I agree that the role of technology in the process of society shaping is not a "new" argument. I think the value of the book/video "The World is Flat" is that Friedman argues that "while we were sleeping" (I like this phrase) we haven't noticed the extent of the changes and the opportunities these changes afford many, many people worldwide. We may have paid attention to these changes intellectually and made some adaptations to our thinking and behavior, but not enough.
The message from the book for me was that smart, hard-working people who have access to technologies and who are willing and able to offer high-quality products and services can do so from many, many places around the world -- they will not be constrained by location or culture. This is good news for wordly entrepreneurs. And they can be hired by organizations to their work from just about anywhere as well. This is also good news for smart, savvy, hard-working people. It is bad news for people who think it's OK to do mediocre work because there are a lot of people who would happily take those people's jobs and do top-notch work. Of course, I knew much of what Friedman was saying intellectually, but reading the book and watching the video made me see the MBA students differently, begin to reconsider how I can push my teaching to reflect the extend to the changes suggested in the book and really prepare the MBAs to succed in this environment, and think about how I can prepare our children better for the world they are in. I found the books' messages invigorating.
Best,
Paula
________________________________
From: Management Education and Development Discussion on behalf of
fabrizio.maimone@tin.it
Sent: Thu 1/19/2006 6:27 AM
To:
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Subject: R: Re: Thomas Freidman Discussing The World is Flat - Free online MIT video
Hi all. I agree with the opinions of many collegues. The role of
technology in the process of society shaping is not a "new" argument.
I think it is worthless to wonder if the world is "flat" or not. I
believe our world is a complex system, so, according to sociologist
Robertson (Robertson R.,1992, Globalization: social theory and global
culture, London), this is the age of "glocalization", ie of the co-
existence of local, regional, multi-regional and global phenomena. Many
authors think globalization enhances transnational connections and
phenomena but at the same time fosters differences (see Held, D. &
McGrew, A. (2003) Globalization / Anti-Globalization, Cambridge,
Polity). May be, we are "closer and farther" at the same time.
All
the best
Fabrizio
Dr Fabrizio Maimone
"Professore a contratto" of
organizational communication
LUMSA University of Rome (www.lumsa.it)
CRESEC (Centro di ricerca responsabilità sociale, eventi e
comunicazione)
"Corso di laurea in comunicazione d'impresa, pubblicità
e nuovi media"
Via della Traspontina 21,
00183,
Rome,
Italy
Email:
fabrizio.maimone@tin.it
Blog:
http://blog.virgilio.it/lkw ;
----
Messaggio originale----
Da:
mfrandsen@ALBION.EDU
Data: 18-gen-2006 6.27
PM
A: <
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU>
Ogg: Re: Thomas Freidman Discussing
The World is Flat - Free online MIT video
I had my undergraduate
strategy students read the book last fall. Was the highlight of the
semester and well worth the weeks of discussion that took away from
other things I had planned. While I agree with much in the book (he is
a convincing writer), it is important to remind students that
Friedman's is one view. Interesting contrasts are found here http:
//www.creativeclass.org/acrobat/TheWorldIsSpiky.pdf and here http:
//www.morganstanley.com/GEFdata/digests/20051121-mon.html .
Best,
Mike
Mike Frandsen, Ph.D.
Department of Economics & Management
Albion
College
mfrandsen@albion.edu
517-629-0315
>>>
pcaproni@BUS.UMICH.EDU
01/17/06 6:57 PM >>>
Dear Abainesh and all:
I told students in my
teams class and in my managing professional relationships class that
the online video is well worth watching. I'll know next week if any of
the students watched it and what they said. Friedman's book and the
video were certainly eye openers. The only thing I wasn't as happy
with is that the perspective seemed to be a "while you were sleeping,
America, all this is happening" yet I think the call to action is more
of a global call to action. That said, it's great stuff. I don't know
if it's all true (he's a convincing writer), but it's great food for
thought and has changed the way I think and teach already.
Best,
Paula
________________________________
From: Management Education and
Development Discussion on behalf of Abainesh Mitiku
Sent: Tue 1/17/2006
2:26 PM
To:
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Subject: Re: Thomas Freidman
Discussing The World is Flat - Free online MIT video
Dear Paula,
This message cannot be more timely...I am not talking about Friedman's
message only but yours too. I just watched the MIT video from the site
you gave. My first day of class for International Business for the
Spring Semester is tomorrow and I plan to use this video as my lesson
#1. It is s-o-o-o-o good!
Thank you very much.
Abainesh
----- Original Message -----
From: Caproni, Paula <mailto:
pcaproni@BUS.UMICH.EDU>
To:
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU Sent:
Tuesday, January 17, 2006 11:41 AM
Subject: Thomas Freidman Discussing
The World is Flat - Free online MIT video
Greetings:
It has been
a while since I've participated in this discussion group, so I thought
I'd start up again by suggesting a great resource I found yesterday.
The new best-selling book is "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman.
It is an excellent discussion of the "third wave of globalization" --
the world has been flattened as a consequence of technology. A main
message is "while you were sleeping, the world has gone flat." He
makes the point that in a flattened world, individual and group
innovations will be a key to success and that more and more people
around the world have access to this success if they have the
technology. The video can be found at the following website, and you
can search the site for other free videos as well. Wonderful
resource!
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/266/ Ahhh, it's good
to be back! And I'll see you at OBTC this year.
Best,
Paula
Caproni
Ross School of Business
University of Michigan