Module 5 200-260

Friedman describes the ten flatteners in the first part of the book as the force that flattens the world to Globalization 3.0. The triple convergence is the point when the global market changed into what it is now that involves any country that wants to compete instead of just the few with the power and education themselves. Before, it was mostly America, Europe, and Japan that saturated the markets and the triple convergence opened the door for other major contenders to get in on the markets.

The first part of the convergence was actually a convergence on its own. It was when the ten flatteners that had been developing for a few years started to overlap with each other and combined to level the playing field. As the flatteners were introduced into the way we do business, it created the second convergence. The second is the new way of doing business in a flat world. Business changed from a top down method to a horizontal strategy of working with each other. People started working with each other to benefit both sides instead of staying safely within the boundaries that company already existed. The first two elements paved the way for the third convergence to occur. When the barriers between countries and companies broke down it introduced many people to the market especially from China, India, and Russia. 

The combination of the flatteners and the way we do business allowed for billions of new laborers to enter the global market. The triple convergence is important because it is shaping the future and its happening fast. As we entered Globalization 3.0 we started collaborating with each other more and becoming more productive, but now, with a much bigger labor force, it turbo charges it and those that were ahead have to run faster to stay ahead. It’s like feeding a fire: the more wood you add the hotter it gets and you have to keep adding fuel to keep the flame as big as it is. Globalization 2.0 seemed like it went slow now. You could take time to build up your company and establish your name but now, with the speed of communication and ease of collaboration, you have to make your make fast or you’ll be old news. The triple convergence was like the gun at the beginning of the race and if Americans want to stay in the lead we have to be the best at using the flatteners, the new way of business and the labor force available to our advantage. 

In the story of Indiana and India, it is hard to tell who is being exploited. Much like the chicken and the egg problem, it could be argued from either side. Indiana was taking advantage of the cheap labor India had to offer and India was taking advantage of the need that Indiana had to get a job done quick and cheap. I think Indiana is to blame here, not directly but as a result of America in general being a self centered culture. India was just trying to make use of the new technology and find work from whoever offered it. Indiana overlooked the fact that its own residents didn’t have jobs while they were outsourcing the work that kept track of who didn’t have jobs. The money even came from taxes that, since people in Indiana were not working, they were not getting back. Americans have become people that want more raises and compensation without even considering where the money comes from. I think if all the unemployed people in Indiana were not receiving comfortable assistance from the government they would be more willing to chip in to work for the state even at rock bottom wages. The American money would go back to American’s and benefit the state of Indiana. 

Intellectual property is an intangible asset, like an idea or invention. It is becoming more important to keep track of where new ideas are coming from because so many lines are being blurred. Companies are spreading throughout more countries and more people becoming involved in the innovating process that is hard to determine the origin of products of value. It is becoming more of a legal issue to decide who gets paid from the success of an idea when so many people are involved. Pretty soon we will have a global patenting office and mind recorders to date stamp every thought that we have so we can keep track of who came up with an idea first and exactly when. 

Module 3 136-199

        The world is becoming flatter as more people are taking advantage of the technologies being developed. Small businesses, smaller countries and individuals are stepping up to the level of bigger companies and trying to find ways to compete. The things everyone is looking for, big or small, are cheaper and easier ways of conducting their business. In search of help, more of them are turning to outsourcing and offshoring.

The difference between outsourcing and offshoring is the effect they have on the jobs left at home. Outsourcing takes a part of a company, like paperwork or service calls, and contracts a different company to do it for them usually for less money. The advantage is that both companies are more productive. The domestic company frees up the labor for different or more skilled jobs, and the other company has specialized workers to focus on the one major task fully. Another advantage is that a lot of outsourcing goes over seas, so much of the work can be done in the night during the down time of the companies in the U.S.

Offshoring could have a bigger effect in either the positive or negative direction for us, I think, because it is affecting a bigger part of the business. Usually dealing with manufacturing, when a company offshores it lets another company completely handle a process of the business to get cheaper costs. Materials can be processed to a rough degree quickly and cheaply and then shipped to the U.S. for the precise finish work that requires more skill and training. Just like outsourcing, the advantage is getting more done for less and supposedly reserving the more educated workers jobs at home. The difference between the two is that outsourcing is supposed to streamline a company’s productivity while offshoring removes a large portion of the company and gives it to someone else. I am skeptical about the benefits this will have on American companies in the future but I do agree with Friedman that as it boosts other countries’ economies that it will in turn bring more money our direction. The U.S. just has to stay on top of its innovation and continue being a major producer. 

There was a time when all the inventory a store had was what was on the shelves. Wal-Mart created a system that was a never ending inventory and adapted quickly to change. It designed a supply chain system to get goods to the consumer from the supplier as fast and cheap as possible and they are always updating and improving it. The idea is to keep a low inventory by predicting what and when people will buy and then getting that product to the shelf as efficiently as possible. The less extra costs go into warehouses and extra shipping, the less the price is. The amazing thing is that Wal-Mart never makes anything themselves. They find the supplier and figure out the best way to get the product to the stores. Wal-Mart’s advantage is that they can sell anything from anyone and it opens up the world of producers and consumers to their business. 

The advances through communication and collaboration digitally over the internet has stimulated the economy all over the world and provoked brand new thoughts from people. I think  fifty years ago everybody thought an electric calculator was cool but nobody could imagine what the world would be like today. Just like then, it’s hard to think about the world getting much more advanced than we already are, but it is the ability to learn at a high rate that will push innovation further. Google is one resource that is affecting the future this way. It is so easy to find information about anything we want and even things we didn’t mean to find. The knowledge and inspiration available to us now will continue to grow and we will build off of each other to improve business models and realize new ideas. Google is like a big instruction manual for the future, but once you finished the first billion steps there is twice as many new ones that weren’t there before.

Module 2: 77-136

            As Friedman continued his research of a flat world, it was as if it was continually being smashed with a hammer with every piece of the story that he found. One of the biggest steps toward Globalization 3.0 was the introduction of the PC to peoples’ homes, but at first, it wasn’t much more than a file box and a printer. Documents were transported by hand and creative digital ideas were only shared with people in the same room. Things started to pick up when the internet came along and computers could link to other computers allowing digital content to be shared with anyone anywhere, instantly.

Workflow software is what allowed productivity to soar. It allowed people to connect no matter where they were as if they were in the same office. People could collaborate on projects together that, otherwise, they might even not have met. I think workflow software was important because it proved that the computer age and linking together globally was a real and worth while thing. At first, only those that spent the time to learn how to use a computer could do anything useful with it, but then as more people realized that they could digitize their ideas, share it with the world and get instant feedback, everyone wanted on board. Now our whole world is run on computers because we can connect with each other in so many ways.

Workflow software is not only used by a business to develop a product and market it. It just allows people to do what they would have done together in the same location, now separated by a great distance but linked with computers.  It can bring people together with a new way of doing what they have for a long time. For example, to watch sports you had to be at the game or receiving it on TV. Now E-sports, video game competition, is becoming popular. You can not only watch a live game but participate as well. I can watch a match between two players live on the internet being cast from a team of commentators in California and the players themselves are in Korea and France. Thousands of spectators can discuss the match on live chat while it is happening. 

Another priceless tool is open source software. It is based on free collaboration with anyone over the internet to build, improve and share software. Software companies were trying to design programs to use on computers, but it seems like new software was too complicated to be designed as fast as it was being demanded. Regular people with the know how decided they could make software themselves and share it for free. The top engineers at the biggest companies could not keep up with the brain power of thousands of enthusiasts pulling their ideas together. Open source software was important because it got a lot of people involved in community projects and showed the value in utilizing many brains for endless creative solutions. Open source software drove us further into the future of technology because got people thinking creatively instead of just what was going to make money.

The next thud from the hammer was outsourcing to places like India. Now that business could connect all over the globe and be more productive, it was time to find the place where they could get the most done with the smallest amount of money. A lot of American companies sent the “grudge work” to India where they were willing to gain the business and no better place to put their education to use. One reason it was such a great idea was because it allowed companies to work around the clock easier because of the time difference. I think it was so important because as the world was learning how to use the new technology of computers, it forced us to find creative and cheaper solutions to take advantage of a distance shortening tool.

Module 1: ix-77

Thomas Friedman shares his experiences as he travels around the world about the different ways people communicate through business and commerce. He obverses that where at one time a king would tell each person exactly where they fit into the world, people are thinking for themselves and creating a space to fit into with their own ideas.

The three stages of globalization are about who has the power to choose where they conduct their business. In the early, pre-Columbus years, rulers and the people they ruled relied mostly on themselves for everything they needed. When Columbus was seeking for a new trade route to trade for east Asian goods, he helped make the shift of power to countries and empires to control what other countries they traded with. As technology progressed and companies grew, they began to reach out internationally and claim their own business without their governments or leaders telling them what to do. Eventually, near the end of the twentieth century, the power trickled down to the individual to carry out their own ideas and sell products to customers across the globe as efficiently as a large company could. Friedman describes it as “leveling the playing field” but I picture it more like a network of resources that raise the little guy up to the level of the biggest competitors. Friedman thinks the flattening of the world is driven by business and economic powers deciding with whom and where they do business. The difference between the 3 stages of Globalization is who holds the power to make those decisions. 

Many developments in technology during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries helped create a few economical powerhouses like the U.S. While business was booming in some places, it was suppressed in others. Communist Russia was limiting itself by not letting it’s people connect with others and sharing ideas and knowledge. When the Berlin Wall came down, it was a welcomed symbol of the world opening up between each person. It opened up the idea of sharing more knowledge and came at the perfect timing of when the best information sharing tool was just becoming popular, the internet. People could communicate with anyone else easier than ever,  and feed off of each others ideas. Friedman thinks the breaking down of the Berlin Wall reminded people of what was right in front of them the whole time: a world of collaboration instead of separate countries in competition.

One thing I did not realize before I started reading “The World is Flat” was how different the internet and World Wide Web were. Few had access to the internet and even less knew how to use it, and even then it was not very useful. Then, along came the web with the most important tool: browsers. Netscape made it possible for anyone to connect with anybody else and take advantage of several resources. This created a boom in demand for software and hardware to take advantage of the internet. Netscape was important because it made the leap from being able to digitize and manipulate our own information into being able to share that information with anyone else, anywhere in the world.