First of all, one shall mention that “The World is Flat” which later on became a bestselling book, authored by Thomas Friedman focuses on the outcomes of globalization, given the context of the changing world these days. The metaphorical title implies on the aspects which make the world closes between different actors, namely in the field of trade where companies get closer under the same roof of the globalized world and get closer to the each other by having equal opportunities to compete. The book was released in 2005 for the first, with the release of an updated version in 2006 and 3.0 version coming in 2008. Thus, the flat world becomes the place where competitors get involved in aspects influenced by globalization. The relevance of the book published can be confirmed its recognition by Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2005.
Thomas Friedmans, the author of the book, refers to his personal awareness of globalization and its implications in many editions. Having traveled to Bangalore, India where he came to the understanding that economic concepts had global influence. He explicitly conveys the opinion that a process of production undergoes several stages before reaching the stage of an ultimate reaching the market. In his book, Thomas Friedman also uses classification such as globalization 1.0, globalization 2.0 and globalization 3.0 which is used in practice these days. The stage globalization 3.0 is implicated by the fact that multinational companies operate in the driving global integration, which is a natural process.
Most probably, the book gained its recognition for multiple examples of companies which present that the divisive theory finds its relevance in reality. For instance, numerous examples of services in China and India are provided where companies operate as part of the global chain. For instance, one of the brightest examples is the number of employees who are working due to their affordability for employers, and their role in the sequence which makes the product cheaper for producers. Therefore, integrating different parts where human capital and resources are used for the ultimate goal of presenting a product is one of the brightest features of globalization 3.0. These aspects of attracting commodities and capital at the lowest price in different parts of the world are best exercised by companies who own a significant capital. Namely, Thomas Friedman provides examples of Dell, AOL and Microsoft, who become the beneficiaries of these processes. What’s more, a rather more precise attention is paid to capitalist peace theory, which is also known as Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention where the implications of capitalism and globalization are discussed in the very detail.
No less important is to mention how Thomas Friedman refers to different organizational devices which contribute to key communicative concepts and then delivers his ideas to the public in a rather provocative way. These examples are compiled into lists, to which author refers as to forces that flatten the world (listed as ten flatteners) and three points of convergence.
It is not needed to list all of the ten flatteners. However, some of them should be given a closer attention. For instance, according to Thomas Friedman, Collapse of the Berlin War comprises on the most definitive factors that spread globalization. It is a rather innovative idea expressed, as the common attitude towards the fall of the Iron Curtain faces different attitudes. Notably, the author mentions: “When the walls came down, and the windows came up”, meaning that the fall of the iron curtain was a simultaneous move towards the new opportunities and challenges, that are known as globalization these days. Such an argument faced the acceptance among the general public as well as some criticisms, too.
As it was mentioned above, the book was recognized as one of the most valuable after its publication. However, some claim that is was not proven. Namely, one of the biggest criticisms was addressed by the Foreign Policy Magazine where professor Pankaj Ghemawat claimed that there was not an innovative opinion conveyed in there. Contrary to that opinion, The Washington Post expressed a supportive position towards the book for its generating of critical thoughts on the ways history could be interpreted. Some of the controversies over the book touched upon the fact that the work has been written purely from the American perspective, and, therefore, did not represent the global point of view which the author is primarily advocating. Even a Nobel-Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz expressed critical point of view, given the fact that the book has taken a direction which could have been argued by many. It was certainly not a novelty for many to realize that the world has been flat. Framing those terms in a single book is not enough. Instead, Stiglitz indicates that the world has been flat for many decades, and, therefore, Thomas Friedman did not express anything innovative. Another criticism towards the book was expressed for its single-minded approach to interpreting the world.
To sum up, one shall mention that the main idea conveyed in the book touches upon classifications of globalizing processes and puts into the framing of globalization 1.0, globalization 2.0 and Globalization 3.0. Given the fact that some of the major ideas touched upon the spreading influence of business companies in the world of these days, there is numerous criticism over the perspective from the author reaffirms his ideas.
