The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century is a national bestseller book by Thomas Friedman. The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as flat in terms of commerce and competition where all competitors have an equal opportunity to compete and win.
In view of the globalization, people careers are in danger and sad to say that they still do now know it. Nobody is aware of this new inevitable trend that will negatively impact their career and their ability to protect and secure their financial future.
The world has changed. Everything has changed. Economy has changed to highly competitive environment globally. Technology has changed from time to time to improve and increase efficiency. Society has changed to much more fragmented and self centered. The workplace has changed in term of more information is required to process rapidly that an average worker might not be able to handle. This has resulted a much more demanding and pressurizing working environment.
Hence, calling all the rat racers! Time to take action planning out of rat race before your jobs are impacted. Even though you win the race, you are still a rat running around the highly competitive flat world.
In addition, with easy access to Internet and telephone connections has become a level playing field. This has added intense pressure to people at high cost locations whereby a job can now be done anywhere in the world, just as long as the person is qualified and connected.
Friedman tells us that 'There are 245,000 Indians answering phones from all over the world or dialing out to solicit people for credit cards or cellphone bargains or overdue bills.' These would constitute low-wage and low-prestige jobs in America, 'but when shifted to India they become high-way, high-prestige jobs'.
The world we live in is completely different from what it was 20 years ago. Changes are now taking place at a faster rate than ever before. Distances have shrunk, accessibility has increased, new territories have been discovered and jobs have been broken down into processes and anything that can be digitally transferred and worked on by the person who is the most efficient, fastest and cheapest without the constraint of boundary.
So, what is going on and threatening the security of our jobs?
What are the forces forcing us to leave the rat race?
The "story" of The World Is Flat begins with the 3 different phases of globalization from the days of Christopher Columbus to our present day which can be summarized as below:
Globalization 1.0
Start: 1492 (Columbus Discovered America)
End: 1800
Player: Country
Globalization 2.0
Start: 1800
Interrupted by:
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Great Depression (1929)
- World War II (1940-1945)
End: 2000
First Half of Globalization 2.0:
- Falling of Transportation Cost
- Steam Engine
- Rail Road
Second Half of Globalization 2.0:
- Falling of Telecommunication Cost
- Telegraph
- Telephone
- Personal Computer
- Fiber Optics
- World Wide Web
Player: Multinational Company
Globalization 3.0
Start: 2000
Player: Individual
The 3 eras of globalization started from Columbus's first journey in 1492 to around 1800 (Globalization 1.0), when the discoveries of new lands shrunk the world from large to medium; from 1800 to 2000 (Globalization 2.0), the era of industrialisation to the hegemony of the multinational which made the world small; and Globalization 3.0, the new, flat, tiny world where 'the creation of a global fibre-optic network has made us all next-door neighbours'.
The Globalization 1.0 dealt with countries, Globalization 2.0 with companies and Globalization 3.0, the last between individuals. It is the personalization and simplification of the Internet and telecommunication industries that has made the individual into a powerful entity regardless of the background whether he or she is back by any company or country.
The World Is Flattened #1: Fall of Berlin Wall (Nov 1989)
The collapse of the Berlin Wall broke through the symbolism of those promoting authoritarian rule with centrally planned economies such as the Soviet Union and led the way towards building democratic, consensual and free-market governments. The event not only signifying the victory of capitalism and end of the Cold War era, it allowed people from other side of the wall to join the economic mainstream and “allowed us to think about the world differently - to see it as a seamless whole” and ” think about the world as a single market, a single ecosystem, and a single community.”
The World Is Flattened #2: Netscape (1995)
The invention of Netscape Internet browser has dramatically increased the universal sharing of information. Prior to the invention of Netscape browser, only geeks and software engineers were able to navigate through the complicated procedures of the Internet. Netscape browser made the Internet user friendly and accessible to the common user from 5 year olds to 85 year olds to communicate from anywhere using any type of system.
The World Is Flattened #3: Workflow Software
The development of Free workflow software such as Outlook, Ebay, Paypal, allowed people from around the world to collaborate and connect together on projects and conduct commerce from remote locations using a shared medium. By connecting applications to applications, we could now manipulate digitized content and send it to someone across the world through the Internet. Work Flow software enabled us to utilize the best talent available regardless of physical location.
Friedman believes these first three forces have become a “crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration.”
The World Is Flattened #4: Open Sourcing
Open Sourcing was a global movement where there was free access to software, web hosting, blogs, encyclopedias and numerous other tools. This enabled software engineers, students, professors or anyone else to contribute to the innovative and creative growth of Internet applications. Open sourcing has forged a culture of information-sharing that has dramatically reduced costs. Friedman considers the phenomenon "the most disruptive force of all."
The World Is Flattened #5: Outsourcing
Outsourcing started during Y2K crisis, when Indian software professionals were required to do an intensive code review that no one else had the manpower to conduct. Since then, outsourcing of off-site services such as call centers support, has branched out into countless forms of business and attracted a lot of press.
Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components, with each component performed in most efficient and cost-effective way.
The World Is Flattened #6: Offshoring
When China joined the World Trade Organization in December 2001, foreign companies were assured that standard business practices would be followed under international law. This worked to flatten the world as it attracted relocation of factories to China. Hence, offshoring is the manufacturing's version of outsourcing whereby the Chinese manufacturing sector has forced other developing countries to try to keep up with their low cost solutions, resulting in better quality and cheaper products being produced worldwide.
The World Is Flattened #7: Supply chaining
Supply chaining means using the new Information Technology tools to track purchases, reduce inventories, and streamline distribution of goods. Friedman uses Wal-Mart as the best example of a company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution and shipping. Wal-Mart has proved that it no longer matters where you are located in this flat world. Only how well you do your business and deliver your company goals which are much more important.
The World Is Flattened #8: Insourcing
Insourcing means the importation of one company’s workers into another in order to perform specialized tasks more efficiently. Insourcing is a new form of creating value horizontally, which has been made possible by a flat world. Smaller companies are able to compete with the larger ones in a flat world by taking care of processes that are closely related to their core competency.
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.
The World Is Flattened #9: In-forming
Access to information is the greatest equalizer in a flat world. Anyone with an Internet connection has the ability to find information on the web now. Internet search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN Search can provide almost any information to anybody anywhere in the world. "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 World Is Flattened #10: "The Steroids"
Personal digital handheld devices and wireless communication such as mobile phones, ipods, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), instant messaging, wifi systems and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are connecting people with other people, with companies and flattening the world with greater speed than ever before.
The Triple Convergence
In addition to the 10 flatteners, Friedman adds another 3 components, "the triple convergence," that acted on the flatteners to create a new and flatter global playing field.
The World Is Flat Convergence #1: Converged Flatteners
Up until the year 2003, the 10 flatteners were semi-independent from one another. However, around the year 2003, all the flatteners converged with one another. This convergence could be compared to complementary goods (e.g. paper and pencil), in that each flattener enhanced the other flatteners; the more one flattener developed, the more leveled the global playing field became.
The World Is Flat Convergence #2: New Business Platform
After the emergence of the 10 flatteners, a new business model was required to succeed. Instead of collaborating vertically (the top-down method of collaboration, where innovation comes from the top), businesses needed to begin collaborating horizontally. Horizontalization means companies and people collaborate with other departments or companies to add value creation or innovation. Friedman's Convergence 2 occurs when horizontalization and the 10 flatteners begin to reinforce each other.
The World Is Flat Convergence #3: Emerging Regions
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, countries that had followed the Soviet economic model—including India, China, Russia, and the nations of Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Central Asia—began to open up their economies to the world. When these new players converged with the rest of the globalized marketplace, they added new brain power to the whole playing field and enhanced horizontal collaboration across the globe. In turn, Convergence 3 is the most important force shaping politics and economics in the early 21st century.
Last but not least, wealth and power will increasingly accrue to those countries, companies, individuals and groups who get three basic things right:
1. The infrastructure to connect to this flat world platform;
2. The education to get more of their people innovating on,
working off of, and tapping into this platform; and
3. The governance to get the best out of this platform and cushion its worst side effect.
In the nutshell, technological advancement is creating a "level playing field" in which previously marginalized people and countries can play a competitive role in the world economy. Hence, we need to continue to learn and improve ourselves to stay ahead and be competitive in this flat world. Personal development and self improvement are key to success.
If you do not know whether to start with, I would highly recommend SkyQuestCom.com as the tool to future success and achieve financial freedom. It has changed my life and I hope it helps to change yours too.
In view of the globalization, people careers are in danger and sad to say that they still do now know it. Nobody is aware of this new inevitable trend that will negatively impact their career and their ability to protect and secure their financial future.
The world has changed. Everything has changed. Economy has changed to highly competitive environment globally. Technology has changed from time to time to improve and increase efficiency. Society has changed to much more fragmented and self centered. The workplace has changed in term of more information is required to process rapidly that an average worker might not be able to handle. This has resulted a much more demanding and pressurizing working environment.
Hence, calling all the rat racers! Time to take action planning out of rat race before your jobs are impacted. Even though you win the race, you are still a rat running around the highly competitive flat world.
In addition, with easy access to Internet and telephone connections has become a level playing field. This has added intense pressure to people at high cost locations whereby a job can now be done anywhere in the world, just as long as the person is qualified and connected.
Friedman tells us that 'There are 245,000 Indians answering phones from all over the world or dialing out to solicit people for credit cards or cellphone bargains or overdue bills.' These would constitute low-wage and low-prestige jobs in America, 'but when shifted to India they become high-way, high-prestige jobs'.
The world we live in is completely different from what it was 20 years ago. Changes are now taking place at a faster rate than ever before. Distances have shrunk, accessibility has increased, new territories have been discovered and jobs have been broken down into processes and anything that can be digitally transferred and worked on by the person who is the most efficient, fastest and cheapest without the constraint of boundary.
So, what is going on and threatening the security of our jobs?
What are the forces forcing us to leave the rat race?
The "story" of The World Is Flat begins with the 3 different phases of globalization from the days of Christopher Columbus to our present day which can be summarized as below:
Globalization 1.0
Start: 1492 (Columbus Discovered America)
End: 1800
Player: Country
Globalization 2.0
Start: 1800
Interrupted by:
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Great Depression (1929)
- World War II (1940-1945)
End: 2000
First Half of Globalization 2.0:
- Falling of Transportation Cost
- Steam Engine
- Rail Road
Second Half of Globalization 2.0:
- Falling of Telecommunication Cost
- Telegraph
- Telephone
- Personal Computer
- Fiber Optics
- World Wide Web
Player: Multinational Company
Globalization 3.0
Start: 2000
Player: Individual
The 3 eras of globalization started from Columbus's first journey in 1492 to around 1800 (Globalization 1.0), when the discoveries of new lands shrunk the world from large to medium; from 1800 to 2000 (Globalization 2.0), the era of industrialisation to the hegemony of the multinational which made the world small; and Globalization 3.0, the new, flat, tiny world where 'the creation of a global fibre-optic network has made us all next-door neighbours'.
The Globalization 1.0 dealt with countries, Globalization 2.0 with companies and Globalization 3.0, the last between individuals. It is the personalization and simplification of the Internet and telecommunication industries that has made the individual into a powerful entity regardless of the background whether he or she is back by any company or country.
The World Is Flattened #1: Fall of Berlin Wall (Nov 1989)
The collapse of the Berlin Wall broke through the symbolism of those promoting authoritarian rule with centrally planned economies such as the Soviet Union and led the way towards building democratic, consensual and free-market governments. The event not only signifying the victory of capitalism and end of the Cold War era, it allowed people from other side of the wall to join the economic mainstream and “allowed us to think about the world differently - to see it as a seamless whole” and ” think about the world as a single market, a single ecosystem, and a single community.”
The World Is Flattened #2: Netscape (1995)
The invention of Netscape Internet browser has dramatically increased the universal sharing of information. Prior to the invention of Netscape browser, only geeks and software engineers were able to navigate through the complicated procedures of the Internet. Netscape browser made the Internet user friendly and accessible to the common user from 5 year olds to 85 year olds to communicate from anywhere using any type of system.
The World Is Flattened #3: Workflow Software
The development of Free workflow software such as Outlook, Ebay, Paypal, allowed people from around the world to collaborate and connect together on projects and conduct commerce from remote locations using a shared medium. By connecting applications to applications, we could now manipulate digitized content and send it to someone across the world through the Internet. Work Flow software enabled us to utilize the best talent available regardless of physical location.
Friedman believes these first three forces have become a “crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration.”
The World Is Flattened #4: Open Sourcing
Open Sourcing was a global movement where there was free access to software, web hosting, blogs, encyclopedias and numerous other tools. This enabled software engineers, students, professors or anyone else to contribute to the innovative and creative growth of Internet applications. Open sourcing has forged a culture of information-sharing that has dramatically reduced costs. Friedman considers the phenomenon "the most disruptive force of all."
The World Is Flattened #5: Outsourcing
Outsourcing started during Y2K crisis, when Indian software professionals were required to do an intensive code review that no one else had the manpower to conduct. Since then, outsourcing of off-site services such as call centers support, has branched out into countless forms of business and attracted a lot of press.
Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components, with each component performed in most efficient and cost-effective way.
The World Is Flattened #6: Offshoring
When China joined the World Trade Organization in December 2001, foreign companies were assured that standard business practices would be followed under international law. This worked to flatten the world as it attracted relocation of factories to China. Hence, offshoring is the manufacturing's version of outsourcing whereby the Chinese manufacturing sector has forced other developing countries to try to keep up with their low cost solutions, resulting in better quality and cheaper products being produced worldwide.
The World Is Flattened #7: Supply chaining
Supply chaining means using the new Information Technology tools to track purchases, reduce inventories, and streamline distribution of goods. Friedman uses Wal-Mart as the best example of a company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution and shipping. Wal-Mart has proved that it no longer matters where you are located in this flat world. Only how well you do your business and deliver your company goals which are much more important.
The World Is Flattened #8: Insourcing
Insourcing means the importation of one company’s workers into another in order to perform specialized tasks more efficiently. Insourcing is a new form of creating value horizontally, which has been made possible by a flat world. Smaller companies are able to compete with the larger ones in a flat world by taking care of processes that are closely related to their core competency.
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.
The World Is Flattened #9: In-forming
Access to information is the greatest equalizer in a flat world. Anyone with an Internet connection has the ability to find information on the web now. Internet search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN Search can provide almost any information to anybody anywhere in the world. "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 World Is Flattened #10: "The Steroids"
Personal digital handheld devices and wireless communication such as mobile phones, ipods, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), instant messaging, wifi systems and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are connecting people with other people, with companies and flattening the world with greater speed than ever before.
The Triple Convergence
In addition to the 10 flatteners, Friedman adds another 3 components, "the triple convergence," that acted on the flatteners to create a new and flatter global playing field.
The World Is Flat Convergence #1: Converged Flatteners
Up until the year 2003, the 10 flatteners were semi-independent from one another. However, around the year 2003, all the flatteners converged with one another. This convergence could be compared to complementary goods (e.g. paper and pencil), in that each flattener enhanced the other flatteners; the more one flattener developed, the more leveled the global playing field became.
The World Is Flat Convergence #2: New Business Platform
After the emergence of the 10 flatteners, a new business model was required to succeed. Instead of collaborating vertically (the top-down method of collaboration, where innovation comes from the top), businesses needed to begin collaborating horizontally. Horizontalization means companies and people collaborate with other departments or companies to add value creation or innovation. Friedman's Convergence 2 occurs when horizontalization and the 10 flatteners begin to reinforce each other.
The World Is Flat Convergence #3: Emerging Regions
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, countries that had followed the Soviet economic model—including India, China, Russia, and the nations of Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Central Asia—began to open up their economies to the world. When these new players converged with the rest of the globalized marketplace, they added new brain power to the whole playing field and enhanced horizontal collaboration across the globe. In turn, Convergence 3 is the most important force shaping politics and economics in the early 21st century.
Last but not least, wealth and power will increasingly accrue to those countries, companies, individuals and groups who get three basic things right:
1. The infrastructure to connect to this flat world platform;
2. The education to get more of their people innovating on,
working off of, and tapping into this platform; and
3. The governance to get the best out of this platform and cushion its worst side effect.
In the nutshell, technological advancement is creating a "level playing field" in which previously marginalized people and countries can play a competitive role in the world economy. Hence, we need to continue to learn and improve ourselves to stay ahead and be competitive in this flat world. Personal development and self improvement are key to success.
If you do not know whether to start with, I would highly recommend SkyQuestCom.com as the tool to future success and achieve financial freedom. It has changed my life and I hope it helps to change yours too.
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