Book Review “The world is flat”

I read “The world is flat” expanded edition of 2006. Considering that the book is huge success across the globe and across the readers, i feel guilty that missed the same till now. The book is one of the gems penned down by the  famous writer and journalist Mr. Thomas L. Friedman, who wrote it as a research book.

When you proceed with the book, it is clearly visible that the book is more about his observation based on his interaction with corporate bigwigs, their interview, his vist to many places and research based on his observation.I just finished almost some 220 pages of the book and that marks the end of all the 10 flatteners mentioned in the book.

I would like to divide the reviw in form of questions and would try to get the answers of those with the help of book.

 

 Is the world really "flat?"
When Friedman said the world is fla, he didn’t mean world being physically flat-- sorry to disappoint you. Instead, Friedman is referring to the forces of globalization. More specifically, the "triple convergence" among the flattening forces, a new business model emphasizing horizontal collaboration, and the opening of India, Russia, China and other closed societies after the fall of the Berlin Wall. As we go with the book we gradually find that growing economies (read India and China), are playing vital role in making the world really flat besides the ten flatteners mentioned in book. This triple convergence created a more global and level economic playing field. Companies are no longer discrete entities residing in one or two countries, but span the globe. Supply chains reach across continents and cultures while Americans no longer compete only among themselves for the top jobs; but across the entire world.

What is the role of growing economy?

The growing economies are contributing their bit as India is becoming the back office of the world and China is the manufacturing hub of the world. Both tailor made for outsourcing and offshoring. Ofcourse there is some overlapping. As the world becoming a global village competition for the best jobs just got a lot stiffer. No longer can citizens of developed world expect to receive top of the line jobs on anything but merit. The increase in education and telecommunication technology across the world is creating a massive potential workforce that is itching to join top jobs at the top of the standard of living pyramid. What this means for developed world is that the need to be constantly upgrading skills and becoming more adaptable is absolutely vital for continued employment.

How is the developed world preparing  for the flat world?
Thomas Friedman refers to an "Ambition Gap" in describing the advantage that Indian and other non-American students have over Americans. After World War II America was truly the only superpower and the clear leader in technological innovation and education. However, that is no longer the case. Now there are students in places like India where the opportunity for a good education is relatively new and the ambition between students in those areas and Americans is almost not comparable. The Indian CEO of 24/7 Call Center, P.V.Kannan describes it best, "Is America prepared [for the flat world]? It is not...You've gotten a little contented and slow, and the people who came into the field with [the triple convergence] are really hungry. Immigrants are always hungry-- they don't have a backup plan."

What is the lesson from this book?
First and foremost, the extent to which the world has been flattened became very evident in this book. I have a much better mental picture of the world economy and the dynamics of basic business practices in the 21st century after reading half of this book. Another key point that I took from this book is the need to always be improving oneself to remain competitive in the global job market. It is no longer sufficient to learn one skill or trade; the modern worker must be continually learning and growing as an employee. While some people view the flattening of the world as a grave threat (low-skilled manufacturing comes to mind), I prefer to take the more optimistic approach of viewing it as an opportunity to improve. In a free-market economy, increased competition is a keystone to a functioning economy. I see no reason why an increase in the competition for jobs caused by globalization should be looked at any differently. In fact, there is so much more to the flattening of the world that is exciting,particularly the potential of massive collaboration on some of the most troubling and advanced problems we now face that a view focused on the outsourcing of American jobs is shortsighted, narrow and far too American-centric to be a valid approach. Sure, the flattening of the world will raise many challenges for many people, but challenges are what bring the best out of both people and societies.

 

The flatteners of the world:

Friedman defines ten "flatteners" that he sees as leveling the global playing field:

1. The new age of creativity – Berlin Wall collapse and Windows went up (Microsoft)--11/9/89: The event not only symbolized the end of the Cold war, it allowed people from other side of the wall to join the economic mainstream. (11/09/1989)

2. The new age of connectivity- Advent and popularisation of www and Netscape 8/9/95: Netscape and the Web broadened the audience for the Internet from its roots as a communications medium used primarily by 'early adopters and geeks' to something that made the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to ninety-five-year olds. (8/9/1995). The digitization that took place meant that everyday occurrences such as words, files, films, music and pictures could be accessed and manipulated on a computer screen by all people across the world.

3. Workflow software: The ability of machines to talk to other machines with no humans involved. Friedman believes these first three forces have become a "crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration."

4. Uploading- harnessing the power of communities: Communities uploading and collaborating on online projects. Examples include open source software, blogs, and Wikipedia. Friedman considers the phenomenon "the most disruptive force of all."

 5. Outsourcing Y2K: Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components which can be subcontracted and performed in the most efficient, cost-effective way.

6. Offshoring- running with gazelles, eating with lions: The internal relocation of a company's manufacturing or other processes to a foreign land in order to take advantage of less costly operations there. China's entrance in the WTO allowed for greater competition in the playing field. Now countries such as Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil must compete against China and each other to have businesses offshore to them.

7. Supply chaining- eating sushi in arkansas: Friedman compares the modern retail supply chain to a river, and points to Wal-Mart as the best example of a company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution, and shipping.

8. Insourcing: Friedman uses UPS as a prime example for insourcing, in which the company's employees perform services--beyond shipping--for another company. For example, UPS repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.

9.In-forming – Google, MSN, Yahoo: Google and other search engines are the prime example. "Never before in the history of the planet have so many people-on their own-had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people", writes Friedman. The growth of search engines is tremendous; for example take Google, in which Friedman states that it is "now processing roughly one billion searches per day, up from 150 million just three years ago".

10.The steroids, mobile, personal, digital: Personal digital devices like mobile phones, iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).