What about the people in Bangalore who also own a copy of friedman’s book and love to quote his tagline? they seem to still believe wholeheartedly in the Flat philosphy. Especially nandan himself! So, in place of the flat world, what should be their new perspective on globalization?

You said it.

Great post and great timing.

Dude,

I don’t know if you’re a developer, but you’re a brilliant marketer. I’m glad to see that you’ve become so popular. Best of success bro…

Raza Imam
http://SoftwareSweatshop.com

You got it…

You’ve got some point there…Good one!

Though you have a good point; I think you didnt understand the concept.

Capability and Capacity of playing with the big players was not existing in developing countries. They slowly came up and are giving a fight back and not need government protective hand.

The fields didnt exist where you could compare the companies on same level. Its not about your experience; ofcourse it will be different based on the culture, language and hundred other things. But understand that you wont get the same kind of business as the american company gets.

The book is written for people who are not from the other side of world.
BTW I am not big fan of Friedman; but he a good writer.

An interesting post. I like your perspective - it is fresh.

Friedman’s book opened a lot of American’s eyes to not only outsourcing but the enabling technologies that have so impacted the business world. The book also helped dull the fears and ignorances that many U.S. worker’s had about globalization.

There are indeed significant challenges to outsourcing across the board. Regional specialties are good, when doused properly with a global perspective.

Thanks for the post.

In the entire history of the world, a flat world concept affected only a miniscule percentage of the way most people went about their careers, e.g. mariners, cartographers

In today’s world, the more Westerners that can shake the flat world concept for a greater understanding of the true contours of this world, the better the whole world will be for having the opportunity to share all of its timeless wisdom with us also. We do not have it all, and have more to benefit from sharing and becoming part of the global economy than we ever will holding tightly to our inbred nationalism, and myopic pride in all things American. Remember when “Made in Japan” meant to us what “Made in China” means today, and how far they have come since those days on a land mass that has little room to spread out. So what have they done, made the world their home, not just that small swatch of land we call Japan.

“American” started out meaning a conglomeration of world cultures that have united in this new place under a flag of freedom from tyranny. Let’s not lose sight of how much the rest of the world could use that freedom, and start seeing the whole world as our home, and not just our little locality.

Awesome blog… randomly came across it via Google… love your writing style and your thoughts… can’t wait to go back through some of your other entries…

Though your point around the regional specialty seams to be correct that make Flat world a no-no statement, but it just one aspect of looking at, another angle is what different practices are used to process any similar work at various part of the world. Let say we talk about the Six sigma quality standard is a different quality matrix used mostly in the US and European business community initially (it originated in US - GE), but at the same time we have Kaizen management practice which has continuous improvement as on of the aspect that incorporate quality matrix in the over all management.

One more cord that you have touched does seem to have a substantial effect in the overall difficulty faced by many companies while establishing there business in new geographies is the resource quality (Human or Technological). The first one is again an after effect of the methodology used in teaching/education; in India we have a very good mugging power since pre Vedic times we used oral educations. The second one is more related to the kind of investment, in India the investment required in the field for internet speed is not that much so we face dead lock in starting many of the 3G technologies (both in the mobile telephony and PC connectivity domain).

I am agreed as well as disagreed to one of the point raised by Though your point around the regional specialty seams to be correct that make Flat world a no-no statement, but it just one aspect of looking at, another angle is what different practices are used by other raised by David, that capabilities in the developing world are more governed by the state agencies, but then its true in the last 50 t0 70 odd years post independence of most of the economies, but when you look at it in the medieval history you find it other wise, we were having the capabilities of the independent universities out of the state domain.

I would like the feedback and comments of my statement….please e-mail me on chamyalmaygmail.com

Hey, I really liked your post. I agree (and for similar jealous reasons) with your disparaging remarks on Friedman’s books, but perhaps he did need to write it in that “sensationalist” way with a catchy metaphor, to (a) wake up the average American (b) achieve the sticky-buzz needed for blockbusterdom to make the economics of his book work out. In that vein, there are a couple of other metaphors making their rounds (have you seen the videos on the upcoming movie called “2 million minutes”, or the CNN 60 mins special that put IITs into focus for people raised on a staple diet of Lou Dobbs dribble, or the WSJ article on Doon School?).

Metaphors are the stuff that mass dreams are woven of. And there seems to be a lot of Americans running around with TV cameras, trying to craft metaphors that can shock their country out of complacence - at least they are waking up to it. I like your own metaphor of finding the “humps and curves” in India. Perhaps it is time for a book on this?

On the curves and bumps - I would argue that it depends on your timeframe. It is ALWAYS true that seemingly “defensible” fortresses of capability based on regional strengths (e.g., SValley, WStreet, Napa, HWood, B’Lore), or pools of profit (IT outsourcing, tech-boom) are JUST _current_ contours or bumps that the “present” crop of entrepreneurs must exploit. But over time these humps flatten too, as other regions crop up with similar or more relevant specialities (e.g., Rte128, London, Chile, Mumbai, Pune) and force the old humps to either struggle to reassert themselves (which they may or may not successfully do), or stand ‘flattened’ and lose their ability to gain a disproportionate share of money or talent in their field of “dominance”.

What happens to the animation outsourcing boom (may not be the best choice of words, but it is just the intersection of an industry and a function, so I will keep it clinical) on the Mumbai/Pune node is eventually disrupted by (in their own eyes - legendary!) Bengali creativity (and lower labor costs, since their local economy starts from a poorer average)? May happen, may not happen… but if it does, then the “regional” power you assert for Pune will erode… no? I am not familiar enough with the infrastructure (and would assume that Pune has more arts schools, tech labor supply, and government stability to skyrocket past Calcutta), but isn’t your essay very much about the here and now? What about the next wave? Bangalore’s IT boom is not over yet, but its pace is definitely becoming red-giant, relative to the blue-heat of other Indian cities that are getting their act together to compete. So while “perennial flattening” is just a realty of life, Friedman makes a point on having to revamp national infrastructure (education, institutions, innovation-platforms) to stay ahead of that curve as others catch up. He is trying to preserve a rump… which has a bright red bullseye painted on it.

I think America is waking up faster to the reality of flatness (I guess a more palatable word for “relentless competition”) than the big economies of the EU. 50 years by hitherto “underprivileged” (relatively, in sheer GDP terms) kids from Pune, Coimbatore, Meerut and Chandigarh. I wonder what you think of our own “flattening” though… the regional differences across Indian cities and states is itself starting to disappear… at a frightening pace. They will all start looking at some point like a version of Gurgaon, and will have Reliance malls everywhere, Coffee Days at every corner, and the same cars, signboards, brands, fashions etc., and Indians themselves will undergo some massive mixing till they all look and think alike. What of that flattening? How do you guys feel about the impending homogenization of India, which will actually deflate some of these local humps/bumps? Or do you think it either won’t happen, or is too far away to think about?

regards,
-amit

dude, very nicely written…i disagree on some thoughts though…..i’ve written widely on some of these thoughts …one of them being open sourcing…..u’ll get the feel once u read the blog ….http://seeunforeseen.blogspot.com/

congrats for writing good thoughts.

Thanks Man.
I loved your article. When everybody in this world just wants to follow the common notion of widely spread “Flat World” metaphor and write about it, you chose a different path and provided a different perspective about it all.

I appreciate the thoughts…what say about the future of outsourcing,..America’s new stand of going against it?

What will be the impact on the Indian economy,,,as the so called outsourced IT industry forms the backbone…?

Where is India headed???

Cheers!
Surabhi

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This was very helpful! I’ve bookmarked it. Thanks.

As true today as it was in 2007. Why do these big name economists get so much access and adulation when they haven’t managed to a scrap of good for the economy?

Well said, Sam - can’t believe this post is now 3 years old!