Question

So what? If the world is not as "flat" (not as interconnected), what does it mean for business?

That is, everyone's talking about globalization and the new rules of doing business. Yet, people still seem to be live very much in their own small worlds and hardly ever reach out beyond their national borders. Why should we care? Who should care? What advice would you give to a business manager?

Answer 1

People living in the world might be aware or unaware of how they are connected to the world overseas. However, the world has become a marketplace where people are consuming products and services manufactured from overseas. In addition, companies nowadays are located in many different parts of the world and try and access global markets to sell their products.

If you are living in the United states, you are likely to be using a product manufactured in China. Large companies in the United states have started outsourcing business processes to companies in India. We live in an interdependent world where people are connected beyond their national borders since people are consuming products and services that are made overseas. In addition, a worker in a developing country is quite often working for a large multinational organization. Furthermore, people in developing countries now consume products that are sold to them from multinational companies.

The world is currently debating whether globalization is good for developed countries. Even though jobs are moving overseas from developed to developing countries there are new jobs (such as jobs in the renewable energy sector) being created in developed countries.

A business manager has to work according the new rules of doing business that involve a global marketplace.

Since the wealth is more equitably distributed accross the globe than it was before, a business manager will eventually have to grow their business into a global business. The business manager will have to expand globally to maximize profits.

The world is now flat in the sense that their is good connnectivity accross the globe through undersea cables (phone and internet) as well as global satellite based telephony (mobile phones).  

Air travel has become more commonplace and moving goods accross the world is possible through air and sea travel.

The practice of free trade has helped developing countries sell to overseas markets such as those in developed countries like the United states. In other words, developing countries have businesses that are able to sell to developed countries.