The World Is Flat

Trevor Fort
MIS 1500
Box #3140
IT Tech Paper In the world today, business is on the rise internationally and technology is getting stronger and stronger every day. In the book The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman, who was a foreign affairs columnist for NY Times, tells of his journey to India and how while he was there he realized that globalization has changed economic concepts. Friedman analyzes globalization in the twenty-first century and how the world is now at a level playing field in terms of competitors having equal opportunities; hence the title of the book being The World is Flat. He is not talking about the world being flat geographically, but the world being flat in the business sense. Friedman describes ten different “flatteners’ that he determined to be leveling the playing field. These are the ten flatteners: 11/8/89, 8/9/95, workflow software, uploading, outsourcing, offshoring, supply-chaining, insourcing, in-forming, and “The Steroids”. In this essay I am going to key in on in-forming and how it has flattened the playing field, “thus allowing even individuals to compete with big established companies on an equal footing.”(One) Times are changing and we are finding ourselves relying on technology such as PCs more often than not. Essentially, informing is the means by which uploading, outsourcing, in-sourcing, supply-chaining, and off shoring are possible on a personal level. We can gather information and buy-sell-trade with expertise using search engines. Friedman depicts “in-forming” as being search engines such as Google or Yahoo providing international access to information. Friedman writes, "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." Having this kind of access gives us a chance to excel in anything that we do. Having unlimited entry to this much information makes reaching your full potential even more possible. People back in the day, who did not have this information, might have been able to achieve way more than they did or even invent something that would have changed the world as we know it. In-forming has changed the business world in a huge way and it is making life easier for the general welfare. “Informing is the individual’s personal analog to uploading, outsourcing, in-sourcing, supply-chaining and off shoring.” (Friedman, p. 179) Through this essay I will analyze the history of in-forming, the pros and cons of it, as well as the Biblical aspect of it, the future trends, and the implications.
Our access to the Internet now has changed the business world immensely. Before the Internet came about, all we had as communication was the telephone so it was much harder to conduct business globally. Companies all over the world had access to the technology around them and that was it; they didn’t know much about other countries other than what they saw in the television. Some poor countries barely had companies because they just didn’t have the technology needed to run one. When the Internet came into the equation, business all over the world found new ways to carry out their business along with gain knowledge of what other companies are out there. Business became extremely competitive and companies all over the globe were thriving from it. Two Stanford students, who met in 1995, began to collaborate on a search engine called BackRub in 1996. This project started out very small but has turned into one of the biggest findings in history, today this search engine is commonly known as Google. When Google finally came into the picture it made finding information a snap and there was so much information that it was almost overwhelming. This web browser honestly changed the course of history and the way business was run. “Google is like God. God is wireless, God is everywhere, and God sees everything.”(Friedman, p.186) More web browsers came out soon after Google such as Yahoo and Mozilla. This made the business industry soar to new heights, because of all of the information that companies could get a hold of. Google processes over two hundred searches every day. These new search engines, which have become known as part of the “in-forming” flattener, have evened the playing field for business across the globe. The Search Engine has been an amazing flattener since it has brought anyone with access to the Internet in touch with any topic they could possibly desire. Now every business has access to the same amount of information, and the ones who use will be the ones who will succeed. When people today look at how technology and the in-forming flattener have changed the way we conduct business, most people are pleased but there are some who find that it hampers the way businesses should be carried out. Most people are pleased with how companies conduct their business today because of how much faster the workflow is. Before there was Internet and search engines most communities had to rely on the companies in their own area; now if the local companies are out of something that you need you can just find what you need on the Internet and it will be sent to your house. Most companies have websites where you can order items straight from and some of them will deliver what you’ve purchased to your house. Another reason why people like the changes that have occurred in business is because now the business industry is fairer than ever before. Any company can thrive in this society if they conducted their business in a way that is not only unique but will make people want to do business with them. “When Google came a long, he added, suddenly that kid had ‘universal access’ to the information in libraries all over the world.” (Friedman, p.152) This proves that not only can companies thrive, but also anyone can learn and excel by researching new things through the Internets prime search engines. Now on the other side of this change there are those who believe that the in-forming flattener has in fact ruined the way business should be processed. These people believe that the Internet has caused businesses to rely solely on the search engines to find information on how to perform business. They think that the Internet has business men to forget how to actually research without the Internet, which could be a problem on day. They make a good point that it may hinder a business at some point and time but in the long run I would have to say technology has more beneficial than detrimental. I must admit that I rely on the Internet more than I should, even most of this research was found from the Internet and my own personal experiences with search engines. The important thing to remember is that the Internet has made business more competitive as well as making it fair for all companies by giving them access to an abundance of information. In the near future, I see the business world thriving even more than they are today. Some business have been struggling the past year or so with the economy and everything, but could you image what it would be like if we didn’t have all of this technology. Times are tough but that does not mean that the current business methods are bad, these things just happen. Companies are beginning to get out of this little “funk” that they have been in and starting to thrive again. I think that soon things will be back to the way they were mainly because of the technology that we have now a days. If we want to keep these business strategies going we are going to have to teach the next generations the tricks of the trade. In the future it is “how” you educate your kids more than “how much”. Science-based courses such as mathematics, engineering and computer science will be the most marketable. Friedman further predicts that in the near future: politicians and journalists will talk less and analyze more; police officers and military personnel will use more and more complicated technology; nurses and teachers will have to relate to numbers and technology every day. (One)
I believe that we will still rely on the Internet and search engines because they are so helpful but we still to have the generation educate in the way of conducting business. “The easier and more accurate searching becomes the more global Google’s user vase becomes and the more powerful a flattener it becomes. (Larry Page, Google Cofounder)” (Friedman, p. 179) This tells us that search engines will continue to be vital to companies all over the world in order to staying the competition.
The implications of the in-forming flattener are fairly simple, companies need to get creative in order to grab an edge on the competition and they need to gain more knowledge than their competitors. As a businessman you need to be able to do research on your own time and beat out your competitors. This is definitely something that needs to be improved on in the world of business. Companies need to not take advantage of the search engines that have been provide for them but they should not take them for granted. The more knowledge you know about your field of study equals the more advantage you have on the competition. “The implications of this wave of ‘self-collaboration’ and individual knowledge sourcing, is that people, and organizations, are getting more creative as people are teaching themselves, and learning via the resources around them.”(Brown) Being creative and thinking out of the box can give you an advantage when the playing field has been leveled. For example, a man by the name of Hugh Macleod was a cartoonist and decided to draw cartoons on the back of business cards. This simple act of drawing random little sketches turn into something big for MacLeod, who now has a book out called Ignore Everybody, which has become a huge hit, landing a spot on Amazon’s Top 10 Editor’s picks on Business Books of 2009. See by MacLeod just using a little creativity, in something so simple as business cards, he change his own life forever. The informing flattener has flattened the business industry so much that everyone has access to the same information, this means that you must work harder than your competitors if you want to thrive in the level society. As Christian businessmen we need to do everything to the best of our ability. So in order to do this we should not slack off in our work habits. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 it says, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” The Apostle Paul calls us to consider our responsibility to glorify God in all that we do, not just in the “spiritual” activities of life. This is the kind of attitude we should have when approaching the business world. Throughout my research I’ve come to realize just how much the informing flattener and search engines have leveled the playing field for companies worldwide. Now even one individual has the same chance at succeeding as a fortune five hundred company because there is such an abundance of accessible information out there. By analyzing this flattener, I now see that technology has such a huge grasp on the business world. Without the Internet business as a whole would not be the global empire that it is today; and without the Internet we would know barely know the world outside of our little lives. The informing flattener has really broadened the horizons for the business industry and all other fields. In order for this industry to keep striving forward companies need to look for new and creative ways to get ahead of the game. This world is full of companies who thrive on such sources as Google and Yahoo, but I’m sure that someday a next big thing will come along and drastically change the business world again.

References

Brown, Fred Flattener 9: Informing and Self-collabortation, 2007.

Friedman, Thomas L., The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005

One, Joan "The World is Flat" by Thomas L Friedman. 26 Sep. 2009 EzineArticles.com. 23 Nov. 2009 <http://ezinearticles.com/?The-­World-­is-­Flat-­by-­Thomas-­L-­Friedman&id=2990704>.

Reid, Alvin The (Christian) World Is Flat, Between the Times, Feb 26th, 2009.

Unknown, Newsweek: “Succeeding in a Flat World”, January 2007.

References: Brown, Fred Flattener 9: Informing and Self-collabortation, 2007. Friedman, Thomas L., The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005 One, Joan "The World is Flat" by Thomas L Friedman. 26 Sep. 2009 EzineArticles.com. 23 Nov. 2009 &lt;http://ezinearticles.com/?The-­World-­is-­Flat-­by-­Thomas-­L-­Friedman&amp;id=2990704&gt;. Reid, Alvin The (Christian) World Is Flat, Between the Times, Feb 26th, 2009. Unknown, Newsweek: “Succeeding in a Flat World”, January 2007.