On the myth of believing that globalization is a myth: or the effects of misdirected responses on obsolescing an emergent substantive discourse Michael J. Stevens * , Allan Bird 1 College of Business Administration, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., St. Louis, MO 63121-4499, United States Available online 27 September 2004 Abstract The December 2003 special issue of the Journal of International Management sought to initiate a dialogue on globalization and the role of the global corporation. We attempt to carry that dialogue forward by responding to several objections that were raised by critics in that issue. Their comments prompted us to take a fresh look at our own perspective, as well as to critically examine theirs. In so doing, we find not only persuasive evidence that globalization is very much alive and well, but we also find that caution is warranted if readers wish to avoid misdirected responses that would otherwise obsolesce an emerging substantive discourse on the phenomenon of globalization. We are encouraged that the special issue has stimulated continued dialogue and invite others to join the conversation on this important phenomenon of globalization. D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Emerging global culture; National cultures; Globalization; Regionalization In the December 2003 special issue of the Journal of International Management , we joined with several other authors to initiate what we hoped would be a dialogue on globalization and the role of the global corporation (Bird and Stevens, 2003). In an attempt to carry that dialogue further, we wish to respond here not only to the reactions presented predominantly by Rugman (2003), but also to a degree by Husted (2003) and Sobel (2003) 1075-4253/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.intman.2004.08.001 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 314 516 6297. E-mail addresses: mstevens@umsl.edu (M.J. Stevens)8 abird@umsl.edu (A. Bird). 1 Tel.: +1 314 516 6286. Journal of International Management 10 (2004) 501 – 510