A Flat World: Leveling the Global Competitive Playing Field

I agree with Friedman’s assessment that the world is flat. According to Friedman a “flat world” mean that there is now a level global competitive playing field. It has now become very possible for many people around the world to collaborate and compete in real time with each other on many different kinds of work, markets and products from many different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of the world. Due to technological advances, the global financial market has been refined with electronic exchanges, networks, institutions, and communications. While each country may have its own financial market, the world is now so closely tied together, causing global effects when one market is prospering or suffering e.g the Euro crisis. Whereas innovation and scientific inventions used to be done in the developed world, the developing world is now catching up as more and more people are being trained in the vitally important fields of mathematics and science.

Globalization that used to be largely controlled by European and American individuals and businesses is now being driven by a more diverse non-Western, non-white group of individuals Technology has also leveled the playing field and made the world to be flat in that any company can make its products available to the whole world in a matter of seconds. It is up to the to consumers to choose from whom to buy from. The internet and related technologies make it possible to conduct business across the organizations’ boundaries almost as efficient and effectively as it is to conduct business within the organization. Location is no longer a limiting factor in how organizations design , develop and produce goods and services. With the internet it is now possible to maintain close relationships with suppliers and other business partners at great distances. Countries like China and India have really redefined the way business is being conducted all over the world. Many developing countries are trying are now trying to compete with India in for clients who would want to outsource their business functions to them. Many companies, especially in USA and Europe, have moved their production from their home countries to China , where it can be done with cheaper labor, lower taxes, subsidized energy, and lower health-care costs.

This is an opportunity available to any country that can offer the same incentives as China. Technology has also made it possible virtual communities to be developed in which collaborate and develop the same product working from virtually different parts of the world and be able to offer such a product to the world free of charge, e.g Linux Operating system. The booming of the information age has helped tremendously to bring the world to be a global village. The World Wide Web provides users with a depth and breadth of information never before seen. The Web search engines such as Google, contributes to in-forming because it enables people to find web pages that are more relevant to their searches than any other search service. This has flattened the world in the sense that the information that is available to an individual in Asia is also available to a person in Africa at the same time as if they are at the same place. A whole lot of information is now available on the internet, such as information of individuals, companies, schools countries e.t.c, this information can be accessed by whosoever requires the information.

Technology has also leveled the playing field and made the world to be flat in that any company can make its products available to the whole world in a matter of seconds. It is up to the to consumers to choose whom to buy from. The internet and related technologies make it possible to conduct business across the organizations’ boundaries almost as efficient and effectively as it is to conduct business within the organization. Location is no longer a limiting factor in how organizations design , develop and produce goods and services. With the internet it is now possible to maintain close relationships with suppliers and other business partners at great distances. Companies like Amazon.com are a good exapmle of how the world has become a Global village in that people shop from it from all over the world without having to know its exact location. Due to the flattening of the world , we are now connecting all the knowledge centers on the planet together into a single global network, which in the absence of factors such as politics , could begin an era of complete prosperity, innovation, and collaboration by all communities, companies, and individuals.