The Ten Forces That Flattened The World: (Book)

The Ten Forces That Flattened The World
Flattening the world means to level it and to compete countries on equal basis
Flattener #1: Collapse of the Berlin Wall

Allowed individuals to use their own personal computers, giving them freedom to connect again with the
world, to find happiness
The Cold War had been a struggle between two economic systems—capitalism and communism—and
with the fall of the wall, there was only one system left and everyone had to orient himself or herself to it
one way or another. Henceforth, more and more economies would be governed from the ground up, by
the interests, demands, and aspirations of the people, rather than from the top down, by the interests of
some narrow ruling clique. (Book)
“11/9/89” is a discussion about the Berlin Wall coming down, the “fall” of communism, and the impact
that Windows powered PCs (personal computers) had on the ability of individuals to create their own
content and connect to one another. At this point, the basic platform for the revolution to follow was
created: IBM PC, Windows, a standardized graphical interface for word processing, dial up modems, a
standardized tool for communication, and a global phone network.
(https://flatworldbusiness.wordpress.com)
Flattener #2: Netscape went public – 8/9/95: Broadened the audience.

Netscape was the first worldwide internet browser; it was produced by Netscape Communication
Corporation. Netscape lost most of its customers to Windows Internet Explorer, but even so it
played the most important role in the development of communication and computer linkage.
Today we take this simplified browser technology for granted, but it was actually one of the most
important inventions in modern history. (Book)
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 ninety-five-year olds. The digitization
that took place meant that everyday occurrences such as words, files, films, music and pictures
could be accessed and manipulated on a computer screen by all people across the world.
(https://flatworldbusiness.wordpress.com)
The worldwide spread usage of the internet drastically reduced the cost 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 the
globalization process.
Flattener#3: Workflow software:
Friedman 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.
Friedman’s catch-all for the standards and technologies that allowed work to flow. The ability of
machines to talk to other machines with no humans involved, as stated by Friedman. Friedman
believes that these first three forces have become a “crude foundation of a whole new global
platform for collaboration”. There was an emergence of software protocols (SMTP – simple mail
transfer protocol; HTML – the language that enabled anyone to design and publish documents
that could be transmitted to and read on any computer anywhere) Standards on Standards. This is
what Friedman called the “Genesis moment of the flat world.”
Once this technical foundation was in place more and more people started writing workflow
software programs for more and more different tasks.
Flatterner#4: Uploading:
“Open Source” community. Software that is available to everybody can be uploaded by
everybody. Any individual who has something to contribute can improve it.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”.
Flattener #5: Outsourcing:

Outsourcing is a more and more common business 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 different countries the chance to share knowledge, work experience and
professional expertise and learn from one another. 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 so many different
business that the combination of the PC , the internet had created possibility of a whole new
form of collaboration and horizontal value creation : outsourcing”.
Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing
activities into components which can be subcontracted and performed in the most efficient, cost-
effective way. This process became easier with the mass distribution of fiber optic cables during
the introduction of the World Wide Web.
Flattener #6 Offshoring:
The internal relocation of a company’s manufacturing or other processes to a foreign land to take
advantage of less costly operations there. China’s entrance in the WTO (World Trade
Organization) allowed for greater competition in the playing field. Now countries such as
Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil must compete against China and each other to have businesses
offshore to them.
Offshoring is when a company moves its production from its home country to another country,
where it can be done with cheaper labor, lower taxes, subsidized energy, and lower health care
costs.
Flattener #7 Supply-chaining:
Supply-chaining is what Friedman identifies as the next flattener. 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. Wal-Mart has become the
world’s largest and most profitable retailer by buying from its suppliers at the deepest possible
discounts. Wal-Mart itself is not the flattener. It is the result of decades of investment in
information technology and logistical support systems.
Flattener #8 Insourcing:
The eight flattener by Friedman is labeled as 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 repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work
is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees. what is actually happening when a consumer has a
problem with a warranties laptop from Toshiba. The Toshiba tech support asks you to drop the
computer off at a UPS store and UPS store will ship it to Toshiba where it will be fixed. In
actuality, your computer is being shipped to Louisville and fixed by UPS personnel in a facility
dedicated to computer and printer repair.
Flattener# 9 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. The growth of search engines is
tremendous; for example take Google, in which Friedman states that it is “now processing
roughly one billion searches per day, up from 150 million just three years ago”.
Well, that is to say that access to the Internet and all of its information has transformed the way
we do business. Friedman likens this process to an individual being able to create their own
supply chain.
With the ubiquity of access to the Internet and the power of the search engine, every individual is
capable of entertaining and informing themselves without relying on traditional channels. Movie
box offices have felt this effect in recent years. People are able to entertain themselves for almost
no cost by browsing the internet or pirating the movie they would have seen the theaters.
Flattener #10 The Steroids:

Lastly, Friedman identifies digital, mobile, personal, and virtual components as “The Steroids”
which furthered the flattening of the world. People can hold in their hand a computer that is more
powerful than anything that existed 15 years ago and can communicate the data contained on
those devices with any individual around the world.
Wireless, Voice over Internet, and file sharing. Personal digital devices like mobile phones,
iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Digital, Mobile, Personal and Virtual – all analog content and processes (from entertainment to
photography to word processing) can be digitized and therefore shaped, manipulated and
transmitted; virtual – these processes can be done at high speed with total ease; mobile – can be
done anywhere, anytime by anyone; and personal – can be done by you.

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The Ten Forces That Flattened The World

Flattener #1: Collapse of the Berlin Wall

Flattener #2: Netscape went public – 8/9/95: Broadened the audience.

Flattener #5: Outsourcing:

Flattener #10 The Steroids:

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