Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism
By Walter LaFeber
191 pages. W W Norton & Co Inc. $25.89.
This book is more of the examination of American globalization with a backdrop of American basketball and Michael Jordan. Its timeline the rise of Michael Jordan and Nike as a post-Cold War success story, a continuation of the American dream narrative. One of the more intriguing stories in the book features two Americans touring China in 1997 and were stranded in west Sichuan which is fifteen hundred miles from Beijing. They encounter a group of Tibetans and once they knew they were dealing with Americans they asked how Michael Jordan was doing. They talked about their infinity with him and his “Red Oxen” which is what they referred the Chicago Bulls logo from. That these two Americans were able to find a common bond through the globalization of the Michael Jordan brand through Nike.
The narrative continues with how Michael Jordan became American as apple pie, or in the book’s words Coke. Ted Turner was a starting force in this narrative as it explains his financial woes until he was able to make a turn when he created CNN, taking advantage of the informational technology wave in the early 1980’s. The same wave in which Nike was able to recognize when they signed their thin rookie from North Carolina. I was intrigued at the connection but not surprised, what the gamble it took for both companies to either sink or swim with their bets. As personal branding has become more and more important, we as people need to recognize trends in our culture and take calculated risks that can help us become relevant to our society. These narratives don’t create a quick fix and still reigns to the fact of hard-working values as a foundation to your success as a brand or company. It instills the ideas, forward thinking and risk taking these company do to make your hard work be all for nothing.
It reminds me when an athlete bets on him or herself when it comes to the last year of their contract with a certain team. The safe bet is to sign the extension which would be less money they could make if finished out their season and if they are a good last season could get more money and better deal from other teams. It’s risky and I’ve seen athletes face both sides of the coin. Why bring this up in terms of American globalization and personal branding, is the wisdom to understand when to bet on yourself. If we look at the nature of how our society is moving towards, we can easily imply the tetrad of our endeavor, and ask ourselves that questions of what we have lost, what we gained and where can that ultimately lead us. Answering those questions within ourselves can develop a better understanding to bet on yourself. It becomes easier to sign that rookie from North Carolina, understanding the wave of technology that couple become a tool in building your vision. It becomes easy to invest into satellites for a vision of a 24-hour news channel. These are the themes that continue that stand out for me as I continue to build my career, my brand.
Where I take these assertions as strategic the New York times review by Jay Mandle disagreed. Mandle states, “This negative judgment about the commercially inspired growth in basketball's international popularity is a hard charge to make stick, and ''Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism'' falls far short of doing so.” His claim that his globalization of the American culture to not only hurt the progression of capitalism in a global market but make cultures unwilling to intergrade with America’s culture and consumerism. While it's never been a easy road for the brand and has faced many critics the overwhelming popularity has overshadowed any of the companies pitfalls and motives.
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