Globalization, the clunky five-syllable Chanda said, is hardly to understand based on direct interpretation merely. It is better to understand this term by reviewing not only its history but also the products produced by the term itself. From its history, we can understand the factors and the forces making the more globalized world today. Meanwhile, the products of globalization lead us to the conclusion in comparing between the benefits and the negative effects both generated by globalization to the human kind. Eventually, all of this will make us easier to understand what we have to do in facing this inevitability phenomenon.
Generally there are 2 main topics delivered by Friedman. The first relates with the history of Globalization. It includes the starting period, the process, the changing meaning, the shaping factors and the effects of globalization. The second is his opinion regarding the globalization itself.
Friedman describes globalization as the result of a convergence between events and technology. The combination of those factors is the forces making the world become more globalized. It is actually a condition where all nations have an equal opportunity in world economic. Friedman argues that those factors happened between the end of twenty century and the dawn of twenty-first century.
The first and probably the main factor occurred in 1989 when the Wall of Berlin came down and Microsoft Windows went up. Basically it was the first convergence of event and technology which not only start the flattening process but also open the way the next combinations. Friedman argues that the fall of Berlin’s Wall did so much more than just uniting the people of West Germany and East Germany or liberated the captive people of Soviet Empires. It affected the balance of power created during the Cold War by allowing people from the other side to join the same economic field ground, the free-market capitalism. In his opinion, it was the event that allowed China, India, Brazil and the former Soviet Empire released their big energy and potency in new world economic. Meanwhile, only six months after the wall went down, Microsoft launched Windows 3.0 enabling millions of individuals sharing their digital form work easier. Eventually it made people more productive since the digital form can be manipulated easily in many ways. Moreover, it also made the transformation of information became much faster and easier.
The second, third and the forth flattener are related to the development of information technology. Those are the emergence of Netscape, The Work Flow Software, and The Uploading or Open Sourcing respectively. Simply to say, the Netscape created and promoted the use of the browser that made internet much easier to be accessed for common people. Its collaboration with modem equipped PC making the computer and its connectivity more useful for millions of people.
The introduction of Netscape to public also generated the third and the forth flatteners, as said by Barksdale, the former Netscape CEO, “Netscape going public stimulated a lot of things”. For instance, the ease of internet accessibility created by collaboration of PC and Browser required software that enables communication among PCs, and it is the function of Work Flow Software as the third flattener. According to Friedman, the first breakthrough in work flow actually was the combination of PC and email. While the PC provides us facilities in creating and manipulating digital form of data, the Work Flow Software make us able to exchange the data easily. In other word, the Work Flow Software has made all these machines we used to speak in same language enabling them to communicate much more effectively. It is the main reason why Friedman argues that the first three flatteners mentioned above is the crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration and also the genesis moment for the flattening of the world. Moreover, it becomes the basic for generating the next six flatteners (p.91-92).
The next flattener, The Uploading can be seen as the awakening of Community of Internet users. The increasing speed of internet accessibility combined with the development of ‘user friendly language’ has transformed the users not only as the consumers but also as the producers. In this case, Friedman focuses on the three forms of uploading: the community developed software movement, Wikipedia, and blogging/podcasting. In his opinion, Uploading is already huge flatteners and potentially becomes the most disruptive among all the flatteners. Nevertheless the level of accuracy, it leads us to the era when people can find any information they want as well as provide any information to others.
The next 4 flatteners are related with the emergence of Multinational Corporations. Perhaps it is the reason why Friedman put the Fall of Berlin Wall as the first flattener which had diminished of the barriers between two major forces in the world. Moreover, it actually also created both the new market and the new player of world economic. The awakening the sleeping giants, China and India with their enormous energy and potency provide alternatives for Multinational Corporations in exercising their business using Outsourcing system. This system has allowed those companies to distribute both their manufacturing and service activities to smaller companies abroad. Friedman defines it as taking some limited specific function of ‘in-house’ company activities such as research, call center, or account receivable, and having another company perform the exact function and reintegrating it as overall operation. Basically it is related to the cost-effectiveness due to the abundance of to low-payment skilled human resources in the new-opened countries. Friedman describes clearly how Indian’s IT engineers received advantages for fixing Y2K bug attacking computer system during the change of millennium as the example.
Offshoring system as the fifth flattener actually is not a new thing in manufacturing company since it has been used for decades. However, it became important in flattening the world as China joined the WTO on December 11, 2001. China offered facilities that attract many big multinational companies for implementing this system more extensively there. Friedman describes it clearly and simply as moving a whole one of company’s factory operating in Canton, Ohio into Canton, China. It will increase the company’s benefit since the new located factory produces very same product with cheaper labor, lower taxes, subsidized energy, and lower health-care costs. Moreover, Friedman also noted that the joining of China in WTO had become the real flattening factor of offshoring since it will create a process of competitive flattening to other developing countries which previously open themselves such as Malaysia, Thailand, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, and Vietnam. China’s participation in world economic had made those countries started offering the same incentives to the investors.
Relating with Outsourcing and Offshoring, Friedman offers another implementable system for Multinational Company called the Supply Chaining as the seventh flattener. Friedman claims that the system had made the consumers enjoying all sorts of goods at lower prices and better quality. He describes his astonishment to the Supply-Chaining system performed by Wal-Mart, the biggest retail company in the world. This system had made Wal-Mart as an effective global flattener. For instance, Unlike Commodore Perry, Wal-Mart did not have to use big cannon in big warship for opening its way to Japan, instead of its well-known reputation in supply-chain.
The last flattener generated from the emergence of big multinational company is Insourcing. Friedman describes it as “- a whole new form of collaboration and creating value horizontally, made possible by the flat world and flattening it even more”. Furthermore he describes it clearly and simply by the story of Toshiba laptop being fixed by the UPS’s employee previously trained and certified by Toshiba Company. This collaboration benefited the consumers since it will reduce reparation time. On the other side, it was reported that Toshiba had experienced dramatically declining complaints. Another form of Insourcing is collaboration between UPS and U.S. Customs Service that allowed the customers to track the journey of their packages.
Friedman names his ninth flattener the In-Forming which is the combination of previous 6 flatteners. Friedman defines it as the individual’s personal analog to uploading, outsourcing, insourcing, supply-chaining, and offshoring. It is the ability in building and arranging our personal supply-chain of information, knowledge and entertainment. It is also about self-collaboration in gaining all of those previously mentioned. Friedman uses Google and other search engines as the primary example which diminishes the discrimination in accessing knowledge. Google and other search engines had empowered people by providing them almost unlimited information they want to know. Simply to say, those engines have been giving people the unlimited power in exploring their world.
The last flattener may be described as the new technologies called the Steroids since those are amplifying and turbo changing all other flatteners mentioned previously. All of these technologies have enabled people connecting each other much faster and easier. Those are the increasing computational capability, the breakthrough in instant messaging and file sharing, the breakthrough in making phone calls over the internet, the new level of videoconferencing, the advances in computer graphics, and the invention of new wireless technologies and devices. According to Friedman, the last one is the most important and named it ubersteroid allowing people to manipulate, share, and shape their digital contents from anywhere, with anyone, totally mobilely.
Critical Review
There is almost no doubt that the world today becomes more globalized or flattened because of 10 forces argued by Friedman, an American journalist, columnist and author. These forces have made the world as a level playing ground for every nation in term of commerce. The forces also have been increasing rapidly the interconnectedness among the people in last 20 years. Personally, I have been enjoying all the ease created or generated by these forces. For instance, The Steroids, the tenth force has enabled me to communicate ‘face to face’ with my family and friends located thousands miles away from me in such a low cost that I have never imagined before. It is also the combination of the forces that provide me, and millions of others, unlimited access in gaining information, knowledge and entertainment through the web. Thus, it is difficult for me and many others to deny the role of the Ten Flatteners in unifying the world. However, there are several things that I would like to comment regarding the 10 forces argued by Friedman.
In my opinion, some of the forces are the result of the previous one. Open Sourcing, In-Forming and Steroids will never arise without the emergence of Netscape or browser and the development of Work Flow Software. Someone would never be able to upload his/her works if the PC s/he uses to work is unable to communicate well with web which will broadcast it all over the world. In other case, people will never be able to gain all the information, knowledge, and entertainment from the web without the occurrence of browser and Work Flow Software which transform the ‘machine’s language’ into the human language. Similar condition also happens to the presence of a group of advanced technology called the Steroids.
On the other side, Outsourcing, Off shoring, Supply-Chaining and In sourcing are manufacturing and service systems which will only be realized based on the implementation of certain trade policies. If the WTO does not impose its members to reduce their trade barriers, all of these systems are hardly to be implemented. Moreover, if we look further to the back, basically the collapse of the Berlin’s Wall which actually made all of these system more profitable to be implemented. If the wall had not fallen, China, India and Ex Soviet Empire’s countries would not have opened their economics to the world.
As previously mentioned, Friedman claims globalization as the result of convergence between events and technology. Thus, why is the establishment of World Trade Organization as the successor of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade not considered as the flattened force? WTO, an international organization dealing with the rule of trade between nations, is the one who responsible for making Outsourcing, Off-shoring, Supply-Chaining and In sourcing become more common. Moreover this organization was ‘established’ at the golden age of globalization when it became a buzz word for every company who wants to survive in the long term. If Friedman put it as one of the force, it would have been considered as the “crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration”
Despite the number of flattener forces argued by Friedman, I also notice his description and explanation on each flattener force. It is rarely that Friedman illustrates the downside or the negative effects that may be generated from the implementation of those forces. If there is any, the portion of it is much less than the benefits ones. For instance, it can be seen clearly how he was astonished by the supply-chain system implemented by Wal-Mart, the biggest retail company in the world. In fact he has illustrated beautifully how this Gigantic Mall opened its branch in Japan without using big cannon as Commodore Perry did in opening Japan’s isolation policy. However, Friedman seems forget to describe how the expansion of Wal-Mart and other mega-merchant like Carrefour also produced negative effects to people in developing countries beside provide them with cheap and better quality products. Friedman should have also described about the marginalizing process of many traditional merchants due to the opening of one of these gigantic mall branch in certain city of developing countries.
On the other case, although Friedman has illustrated how the Off-shoring system affects the US manufacture sector, it is still not enough to cover other negative effects which may occur in developing countries. The extreme side of anti-globalization movement may see this system as the new form of colonialism since it takes the advantages of the abundance of low-wage skilled labor and exploits the resources of developing countries. I may not go as far as they thought. I just feel uncomfortable to see how these developing countries have to compete on each other for attracting the investors. As previously described, the involvement of China in world economic has made other developing countries adjusting their tax and incentive system as the way to retain the investors from flying to China. Friedman should have also described about thousand of Indonesians labors or other developing countries’ labors being layoff since the investors move their factories to China, or how other developing countries have been racing each other in offering lower tax and lower labor’s wage as slightly ignoring their wealth.
Eventually, I tend to conclude that Friedman, as advocate of globalization, only observes globalization based on American’s point of view. He only sees the good sides of globalization, especially for the Americans, both as the producers or the consumers. In fact, he argues that the first world flattener is the collapse of Berlin’s wall which is also the symbol of the capitalism’s victory against communism. In his opinion, globalization also provides benefits to developing countries as long as they provide much more benefits to the Americans. What India had gained through tones of outsourcing jobs in preventing Y2K bug was less than the benefits gained by the Americans as the biggest users of PC at that moment.
