The World is Flat
Author: Thomas Friedman
Presented by: Kim Alwood, Cathy
Freeman, Bobbie Russel
How the World Became Flat
The Ten Forces That
Flattened the World
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Collapse of Berlin Wall--11/89: The event not only symbolized
the end of the Cold war, it allowed people from other side of the
wall to join the economic mainstream. (11/09/1989)
Netscape: Netscape and the Web broadened the audience for
the Internet from its roots as a communications medium used
primarily by 'early adopters and geeks' to something that made
the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to eightyfive-year olds. (8/9/1995)
Work Flow Software: The ability of machines to talk to other
machines with no humans involved. Friedman believes these first
three forces have become a “crude foundation of a whole new
global platform for collaboration.”
Uploading: Communities uploading and collaborating on online
projects. Examples include open source software, blogs, and
Wikipedia. Friedman considers the phenomenon "the most
disruptive force of all."
Outsourcing: Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed
companies to split service and manufacturing activities into
components, with each component performed in most efficient,
cost-effective way.
Forces Continued
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Offshoring: Manufacturing's version of outsourcing.
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Supply-Chaining: Friedman compares the modern retail supply
chain to a river, and points to Wal-Mart as the best example of a
company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution,
and shipping.
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Insourcing: 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 itself
repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is
done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.
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In-forming: Google and other search engines are the prime
example. "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.
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"The Steroids": Personal digital devices like mobile phones,
iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
The Triple Convergence
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The Perfect Storm
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Complementary software, internet, political
factors are the triple convergence
As China, Russia, India, and Latin America
opening their borders this lead to the rapid-fire
pace of globalization.
For the first time in history talent is more
important than geography in determining a
person’s opportunity in life.
The Great Sorting Out
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Compares the Industrial Revolution to the
current IT Revolution.
The traditional roles of consumer,
employee, citizen, taxpayer, and
shareholder have become blurred and
intertwined.
India-Indiana story from 2003.
 Indian company outsourced to update
Indiana’s unemployment computer
system.
America and Free Trade
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Encouraging better education and training,
as Americans now compete not only with
other Americans, but with the most brilliant
minds around the globe for positions.
Fear stimulates change (that is a good
thing)
The Untouchables
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Friedman suggest we must make ourselves
“untouchable”
The flatter that the world gets the more digitized,
automated, or outsourced things become.
Three broad categories of workers.
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Synthesizers=Putting together disparate things
that you would not think of as going together.
Explainers= Explain the complexity of bringing
disparate things together but explain with
simplicity.
Leveragers= Technology to compete with
cheaper foreign labor.
The Right Stuff
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Friedman stresses the importance of
the Right Stuff:
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Liberal Arts
Right Brain
Passion and Curiosity
 For Job, success, hobby are so much more
important than ever before
Navigation
 Navigate the virtual world
Learning How to Learn.
 New ways to do old things
 New ways to do new things.
The Quiet Crisis
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Lack of highly skilled scientists and
engineers, disinterest in math and science
by younger population, lack of ambition as
television and video games take over.
Outdated educational system, lack of
funding for research, lack of infrastructure
while we focus on war and others focus on
developing sustainable and innovative
business.
Slow process but it is happening as we
idolize Pop Stars and other countries
idolize Bill Gates
This is Not a Test
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Can’t do the same old way.
What leadership will shove
political barriers aside and lead
us to the forefront of this new
globalization.
Training and upgrading to
employees, increasing their own
productivity and bottom line.
The Virgin of Guadalupe
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Chinese manufacture of statues of
“The Virgin of Guadalupe”
China replaced Mexico as the
U.S’s number 2 importer in 2003
Point : Countries must put policies
in place to create the right
environment for their companies
and entrepreneurs to succeed in a
flat world
How Companies Cope
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Fadi Ghandor, cofounder and
CEO of Aramex, a home-grown
package delivery service
Web-based global network cut
costs and allowed him to
compete with the biggest in the
business and come out ahead
Starbucks – Learning from their
costumers to use soy milk in the
their coffees
How Companies Grow
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Companies willing to collaborate
and focus on niche markets –
staying in front of customers and
outsourcing the rest
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Point : Best companies use
outsourcing as a method of
growth, not to shrink their
workforce.
The Unflat World
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The world is not yet flat – some
factors are preventing
globalization from occurring in
some people/some places
Disempowered people who live
in areas touched by the
flattening of the world but lack
the means, knowledge, and
infrastructure to benefit from it –
India.
The Unflat World
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Warns of a potential threat
lurking in the not too distant
future : a depletion of our natural
resources as people compete to
have more and better
Point : The unflat world means
different societies and cultures
are coming into contact with
each other frequently and more
quickly than ever before
The Dell Theory of Conflict
Prevention
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Two countries invested in a
business together are less likely
to go to war
Asia, as opposed to much of the
Middle East has become more
stable because they are part of
many supply chains
Darker side – Al Qaeda form
mutant supply chains for the
purpose of destruction
The Dell Theory of Conflict
Prevention
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Point : We must examine our
abilities to derail terrorism by
using our capabilities to disrupt
the terrorist supply chain
11/9 Verses 9/11
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11/9 – Destruction of the Berlin
Wall – Door Opening
9/11 – Destruction – Snap shut
against outside threat
Point : Technology cannot
protect us; we must harness that
technology and decide how it
will be used.
Globalization of the Local
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New forms of communication
and innovation create a global
platform for the sharing of work,
entertainment, and opinion
Enrich and preserve culture?
Destroy it?
Point : As humanitarians and
business connect online to
share ideas, so will terrorist and
predators
Closure
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We are called to remember who
we are to avoid losing our
identity in a flat world.
Question : How do you think
“The World is Flat” relates to
public education?
Activity : Number Heads
Together