Ten forces that flattened the world

Ten Forces That Flatten the World

Three times Pulitzer Price winner Thomas L. Friedman is one of the most renowned contemporary authors. World wide, he is best acknowledged for his books and articles on technological development, globalization and war affairs, namely terrorism.

His latest publication is the book "The World Is Flat" which has registered immense success with his public. It has been on sale since April 2005 and its name was for several moths on the New York Times Bets Seller list.

The correct title of the book is "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century" and it is an analysis of the stage of globalization across the history, with special emphasis on the twenty-first century.

In writing this book, Friedman makes use of his previous knowledge of the industrial and technological development. In his opinion, the rate at which the nowadays' world evolves it so fast that countries are only left with two opposite alternatives: they either make efforts to keep up with the development rhythm or they do not make any efforts and choose to be left behind.

The World is Flat" because all elements are interconnected and depend on one another. He emphasizes the significant changes that have taken place in the hi-tech industry during these past few years and severely criticizes those who do not embrace these changes, no matter what their reasons might be.

Several critics have stated that Friedman's book is rather farfetched and unrealistic. The author is highly critical towards those who do not share his view of the world and economy. Another reason for which the book was criticized is the fact that some specialist believe that the term flat also refers to a flat earth, leading back to the somber time of the Inquisition.

In a nutshell, Friedman believes the world to be flat due to the following ten factors: 11/9/89, 8/9/95, work flow software, open-sourcing, outsourcing, offshoring, supply-chaining, insourcing, in-forming and the steroids.

Flattener 1: 11/9/89

When the Walls Came Down and the Windows Went Up"

The chapter begins with Friedman's story of a walk in Berlin, glancing at the nearly fallen down German wall. The author believes that not only was the construction a painful scar on Berlin's face, but it also represented the impediment in worldwide unification as it divided countries. "The Berlin Wall was not only blocking our way; it was blocking our sight -- our ability to think about the world as a single market, a single ecosystem, and a single community..." (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World," p. 48)

In Friedman's opinion, the fall of the Berlin Wall not only freed those held captive by the Soviet Empire but also helped the peoples to broaden their perspective of life and "tipped the balance of power across the world toward those advocating democratic, consensual, free-market-oriented governance, and away from those advocating authoritarian rule with centrally planned economies." (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World")

Friedman believes that the fall of the Berlin Wall opened new opportunities for the economies. Now that they were able to travel freely, citizens of different countries could exchange work experiences, knowledge and learn from one another. By combining all the elements known so far by inhabitants of different countries, the producers could come up with a highly improved final version of the products, all due to liberalization.

Even if the flattener is called "When the Walls came down and the Windows went up" Friedman believes that the sequence of events was in fact reversed. This means that the fall of the Berlin Wall was preceded by the impressive development in the technological industry, namely with communication devices. "A critical mass of IBM PCs, and the Windows operating system that brought them to life, came together in roughly this same time period that the wall fell, and their diffusion put the nail in the coffin of communism." (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World," p. 52)

Flattener 2: 8/9/95

When Netscape Went Public"

Netscape was the first worldwide Internet browser; it was produced by Netscape Communications Corporation. Netscape lost most its customers to Window's Internet Explorer, but even so it played the most important role in the development of communications and computer linkage. Netscape, along with the Internet redefined the conventional meaning of computer usage and dramatically increased the number of users.

Once able to easily communicate outside territorial boundaries, inhabitants of different nations found it rather convenient to exchange several experiences related to work, entertainment and even commerce. The local networks, and afterwards the Internet, broadened individual's way of thinking and made them realize that "the value of compatibility was much higher for everyone than the value of trying to maintain your own little walled network. This integration was a huge flattener, because it enabled so many more people to get connected with so many more other people." (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World," p. 62)

The worldwide spread usage of the Internet drastically reduced the costs of international communications, it made it possible for business associates to organize online conferences, for employers to hire workers from anywhere on the globe, it is a highly important factor in the globalization process.

Flattener 3: Work Flow Software

Let's Do Lunch: Have Your Application Talk to My Application"

The subchapter begins with Friedman's presentation of past events in the history of software engineering. He states that after the Internet was invented, most programmers worked together in an attempt to perfect it. Once this was realized, the developers split into numerous parties, organized themselves into companies and competed against each other on the computer services market.

This course of action is a rather happy one for humankind as it led to significant improvements in the services offered and substantially lower costs. All these multiplied the number of computer and Internet users.

Once this technical foundation was in place, more and more people started writing work flow software programs for more and more different tasks" (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World," p. 75). Specialists in the domain identified several needs of the public and had trained developers code them into computer programs. Then, they realized user-friendly interfaces and began selling the final products to merchants. The products were meant to ease the labor in several fields among which are: accounting, banking, pharmaceutics, transportation, hospitals, schools, music, retail stores, graphics or games.

Flattener 4: Open-Sourcing

Self-Organizing Collaborative Communities"

Open sourcing is yet another element particular to Internet and computer usage. It is characterized by the fact that after having completed a task, the software company not only presents its customers with the designed application, but it also offers them the code they have written at the basis of the program. This way, the customer would be able to change certain features of the code, remove or add new ones to for the application to best meet their demands.

Open sourcing has raised significant issues along the years as it fails to recognize the merits of those who worked hard to develop the products. Friedman believes that all software should be freely distributed to those who desire it. Even more so, in this subchapter, the author states that all coding should be presented along side with the application and everyone should contribute to improving the program. "The primary goal of the free software movement, however, is to get as many people as possible writing, improving, and distributing software for free, out of a conviction that this will empower everyone and free individuals from the grip of global corporations." (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World," p. 96)

Flattener 5: Outsourcing

Y2K"

Outsourcing is a more and more common business process nowadays and it takes the form of international business relationships. The most well-known form is that of contracting external companies to employ. Friedman is a strong supporter of the procedure and believes it to be one of the vital elements in the globalization process.

Outsourcing offers inhabitants of different countries the chance to share knowledge, work experience and professional expertise and learn from one another. To support his idea, Friedman presents the case of India and the United States of America: "And so with Y2K bearing down on us, America and India started dating, and that relationship became a huge flattener, because it demonstrated to so many different businesses that the combination of the PC, the Internet, and fiber-optic cable had created the possibility of a whole new form of collaboration and horizontal value creation: outsourcing" (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World," p. 108)

Flattener 6: Offshoring

Running with Gazelles, Eating with Lions

Offshoring is yet another relatively new form of international labor. It is similar in meaning with the out-sourcing process. The main difference between the two is that in the case of out-sourcing the company hires foreign workers to complete the tasks their way and in their work places, whereas in the case of offshoring, the company moves up their entire factory in a new country. There, they get the work done their way, with their tools and in their own space, but with much lower costs that in their native country.

Friedman is a firm believer in offshoring and states that such a process is a strong stimulant for fair and international competition. He criticizes the countries that did not yet adopt it saying that all countries should be members of the international market, regardless of their social or economical background.

To explain this idea, the author makes an exaggerated comparison. He says: "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running." (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World," p.113). In other words, it does not matter if you are a highly developed country or a less developed one, your duty is to participate to the world competition and promote your country's best products.

Flattener 7: Supply-Chaining

Eating Sushi in Arkansas

Supply-chaining is the seventh element that contributes to the flattening of the world. Friedman defines it as "a method of collaborating horizontally -- among suppliers, retailers, and customers -- to create value" (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World," p. 128).

The horizontal collaboration technique implies the removal of old fashion vertical structure, in other words, elimination of hierarchy. Members of a horizontal structure have more confidence in their work and capabilities as they are not faced with hierarchical superiors, but rather work together with equal colleagues. The author believes that "The more these supply chains grow and proliferate, the more they force the adaptation of common standards between companies (so that every link of every supply chain can interface with the next), the more they eliminate points of friction at borders, the more the efficiencies of one company get adopted by the others, and the more they encourage global collaboration." (the World Is Flat, Chapter 2, "The Ten Forces That Flattened the World," p. 129)

The most relevant example in support of this theory is the success registered by Wal-Mart. By applying this particular strategy, Wal-Mart became the biggest retail business in the world.

Flattener 8: In-sourcing

What the Guys in Funny Brown Shorts Are Really Doing

In the eighth subchapter of his second chapter, Friedman discusses the issue of insourcing and defines it as a collaboration and horizontal creation of value. The actual process of insourcing implies "the delegation of operations or jobs from production within a business to an internal (but 'stand-alone') entity (such as a subcontractor) that specializes in that operation. Insourcing is a business decision that is often made to maintain control of certain critical production or competencies." (Wikipedia, Insourcing)

To prove that insourcing is not only a flattening element, but also a highly beneficial one, Friedman gives readers numerous examples. Among these examples are FedEx or UPS. He states that these companies are not just carriers, but much more. Around the late 1990s, UPS began operating in the business of "synchronized commerce solutions and is now able to service virtually any supply chain from one corner of the flat earth to another." (James Berry, Review on the book "The World is Flat")