2. The World is Flat- A brief history of the 21st century; by Thomas L. Friedman International Bestselling Book Analysation of Globalization Based on The 21st century The title alludes to the perceptual shift that is required for people, companies, and countries to remain competitive.
3. The Ten Flatteners: Collapse of the Berlin Wall Netscape Workflow Software Open Source Outsourcing Offshoring Supply- chaining Insourcing In-forming “The steroids”
4. Collapse of The Berlin Wall- This event not only symbolized the end of the Cold War, but it also allowed people from other sides of the wall to join the “economic mainstream”. This is a discussion about the Berlin Wall falling and also the collapse of communism. The impact that Windows PC had on the availability of information for people around the world, and at this point the basic platform for the revolution to follow was created.
5. Netscape- Netscape and the web broadened the internets audience as a means of communications primarily by internet “geeks” and “early adopters”. Netscape, has now developed a medium used by people from the age of 5 to people of the age of 95. This meant that words, pictures, videos, and other means of connection could be viewed by people all of the world with computers.
6. Workflow Software- The ability of machines to talk with no human activity involved. Friedman said three forces have become a "crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration". There was an emerging sense of software protocols such as simple mail transfer protocol, html, etc. Html enabled computer users to design and publish documents that could be transferred to and read on computers anywhere.
7. Open Source- Open source is described as communities collaborating and uploading on online projects. Examples include: Open source software Blogs And Wikipedia. Friedman described his feelings as the phenomenon as “the most disruptive force of all”.
8. Outsourcing- Friedman has argued that outsourcing has allowed companies and organizations to split service manufacturing activities into parts which can be subcontracted and preformed in the most absolute sufficient, cost effective way. This process has become easier in time with mass distribution of fibre optic cables during the introduction of WWW(World Wide Web).
9. Offshoring- The relocation internally of a business's manufacturing or other processes to a foreign land to use to their advantage of cheaper operations there. In Friedman’s, the nation of China is referred to and specifically their part in the WTO (World Trade Organization). China’s WTO allowed for larger competition in the field. Countries that now compete against China and each other to have businesses offshore to them include: Malaysia, Mexico, and Brazil.
10. Supply Chaining- In The World Is Flat, Friedman compares modern retail supply to a river as a use of a metaphor. Friedman points to Wal-Mart as a superior comparison to a company using technology to streamline item sales, the distribution process, and shipping.
11. Insourcing- Thomas Friedman uses UPS as a major example for insourcingin which the business’ employees preform services-beyond the concept of shipping- for another similar company. For an example, UPS has come to repair Toshiba technology on behalf of their company. This work is done in the UPS hub, but UPS employees.
12. In-Forming- Google along with other search systems are a primary example. Friedman says that “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 people”. The expansion of search engines have been outstanding. Google, for example, is “now processing roughly one billion searches per day, up from 150 million just three years ago”.
13. “The Steroids”- Digital, personal, devices such as cell phones, ipods, pda’s (personal digital assistants), instant messaging systems, and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol); are referred to in Friedman’s book, as “The Steroids”. Digital, mobile, personal, and virtual, all analog, content and processes, can be digitalized and therefore molded, manipulated, and transmitted. These steps can be done at high speed with total straightforwardness. With mobility, it can be done anywhere, anytime, and it can be done personally.
