they would automatically serve their customers and society better. In contrast Japanese, French and German managers concentrated on serving customers and society, relying on the organisation to reward them for pursuing the organisational goals. The relationships of the individual self interest, the organisations and customers or societies they saw as interdependent but fundamentally the value systems of the cultures were significantly different. However this oversimplification fails to portray how the cultures subtly vary and cannot be easily classified. Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars study led them to identify seven cultural values, which underpin the alternative wealth creation systems (pp10). They characterise these values in the form of dilemmas where choices have to be made between the extremes:

Universalism v Particularism

Analysing v Integrating

Individualism v Communitarianism

Inner-Directed v Outer-directed

Time as sequence v Time as Synchronization

Achieved Status v Ascribed Status

Equality v Hierarchy.

To quote ‘To say that the cultures of various nations "differ" on the relative importance of those values necessary to wealth creation is an understatement. Typically, these issues are loaded with ideological fervour’ (p11).

For all its limitations, Hofstede’s pioneering study of the employees of a single global corporation confirms the durability of national cultural differences in the face of the hegemonic socialisation employed by the company (Hofstede; 1980).

Conclusion:

This paper has argued that the assumptions of universality and common linear pathways of development are flawed. It has argued that the opportunity to enter the development are multiple and lessons from prior users can be drawn on. Further development paths may be non linear as accelerated learning and technology innovation allows ‘leap-frogging’ or deferment.

Given the global development of organisations and the dependence such developments have on ICT, it is important that we have both descriptive and predictive models of the development of ICT. Nolan’s GSM has been a useful historical description of developments in large western organisations. It has failed to be proven and other models have provided explanations of the complex development paths available. Other models have contributed further explanations, Freidman's phase model recognises the constraints that limit growth and development, while Oko-Uma provides the possibility of both forward and backward stepwise developments reflecting both the opportunities faced by late adopters and the potential for both positive and negative experiences with innovation. The diffusion model also provides an explanation for adoption at varying rates and potential of discontinuous development of versions. These descriptive models collectively suggest a complex web of development which is unlikely to be linear or functional.

Globalisation encourages the belief or aspiration in software developers to universality and while certainly some evidence of ‘Macdonaldisation’ is perceivable at the superficial level, the underlying characteristic is of ‘localisation’. However this localisation is frequently no more than the user interface and ignores the cultural assumptions embodied in the technical design. Kirlidog (1986) reveals the extent to which the assumptions embedded in a management information system were in conflict with the established working patterns of the overseas subsidiaries of the transnational corporation seeking to deploy it. Not only does superficial ‘localisation’ and underlying universality cause dysfunctional divisions between the host culture and the imperialistic, but also this dysfunctional division can go deep into society and the economical framework of the society.

The assumption of the neutrality of technology is flawed as it fails to recognise that technology develops in a cultural setting and consequently embodies that culture within its design. The developments in ICT are based on a western alphabet based culture that contrasts with the ideogram of the North Eastern Asian cultures, Shepard (1993), Haywood (1995). The development of the Qwerty keyboard and the encoding of the characters of the West (predominantly English) in the design of 8 bit and ASCII characters within 101 keyboard do not easily support the Chinese characters nor their embodiment of the ideas and culture of that society.

This dysfunctional division suggests a limitation on growth and a non-linear development path. Such a restriction suggests serious economical as well as cultural consequences. Current predictions of growth based on ICT suggest no limits but the reality is that society is already dividing and the migration pathway between the two communities is increasingly difficult due to access barriers and cultural differences. The access barriers are primarily economic reflecting the divide in economic benefit of development rather than the technical access issues as it is the same territories that have become the primary home of manufacturers of the technology. The juxtaposition of production of ICT resources in factories for which the office is still primarily manual with limited access to ICT emphasises the divide, Graven (1994). The East Asian reality of the urban technology worker and the peasant economy of much of this region heightens the divide. In the former the access to technology may be exploited as the community adopts the western culture hence joining the global development pathway. In contrast the rural community may increasingly be disadvantaged through lack of access and increasing cultural and economical barriers to entry. These conditions may be reminiscent of the industrial revolution but in the west agrarian development were more harmonious with industrial. Today the rate of technological development in ICT is such that a dramatic gap may exist well within a generation.

Also contributing to the no-linear development path are the uneven economic access and cultural barriers which advantage some groups and disadvantage others. Consequently globalisation and universality are not achievable rather a divided society is likely to emerge with the ‘haves and have-nots’. This may further exacerbate the problems of development.

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