Is the World REALLY Flat?

In the novel The World is Flat, Friedman describes 10 'flatteners' that flattened the world; essentially, 10 things that connected the world and made it a much less complicated place. Friedman proposes that these 10 flatteners reinforced one another and connected and connected and relied on each other in such a way that they 'converged', resulting in the triple convergence.

The first convergence is the creation of a "web-enabled platform" in which different individuals, groups, or companies can all connect and collaborate. This collaboration occurs without regard to location or time, which contributes to the flattening of the world as a whole. An example Friedman gives of this first convergence is Southwest Airlines; Southwest, using the web, allows their customers to purchase and print tickets from home, and even check in online up to 24 hours prior to their scheduled flight. I recently flew Southwest over Thanksgiving vacation, and was able to secure a good seat by checking into my flight the night before. I also think a good example of this is the internet site called Myspace: it allows many different individuals, and even businesses or universities, to communicate and network with eachother. An even more popular platform is Facebook, which has grown from a mere college site used for social networking to an extremely popular method of communication and connection among adults and teens alike.

The second convergence is the loss of company hierarchies and confinements; now, companies work on a much wider basis. Friedman gives the example of the company of HP, which went from having many different individual, spread out supply-chains to having only five. Departments that used to be exclusive to each supply-chain, such as Human Resources, are now run as one department for all five chains. Companies are combining resources and doing away with the conventional corporate hierarchies, instead operating more effectively through not only collaboration, but through unification.

The final convergence is the new ability for individuals, who were formerly shut out from influencing their economy corporately, to interact and compete with anyone around the world. The first two convergences added together - the creation of a web-based platform and the elimination of exclusive hierarchical corporations, now allow just about anyone to engage in international trade and commerce. Individuals in countries that had previously played a very small role in the global economy, such as India, are now engaging heavily in world commerce. Innovation can now occur through these individuals, from their own countries.

The triple convergence, as Friedman stated, had a huge impact on the world, as a result of the combination of the 10 flatteners. Now, the world is one continuous, connected environment. I think the novel The World is Flat provides an excellent discussion of the so-called 'flattening' of the world as it relates to us both nationally as well as on a global scale.