Overview:
In his book “The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the
Twenty-First Century,” Thomas Friedman writes about the events that triggered
“Globalization 3.0,” and its effects on the individual, national and
international levels. Friedman calls these effects a “flattening” of the world
because as the 21st century progresses, little people have the power
to act big and big people are able to connect on the smallest level, thus
bringing us closer to operating on a flat plane. Globalization 3.0 has leveled
cultural walls and shattered national barriers as business, government,
individuals, and even terrorists have the ability to share and connect like
never before.
Friedman begins by explaining how it happened in his “Ten
Forces That Flattened The World,” which are:
1)
Collapse of the Berlin Wall on 11/9/1989
(Friedman later contrasts this event to 9/11, calling 11/9 “creative
imagination” and 9/11 “destructive imagination.”)
2)
Netscape brings the internet browser to the
installed base of millions of PCs
3)
Work flow software allows computers to
communicate without people
4)
Open-source projects and the self-organizing
collaborative communities that make them possible. Examples include Wikipedia
and Linux.
5)
Outsourcing has allowed companies to split
manufacturing and services into stages, and hire outside parties to complete
certain stages in a more cost-efficient way
6)
Offshoring differs from outsourcing in that
Offshoring allows a company to take a factory that used to be in the USA, and
move it to China or India where the exact same tasks can be done cheaper.
Offshored tasks are still internal to the company.
7)
Supply-chaining. Friedman uses Wal-Mart as an
example of how business uses technology to manage the supply chain for maximum
efficiency.
8)
Insourcing. Friedman uses UPS as an example of a
company that creates value for other companies who cannot afford a complex
supply chain management system.
9)
In-forming, or the ability to find information.
10)
“The
Steriods,” or the cell phones, tablets and laptops. All of the wireless,
portable, ubiquitous and relatively affordable ways we connect.
Friedman then writes how these flatteners have and will
change world culture, business, economics and politics. For example, on page
183 Friedman writes, “We tend to think of global trade and economics as
something driven by the IMF, the G-8, the World Bank, the WTO, and the trade
treaties forged by trade ministers. I don’t want to suggest that these
governmental agencies are irrelevant. They are not. But they are going to
become less important. In the future globalization is going to be increasingly
driven by the individuals who
understand the flat world, adapt themselves quickly to its processes and
technologies, and start to march forward – without any treaties or advice from
the IMF. They will be from every color of the rainbow and from every corner of
the world.”
Relevance and Analysis:
All who read this book should be alarmed if its contents is
news to them, for those who cannot keep up with the flattening of the world
will be left behind. This is true on the individual or national level. Before
Globalization 3.0, a B student from an American college was more highly valued
than a genius from India or China. Now employers will hire that latter. As the
world flattens talent becomes more valued than geography and the entire world
must compete with each other.
Some fear this shift and want to build barriers such as
banning outsourcing. The argument is that outsourcing harms America by giving
away American jobs to foreigners. However, by running as efficient as possible,
businesses can produce products and services at a lower cost and pass along
these saving to the consumer as competition forces prices down. If we don’t
utilize the global labor market to remain competitive, other countries will,
allowing them to produce superior products at better prices. These products
could steal enough market share to put American companies out of business, thus
leaving even more Americans out of a job!
We must not bury our heads in the sand regarding what is
happening around the globe. As more and more countries become highly educated
and economically developed, America won’t be so special anymore. If America remains ignorant by resisting
forces that it cannot control we risk losing our status as the world superpower
to smarter, hungrier nations. The fear of being surpassed will stimulate
positive change, such as a higher skilled labor force.
Friedman makes another very interesting point regarding the
benefits of outsourcing, free trade and modern supply chains in Chapter 12,
which begins with the quote, “Free Trade is God’s diplomacy. There is no other
certain way of uniting people under the bonds of peace.” If two countries are
invested in a business together, they are less likely to go to war because war
becomes more costly. Now imagine a world where every superpower is interconnected through business. The cost of
war would be a global economic
meltdown! This is both good and bad thing. It is good because no superpower
would willingly go to war with costs that high. Outsourcing, free trade, and
global business would effectually create world peace. The down side is that
while the great leaders of nations would not willingly go to war, war can still
be brought about by the actions of terrorist organizations. Friedman believes
that we cannot separate the good from the bad; Globalization 3.0 unites
business, politics, art and culture as well as terrorists.
In Chapter 11, ‘The Unflat World,’ Friedman addresses
criticisms of his theory. He admits to being a technological determinist (a
reductionist theory that presumes that a society's technology drives the
development of its social structure and cultural values) and not a
historical determinist. A critique can be quoted on page 373: “To listen to
you, Friedman, there are these ten flatteners, they are converging and
flattening the earth, and there is nothing that people can do but bow to them
and join the parade. And after a transition, everyone will get richer and
smarter and it will all be fine. But you’re wrong, because the history of the
world suggests that ideological alternatives, and power alternatives, have
always arisen to any system, and globalization will be no different.”
There is no guarantee that everyone will use these new
technologies for the benefit of themselves or their countries. Technology is
only a tool; it does not make us smart, moral, wise, fair, or decent. We can
only hope that technology will be used for creation and growth, but that does
not have to happen. The world is not yet flat and we do not know how it will
look when it is.
In ‘The Unflat World’ Friedman lists three constituencies
impeding the flattening process: the sick, the disempowered and the frustrated.
The sick are the millions of people in India, Africa, China, and Latin America
who are not taking off like the middle and high classes. These are the people
who are afflicted by HIV, malaria, TB, polio, alcoholism, crime and broken
governments. They do not have clean water or electricity. They have much bigger
concerns than how Globalization affects them. The disempowered live in between
the unflat and flat world. These are the Chinese and Indian peasants and
farmers who see the effects of the flattened world, but lack the tools, skills
or infrastructure to participate in any meaningful way. The frustrated are the
groups who resist Globalization, sometimes to an extreme level such as al-Qaeda
suicide bombers.
Assuming that the world does become ever-flatter and the
sick, disempowered and frustrated end up joining the flat world, a problem that
is already at crisis point will be pushed further into the red zone: pollution.
Friedman lists the alarming statistic that in April 2004, over 1,300 cars were
added to the streets of Beijing daily.
Smog has become so bad that Beijing keeps track of “blue sky days.” The use of
clean energy will be necessary in the flat world; its growth must coincide with
world flattening or we will choke ourselves in clouds of pollution.
Personal Takeaways:
This is a truly comprehensive
guide to the newest phase of Globalization. Friedman covers the past, present
and future of the flat world and makes sure to admit that the world is flatter, not entirely flat. With the individual having the power to
offer goods and services globally borders no longer restrict the marketplace.
Soft powers such as culture and language are bigger barriers than geography in
today’s world. Perhaps Globalization 4.0 will see a unification of diverse of
culture and language. Until world peace is achieved and borders between nations
dissolve I would not say the world is completely flat, and I do not see that
happening until more “soft” barriers are broken.
For soon-to-graduate students like myself the book is a scary read. Employers
can recruit from anywhere in the world, not just locally anymore. And with the
amount of high quality entertainment readily available at extremely low cost,
it is becoming increasingly difficult for American students to leave childish
pursuits behind and reach adulthood. A portion of America’s youth is amusing
themselves to death (as Neil Postman would say). I believe countries where
Xbox, Television, Netflix are not so readily available and do not adopt an
advertisement-saturated consumption culture may produce a higher quality
workforce than America. The geniuses will do fine but the B-students will find
it increasingly difficult to find satisfying employment. And as American
students continue to amuse themselves to death, we will produce more B-students
and fewer geniuses.
One “issue” I have with the book is that it is a little dated. I
would love to read a new edition, or “The World Is Flat Part 2.” One flattener
that I feel has become more relevant that Friedman only briefly touched on is
online education. Online education began with a social stigma but as time
passes it is becoming more serious. For example, MIT and Harvard provide free online
courses with its website edX. And not just college/professional courses, but
something as simple as watching a recorded speeches/lectures online and
tutorial videos on Youtube can provide valuable online educational resources.
In conclusion I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a
better understanding of just how different 21st century business and
culture is compared to last century. Our world is changing exponentially and if
we do not understand this we run the risk of being left behind.
