When The World Is Flat Analysis
Lynn Bi
Ms. Winn
APEL: Period 6
March 2, 2015
When The World is Flat
With the acceleration of communication and transportation within the past century, the world has undergone transformative changes of globalization – “the inexorable integration of markets, transportation systems, and communication systems to a degree never witnessed before” (Friedman). A new global culture where products, ideas, and technologies have an unprecedented ease of exchange has enabled nations, businesses and individuals from all over the world to communicate, collaborate and integrate together, resulting in far-reaching consequences. In his book The World is Flat chronicling the changes brought about this interconnection of different parts of the world, author Thomas …show more content…
With the overarching message that “the world is flat,” Friedman argues that talented individuals from all over the world can now compete with more equal opportunity, and businesses can now expand globally to take advantage of such talented individuals, as seen in the example of Hewlett-Packard employing “142,000 employees in 178 countries” (Friedman 92). As another example, Friedman also references IBM’s decision to sell “its entire Personal Computing Division to the Chinese company Lenovo to create a new world-wide PC company. As a global business, the new Lenovo will be geographically dispersed, with people and physical assets located worldwide” (Friedman 244). Friedman further argues that as globalization continues, competition will further increase, especially as “new workers…jogging and even sprinting…onto the flattened global piazza” (Friedman 112). Friedman’s case for the globalizing and flattening of the world is extremely cogent, and can also be supported by several outside sources. For example, Drucker Institute director and Times Magazine contributor Rick Wartzman, in his article “What Globalization Really Means,” states several examples of how businesses and the role of individuals have …show more content…
Friedman argues that perhaps the most fundamental problem facing the United States is the degradation of the tradition of STEM innovation that had previously propelled the US to become one of the world’s top superpowers and that the United States is not adequately addressing this problem. Through his interviews and analyses of NASA employment records and National Science Board’s data, Friedman observes a trend in the overall decline in US’s output of STEM innovators and emphasis on STEM innovation: “the generation of scientists and engineers who were motivated to get into science by the threat of Sputnik in 1957 and the inspiration of JFK are reaching their retirement years and are not being replaced in the numbers that they must be in an advanced economy like that of the United States is to remain at the head of the pack” (Friedman 329). By relying on rational statistical evidence, Friedman is able to make a well-supported claim that can be supported by other findings.
Ms. Winn
APEL: Period 6
March 2, 2015
When The World is Flat
With the acceleration of communication and transportation within the past century, the world has undergone transformative changes of globalization – “the inexorable integration of markets, transportation systems, and communication systems to a degree never witnessed before” (Friedman). A new global culture where products, ideas, and technologies have an unprecedented ease of exchange has enabled nations, businesses and individuals from all over the world to communicate, collaborate and integrate together, resulting in far-reaching consequences. In his book The World is Flat chronicling the changes brought about this interconnection of different parts of the world, author Thomas …show more content…
With the overarching message that “the world is flat,” Friedman argues that talented individuals from all over the world can now compete with more equal opportunity, and businesses can now expand globally to take advantage of such talented individuals, as seen in the example of Hewlett-Packard employing “142,000 employees in 178 countries” (Friedman 92). As another example, Friedman also references IBM’s decision to sell “its entire Personal Computing Division to the Chinese company Lenovo to create a new world-wide PC company. As a global business, the new Lenovo will be geographically dispersed, with people and physical assets located worldwide” (Friedman 244). Friedman further argues that as globalization continues, competition will further increase, especially as “new workers…jogging and even sprinting…onto the flattened global piazza” (Friedman 112). Friedman’s case for the globalizing and flattening of the world is extremely cogent, and can also be supported by several outside sources. For example, Drucker Institute director and Times Magazine contributor Rick Wartzman, in his article “What Globalization Really Means,” states several examples of how businesses and the role of individuals have …show more content…
Friedman argues that perhaps the most fundamental problem facing the United States is the degradation of the tradition of STEM innovation that had previously propelled the US to become one of the world’s top superpowers and that the United States is not adequately addressing this problem. Through his interviews and analyses of NASA employment records and National Science Board’s data, Friedman observes a trend in the overall decline in US’s output of STEM innovators and emphasis on STEM innovation: “the generation of scientists and engineers who were motivated to get into science by the threat of Sputnik in 1957 and the inspiration of JFK are reaching their retirement years and are not being replaced in the numbers that they must be in an advanced economy like that of the United States is to remain at the head of the pack” (Friedman 329). By relying on rational statistical evidence, Friedman is able to make a well-supported claim that can be supported by other findings.