What is the significance of the flat world concept

Income distribution within countries and between countries is growing greater, seemingly by the hour. You have 1 free article s left this month. You are reading your last free article for this month. Subscribe for unlimited access. Create an account to read 2 more.

One of […] by Larry Prusak. Friedman speaks about drastic changes that have occurred in the last fifteen years or so -- events that have leveled the global playing field. He refers to ten "flatteners": things that have enabled us to connect with the rest of the world much more easily than ever before.

Events such as the fall of the Berlin wall, Netscape going public, and the new world of "technologies on steroids" -- cell phones, wireless devices, always being connected, and so on -- have made our world a new place. Key players, thanks to new tools, can play new roles in new ways. A leveled playing field has been created.

Employees from one organization are no longer working side-by-side inside the same building. Individuals from anywhere can compete with others from around the world. This convergence gives a new feel to how successful twenty-first-century businesses operate and how twenty-first-century learners can learn. Friedman has some interesting points I think are worthy of consideration. Today, you'd much rather be born a genius in Bangalore, because when the world is flat, and you can plug and play, collaborate and connect, just like you can from Brooklyn, your life chances and opportunities hold more potential than ever before.

It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more people on more different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of the world. Phase one lasted until , when the world was run by states. Then, between and , phase two saw the rise of multinational corporations.

The third phase of globalization, in place since the year and continuing into the foreseeable future, is distinguished by individuals seeking to take control of their economic destiny.

That, in a nutshell, is the thesis of The World Is Flat , first published in