Executive Summary - Essay Example

Executive Summary In the article “Its a Flat World,” After All, Thomas L. Friedman explores the idea of globalization (a flat world). According to Friedman, the world has changed significantly with national boundaries rendered defunct and distance between nations reduced to nothing. Freidman argues that technological advancement has spurred globalization process and made the world a different thing from what it was before the era of globalization. According to the author, the world has become on small village where people can easily interact and do business than before. Friedman presents three phases of globalization: globalization 1.0 presents countries globalizing, globalization 2.0 presents companies globalizing and globalization 3.0 entails individuals and small groups globalizing. Fried’s argument is based on two major tenets: the ten flatteners of 1990s and the triple convergence in 2000. Friedman presents the collapse of Berlin wall, netscape, workflow software, open sourcing, outsourcing, offshoring, supply chaining, insourcing, and in-forming and the steroids as the ten forces that flattened the world. Friedman further argues that when the ten forces converged in 200, the product was a flat world.
Similarly, in Hans Rosling’s lecture “Hans Roslings 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats,” he explores the development of the world in the past present as well as the future using massive quantities of public data. Rosling presents to his audience the tale of the world focusing on 200 countries in a period of 200 years by use of 120,000 numbers within 4 minutes. Rosling also conveys the concept of technological advancement spurring globalization where he issues an example of a technology in San Francisco that keeps the entire city under police watch and help curb crime. He asserts that statistics is the basis through which human confusion is eliminated and brings out a vivid picture of how the world was, is and will be.
A flat world impacts international businesses in various ways. First, it leads to increased level of competition because firms can easily get access to new markets across the flat world. Second, it leads to increase in business opportunities. Finally, it gives rise to multi-national and cross-cultural management, which is a big challenge to managers. Both Rosling and Friedman present how globalization has flattened then world over time. The world has become one leveled playing field for multinational businesses. Read More