Globalization: The World is Flat Vs. Cultural Intelligence

The World is Flat.

      Friedman’s theory on states that Globalization 1.0 lasted from 1492 to the early 1800s, it marked the beginning of global exploration and shrunk the world from a size “large” to a size “medium”. It is characterized by countries exploring the world and colonizing other nations; Globalization 2.0 lasted from the 1820s to 2000, it shrunk the world from size “medium” to size “small” and characterized by Companies going global through trade and operations in foreign nations; Globalization 3.0 era just started after 2000, it shrinks the world from size “small” to size “tiny” and “flattening” the economic playing field at the same time. This is characterized by Individuals globalizing through connecting, collaborating and competing with themselves.

     In Thomas Friedman’s perspective, there has been an evolution of globalization due to certain events that occurred inadvertently through the fall of communism, the rise and proliferation technology and the optimization of business processes. This concept is true because through the technology like the internet and manufacturing process standardization, collaboration with multi-located or virtual teams have produced creative and efficient products and services.  However, I disagree with certain aspects of this theory. First, I do not agree that there are 10 Flatteners as stated by Thomas Friedman because Flatteners Outsourcing, Offshoring and Insourcing are the same concepts. According to Merriam Webster dictionary; Outsourcing is to procure from outside sources, which is the same as offshoring – producing in a foreign country (outside source). Insourcing – is same as outsourcing with only a change in the flow of the transaction.  The UPS example of Insourcing means that UPS has taken up the responsibility from Toshiba or the IT firm, which is same as the IT firm or Organization outsourcing to UPS. Hence all three flatteners Outsourcing, Offshoring, and Insourcing are the same concepts, therefore, there should be 8 flatteners only.

    Second, Friedman did not consider the role of international trade agreements which provided an environment for the exchange of goods and services. Technology and processes only enhanced the implementation of these agreements. For example, if there were no trade agreements with China, outsourcing to China would not be possible. Third, the world is not flat in terms of the differences between cultures and as such Intercultural intelligence is required for an effective globalization policy within an organization. The world is not also “flat” or as “tiny “as Friedman’s assumed due to the challenge of the Digital divide since only 40% of the world’s population is on the internet. There are still possibilities of the world getting “flatter” or “tinier” however Friedman successfully put forward a pattern to globalization.

Cultural Intelligence

      Despite the trend to globalize, Peter Alfandary believes that globalization is an oxymoron because individuals involved operate in their own different cultural sphere. He gave an example of the meeting he had with some Japanese client who kept saying “yes”, only to realize that “yes” meant “We have heard you” to the Japanese. Culture shock is now invisible as it is hidden behind the technology, as we rely more on emails (instead of conversations) and assume that since English is spoken widely as the business lingua franca, we are understood, without cognizance the others context, perception, cultural variables or interpretation.

      An example is a case of a German trainer kept complaining that African colleagues late to the sessions, however in the African culture, time is not a precise measure, so for a 9:00 am meeting could be 9:20 am, the trainer learned the culture and adjusted her strategy by starting when up to ten people were present. Another example is ordinarily Nigerian lunch time is only an hour and can be moved for meetings but in Huawei Nigeria, the break lasts for 2 hours and in that time staff can lay on the floor sleeping, watch movies and the office lights were turned off and no meeting can be held at that time, this is because this is a Chinese firm and had inherited its cultural break time practices. These examples show that if the training was online or an online meeting was scheduled with Huawei staff during lunchtime, the ones on the other end of the spectrum may not realize the culture difference involved in these simple communications.

       Globalization is a myth or more complex than we realize with respect to cultures as the globalization involves heterogeneous cultures and villages which brings certain complications and as such a homogenous solution does not necessarily exist especially when interacting with a multicultural team. The realization of this differences in cultures expresses cultural intelligence is required in the to ensure effective interactions occur in a globalized environment.  On the other hand, although I do not agree with Friedman’s exaggeration in the “shrinking” world size, I think Globalization 4.0 should be about inclusion and speed. About 60 percent of the world population are unable to benefit from globalization due to issues of the digital divide, conflict, illiteracy and poor internet infrastructure. By including more people, we stand to gain an exponential increase in creativity, innovation, and trade, with these Increase internet speed and efficient speedy delivery of goods and services are required. This era would be characterized by the further shrinking of time and space, increased inclusion, and intercultural intelligence.

Reference

Friedman, T. L. (2009). The world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century. Bridgewater, NJ:      Distributed by Paw Prints/Baker & Taylor.

T. (2015, June 05). The myth of globalization | Peter Alfandary | TEDxAix. from                                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUYNB4a8d2U