The World Is Flat - Book Report/Review Example

The World Is Flat The video, “The World Is Flat” by Thomas Friedman gives an analysis of the changes that have taken place globally. The term “World Is Flat” refers to the world being connected. He examines the forces that are shaping businesses globally and the technology driven competition that has arisen. The director of the video terms the forces as a wake up call for all governments and business partners to be aware of the trends taking place for them not to be left behind. In the video, Friedman urges people to be ready for technological changes. He explains that the world is moving faster due to advanced technology than most people or countries would keep up with the pace (Friedman, n.p). Apart from the fast evolving global economy, Friedman does not forget that there are problems associated with the rapid changes. Therefore, he gives preventive measures to the problems as well as the possible solution that could be of great use. Also, he describes the encounters that the world has faced from historical periods, during the great depression in America and the industrialization period that sees greater changes taking place. He warns that despite the growing globalization that is making the world flat, there are forces that could harm this flattening world. Such forces are posed by some militia groups such as the al-Qaeda. He feels that as the world becomes flatter, different factors should be combined to test whether they will give answers to the problems being faced. While in a company in India, Friedman sees a wall screen that is used by the employees for video conferencing. This makes him realize that the world is flat as this is an example of the method companies are using to increase their output (Friedman, n.p). This makes him give three historical periods which he believes constitutes globalization. The first one is evident during the emergence of trade between the new and old world. The second period is the globalization period where dynamic forces led to global integration and thus emergence of multinational companies. The third period is when the globalization will start to shrink which will flatten the world. He explains the forces behind the flattening world and gives an example of the Berlin wall that collapsed. Different forces caused the wall to fall among them improvement in technology where machine like fax machines were used to spread information. Also, he points out that creation of Netscape by companies as one of the ways that flattened the world (Friedman, n.p). The digitalization led to files being accessed and sometimes be manipulated by people globally. Workflow software is another flattener mentioned by Friedman. It allowed machines to communicate with each other without the involvement of any humans. This led to uploading, yet another flattener, which he sites open source software and blog as examples. Also, he gives them as examples of disruptive forces. He points out to outsourcing and off shoring as other flatteners, where companies need to change the business model in order to remain being competitive. Also, Friedman explains another flattener, supply chain. He explains that supply chain makes Wal-Mart the world’s biggest retail though it does not make anything (Friedman, n.p). He discusses Insourcing as another flattener whereby professional in certain products go to a company to produce the product for the company till it is the final stage of delivering it to buyers. The result of Insourcing is that the company does not have in direct contact with the product. Friedman terms the rise of information found in different search engines like Google as in-forming. The informing factor allows people to have access to similar information. Also, he explains the final flattener is the steroid. According to him, these are personal digitalised devises like mobile phones and that allows one to communicate with other people at any place globally and with ease. He terms them steroids because they developed and grew fast like they were taking steroids. Such gargets eased communication and reduced time wasted when travelling from one place to another to get information. From a personal point of view, Friedman is both right and wrong in his talk. In a positive perspective, he is right to say that globalization has brought about integration of people from different cultures, political views as well religious affiliations. This point evident in the video when Friedman states that globalization is making the world flatter (Friedman, n.p). Similarly, the hardships encountered during the great depression has led to the emergence of new business trends. Such business trends contributed to the emergence of new markets and thus increase production. Improvement in technology has contributed largely to globalization. For instance, in the 18th century, there was no teleconferencing and so people had to travel for long distances in order to attend a business meeting. In today’s world, this done through a click of a button, that through teleconferencing. Another positive aspect of Friedman’s thinking is that people no longer have to go to the malls to shop. Online marketing is overtaking the traditional method. The search engines have made it possible for one to know the places to buy products of their choice without having to go physically. Through technology advancement, people are able to know what is trending in other countries far from theirs. This makes it easier for countries to come together in times of distress and offer their support. On the other hand, I do not agree on some points that Friedman gives in his talk. He talks of the world shrinking at the same time flattening in the third globalization. This, according to him will differ greatly from the first and second globalization. This, he says is because globalization will not be a western driven process (Friedman, n.p). According to my understanding, he means that at some point western countries will not be the leading in technology or business ventures. In reality, this seems inapplicable as no Western country would agree to follow the footsteps of something started or being led by East or South. Another point I tend to differ from is where he states that technology has led to many people securing jobs. This is a contrast in that with the emergence of new technology, many people had to be laid off thus exposing them to suffering. This instead does not connect people but rather creates a gap between those employed and laid off. Therefore, the aspect of the world being flat is not justified. From my point of view, globalization has led brought about positive and negative impacts. Ethically speaking, people should embrace globalization positively (Friedman, n.p). They should try and come up with ideas and solution that will eliminate the negative forces such as militia groups. This will lead us to a world order that is peaceful. Am excited to note we are connected through a click of a button globally, that people viewed the 9/11 negatively but it brought the world together. Similarly, reducing of trade and political barriers by states makes it possible to conduct business worldwide. I have also learnt that the 3rd globalization is not driven by the world major corporation but by individuals. In conclusion, globalization is a process that could never be avoided. The world would still be in the dark without globalization. It is through the world being flat or connected that nations are able to conduct businesses with each other. Similarly, it is through the connectivity that countries are able to help other states in case of tragedies. For instance, if there was no such connectivity, the war in Iraq would have lasted longer than it did. Therefore, it is the duty of each every individual to embrace globalization and use in a positive way that will not harm other people. Work Cited Friedman, Thomas. The World Is Flat. Accessed from: . [Accessed on January 31 2015] Read More