Critique of Thomas Friedman Its a Flat World, After All - Article Example

Critique of Thomas Friedman “It’s a Flat World, After All” “Its a Flat World, After All” written by Thomas L. Friedman is an interesting and in-depth, piece of work which focuses on how world has become more interconnected and interdependent because of Information Technology (IT) and Information systems (IS). The article was mainly adapted from Friedman’s international bestseller, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century and was published few weeks before the launch of the book in 2005. The basic crux of how globalization and technology has made the world closer and flatter, and also the title of the work got ‘seeded’ into Friedman thought process, when he visited Bangalore, India. During his visit, he met Nandan Nilekani, then CEO of Infosys, one of India’s major IT companies and after one such meeting with him understood how world has become a “level playing field” and thus flatter. “Alas, I encountered the flattening of the world quite by accident…I was visiting the Indian high-tech capital, Bangalore…At one point, summing up the implications of all this, Nilekani uttered a phrase that rang in my ear…Tom, the playing field is being leveled.” (Friedman 2005). Globalization in hand with technology particularly IT has first ‘flattened’ the competitive field in IT sector and in other business sectors, secondly, made geographical boundaries invisible and thirdly, aided many Third World countries to elevate their economic status. So, this paper will critically analyze these IS centric arguments of Friedman using the principles of Information needs of organizations and Socio-technical systems Globalisation and IT/IS Friedman divides globalization into three historical phases and also points out the key force which influenced globalization in each phase, and how the world became smaller after each phase. He terms the first phase as Globalization 1.0 and states that starting from the year 1492 and till 1800, the world shrunk from a large size to a medium size, with the mindset of people of those times to discover new places, search for places with resources and imperialistic tendencies, acting as the influencing force. Then, Globalization 2.0 was visible from 1800 to 2000, during which companies due to opening up of markets by various countries and importantly due to advancement of technologies, started globalizing and accessing new countries, thereby reducing the size of the world even further. Finally, Friedman writes about Globalization 3.0, which started around 2000 and is still continuing with more development. He states that in this present phase of globalization3.0, convergence of fibre-optic micro cables and computers have made the world even smaller and importantly flatter place, with players from all over the world contributing and influencing it. “…while the dynamic force in Globalization 1.0 was countries globalizing and the dynamic force in Globalization 2.0 was companies globalizing, the dynamic force in Globalization 3.0 -- the thing that gives it its unique character -- is individuals and small groups globalizing.” (Friedman 2005). IT sector and other Business sectors Friedman underlines how the twenty-first century has been characterized as the most advanced century because of the technological changes that was witnessed. Notably he mentions the foundation and the thriving of the electronics and telecommunications industry as the key catalysts for the changes that is being witnessed now. He points the role played by Microsoft as one of the pioneers of the IT revolution with its Windows OS. “And the (Berlin) wall went down just as the windows went up -- the breakthrough Microsoft Windows 3.0 operating system, which helped to flatten the playing field even more by creating a global computer interface, shipped six months after the wall fell.” (Friedman 2005). However, the key catalyst for Globalisation 3.0 appears to be internet and the resultant interconnection brought on by telecommunication firms’ laying of fibre cables. He opines that their pursuing of ambitious plans of interlinking the world marked the first step towards globalization and unification. Efforts to interconnect the world included but were not just limited to establishing internet connections using fibre-optic technology, but also the development of internet aiding tools including internet browsers. According to Friedman, development of internet based tools particularly browser Netscape accentuated the laying of fibre cables. “Netscape…did two important things. First, it brought the Internet alive by giving us the browser to display images and data stored on Web sites. Second…triggered the dot-com boom…which triggered the massive overinvestment of billions of dollars in fiber-optic telecommunications cable.” (Friedman 2005). These two changes brought on by the technology only made the world a global village and importantly the world a “one big office”. One big office in the sense, people from various countries without physically travelling to other countries started working for other companies and other process, by stationing in their own countries only because of IT based technologies. That is, in the line with principle of Information needs of organizations, organizations in the Western countries needed optimal and at the same time cost-effective solutions for its business process. Although, these organizations had qualified minds and hands, they needed more specialized works. Also, the information needs and other needs of these organizations also got diversified and accentuated, with the entry of these organizations into various new markets. So, to fulfil these information needs of organisations, companies and workers from the developing countries came into the picture using IT/IS based tools as the medium. “In particular, Friedman is obsessed with one of the great economic phenomena of our day: the outsourcing of the U.S. economys service and information-technology work to India, China and elsewhere.” (Bass 2005) Friedman maintains that traditionally isolated countries as well as countries with minimum resources and infrastructure were brought to the same level with the rest, through being linked to more industrialized nations. He points out the example of India through the words of Indian Hedge-fund manager on Wall Street, Dinakar Singh. “India had no resources and no infrastructure. It produced people with quality and by quantity. But many of them rotted on the docks of India like vegetables. (Through) fiber-optic cable…you can plug into the world from India.” (Friedman 2005). As India has a strong educational system, it is able to produce qualified and equipped personnel, who can optimally manage all IT based applications. So, today a company in the US approaches a software firm in India to fulfil their software needs, thus showing how an integral part of their business process is carried out by a firm, which is half way around the world. This type of global business benefits both the parties, with Western companies getting quality services at lesser costs, while Indian professionals get higher salaries, thereby elevating their standard of living. However, when this process is viewed critically, it is clear that it is affecting many segments of population in the West. That is, critics of this IT based globalisation state that this process ‘shipped’ many jobs that would have given employment to the local population in the Western countries. Apart from the blue collar and back office jobs, this outsourcing of software and IT relation operations to India and other Asian countries has diminished jobs in developed nations leading to a lot of outcry and even political intervention. “It is now clear that US president Mr. Barack Obama is all set to target the outsourcing industry specially software outsourcing and his recent comments on tax break policy are a clear indication towards it.” (Jackson 2010). Apart from the IT sector, the principle of Information needs of organizations is also visible in the other Business sectors. Friedman points out about some companies like UPS and Wal-Mart which he associates with spearheading great changes in flattening the world, as they are spearheading other lines of globalization like supply chains. That is, with the development of IT structures for communications, instructions and even online transfer of payment, manufacturing industries are also optimally using IT as part of globalising avenues. Wal-Mart is aptly doing it as part of its supply chain. “This is Wal-Marts specialty. I create a global supply chain down to the last atom of efficiency so that if I sell an item in Arkansas, another is immediately made in China.” (Friedman 2005). Geographical boundaries invisible In the third phase of globalization, the convergence of fibre-optic micro cable and computer has blurred the geographical boundaries. The connectivity provided by this convergence has aided and still aiding the humans to transcend the geographical limitations. A company can be based in any country but it can collaborate with companies in other countries, with the help of this convergence. “This created a global, Web-enabled playing field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration on research and work in real time, without regard to geography” (Friedman 2005). Thus, according to Friedman, the geography of the country has limited or no part to play in the era of globalization. It does not matter where the country is situated in the world, it can benefit from globalization, if it can provide services to companies in other countries. Providing apt services or information and getting apt financial returns in a way fulfils the principles of Information needs of organizations and Socio-technical systems. The economy and talent pool is more important for a country to compete in the global market. If a company has the talented and experienced work force, then the country of location becomes insignificant, as they can live anywhere and provide their services to some other part of the world. “The The World Wide Web created a fenceless reality with instant feedback in which Bangalore would become as close as one’s own (American) backyard.” (Scott). As far as commerce is concerned, globalization has merged various countries into one single market benefiting both. While customers get the needed information, the providers get monetary benefits, through which they can elevate their life standards, thereby fulfilling the principle of Socio-technical systems. So, the technology that connects people from one part of the world to another part of world is the main factor that influences the participation of a country globalization process. If the individuals in the country are proficient in using this technology and fulfilling the needs of companies in other countries, then the geography of their country becomes immaterial. So, the bottom line is, the level of technology particularly IT that is available in a country is more important than its geography. “Friedman explains the importance of the development of work flow platforms, software that made it possible for all kinds of computer applications to connect and work together, which is what allowed seamless cooperation by people working anywhere.” (Zakaria, 2005). Elevate the economic status of many countries One of the major themes presented by Friedman is the rising economic power of the IT practicing or providing developing countries like India and China. That is, as these countries have a talented and dedicated pool of IT professionals, they are getting continuous and high value orders from the West. “And if you are able to demonstrate your work, using the same infrastructure, and if people are comfortable giving work to you and if you are diligent and clean in your transactions, then you are in business.” (Friedman 2005). With employees working in IT companies particularly in Indian companies earning sizable incomes, it has increased their purchasing power. Using that increased purchasing power and to elevate their living standards, those IT professionals are buying and consuming various products and services, manufactured by other industries. Thus, other industries are also able run profitably and this kind of cycle is positively impacting the economies of both the nations. As large of players or people in the society are positively impacted by the actions that are taking place in the IT sector, the principle of Socio-technical system gets fulfilled. However, the criticism is, the benefits IT revolution and the resultant riches are only benefiting the urban population, with majority of the people in these developing countries not getting major benefits. In that case, the key thing would be to provide equal IT opportunities and benefits to all sections of the societies, which was not covered by Friedman in the article. On the whole, IT based globalization is impacting various sectors including IT and other business sectors without any focus on geographical location, thereby positively impacting many segments of population. References Bass, W 2005, The Great Leveling, Washington Post, viewed on December 10, 2010 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17314-2005Mar31.html Friedman, TL 2005, Its a Flat World, After All, New York Times, viewed on December 10, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/03DOMINANCE.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2 Jackson, F 2010, Outsourcing To India - Impact Of Obama’s Recent Comment On Tax Breaks, viewed on December 10, 2010 http://www.articlesxpert.com/outsourcing/outsourcing-to-india--impact-of-obamas-recent-comment-on-tax-breaks.htm Scott, B, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century, viewed on December 10, 2010 http://www.curledup.com/worldisf.htm Zakaria, F 2005, Book Review: The World Is Flat: The Wealth of Yet More Nations. The New York Times, viewed on December 10, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/books/review/01ZAKARIA.html?pagewanted =1&_r=1 Read More