The World Is Flat Book Report

Chapter 3: the triple convergence

    The world has been flattened. As a result of the triple convergence, global collaboration and competition-between individuals and individuals, companies and individuals, companies and companies, and companies and customers- have been made cheaper, easier, more friction-free, and more productive for more people from more corners of the earth than at any time in the history of the world.

The convergence I is base on author’s person story with southwest airlines. He realizes people start to use e-ticket to check in, to reflect that southwest airlines create a work flow system that empowered its customer to collaborate computers, internet in a new way.

The convergence II: it always takes time for all the flanking technologies, and the business processes and habits needed to get the most out of them, to converge and create that next productivity breakthrough. And it also give example of how WPP get its own companies to collaborate. When the world went flat, WPP adapted itself to get the most out of itself. It changed its office architecture and practices, just like those companies that adjusted their steam-run factories to the electric motor.

Last but not the least, convergence III-it is new players, on a new playing field, developing new processes and habits for horizontal collaboration. Author mentions that the economy is going to drive integration and the integration is going to drive the economy, US will be benefit from this trend, when India market starts to embrace gaming, the market will be so huge that there will be a lot of opportunities from outside.

Chapter 4: The great sorting out

Friedman explains how the change from a vertical (command and control) to a horizontal (connect and collaborate) world is going to leave society facing a lot of change at once. He states that although the world becoming more “ flat” is a good thing and will ultimately require the elimination of most inefficiency, there are certain one should be kept. There are five sections to explain.

Section – India VS Indiana: who is exploiting whom? Friedman discusses the issue of the “multiple identity disorder” of companies and countries. Indiana has a contract with India to upgrade the state unemployment department. However, the contract was cancelled. There is a question, the state politicians feel pressure from their constituents to keep jobs in state rather than outsourcing them to India. Since India has cheaper labor or India would supply the work for a much cheaper rate?

Section – where do companies stop and start? Friedman gave an example of a Chinese computer company Lenovo take over IBM.

Section –from command and control to collaborate and connect. Friedman explains that how the world “flattening” allows high-level management members to act lower-level by being able to do more simple tasks on their own.

Section – multiple Identity Disorder explains the complex issue of how individuals will define themselves in the “flat” world. For example Wal-Mart, as customers of Wal-Mart, individuals want lowest prices, and also the shareholders want largest profit, so they don’t care about the benefits package and etc. But as a taxpayer, we want employees to have benefits so we don’t have to pay for their health care.