The Flat World

So what exactly does a 'flat world' mean? Well, it means that the “global competitive playing field is being leveled” says Thomas Friedman.

Still confused?

Think of it this way:

“It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing that at any previous time in the history of the world.”

It means that MBA students in North America can work on projects with MBA students in China, and then have that work edited by MBA students in India. It means that someone with a laptop in an internet Cafe in Nigeria can start a business using Yahoo search engines and UPS logistics to ship products he has manufactured in China directly to the buyer who ordered the goods online, the whole time never touching his own products. It means that anyone with a laptop can connect to absolutely anyone else with a laptop, and collaborate on any project, in almost any country, and change, create and develop anything they have the imagination to come up with. It means a site like MySpace, if considered its own country, would be the 8th largest in the world, and that 1 in 8 couples married in 2008 will have met over the Internet.
It means that a company can open up its management, product development, and marketing tools to the world, share information that was once considered 'for executives' eyes only', and see customers participate in company processes that used to be reserved for the boardroom. It means that 6 billion people have a shot at participating in the new global economy.

Well....almost.

Friedman is quick to admit that not all the world is flat...at least not yet. There are still close to 3 billion people in rural parts of China, India, South America, Africa, and even Europe and North America who don't have access to the flat world. However, that is changing as well. In efforts to maximize the global 'talent pool', individuals and organizations already in the flat world are now using globalization and collaboration to solve these problems. Take Jeremy Hockenstein, for example. A former McKinsey employee, Hockenstein left to start a not-for-profit data entry firm that outsources work to Cambodia of all places; not the best of economies or work environments. So what did he and his colleagues decide to do? Bridge the gap between the flat world and the un-flat world. They opened “Digital Divide Data” and trained people in Cambodia to type information into computers. They then went to India to find data-entry organizations who needed text inputted into computers in digital form to be stored in databases. They also returned home to America to find work there. In fact, Harvard gave Digital Divide Data its first big contract, archiving old copies of its school newspaper. So, in a nutshell, two Americans trained people in Cambodia to type and use the Internet so that Indian companies and Harvard University could outsource data-entry work. The world is flat.

While we've all heard the arguments against globalization, it is critically important to see the advantages of living in a truly flat world. When projects like this can happen seamlessly, and its just as easy to communicate with someone in the next city as it is the opposite side of the world, the possibilities are endless. It will surely be exciting to see where the flat world takes us, and how it will shape education, governments, health care, organizations, and individuals. I would go as far to say that The World is Flat should be a required reading for all business and economics students, not to mention professors and faculty. If our generation will be living in a flat world, should we not be educating for it? With all the tools and technology out there, there is no reason why business and economics students are not be working on papers and projects right alongside students in India and China.

There is no doubt that the concept of a 'flat world' is one that every future employee, business leader, politician, entrepreneur, student (and the list goes on), must understand. The fact that globalization is happening is a non-issue. What does matter is the how the human race pushes globalization along. Friedman's The World is Flat is an excellent starting point, but just like in the flat world, its what we do with all this shared knowledge and collaboration that counts.