Web 2.0 is an interactive world filled with networks of friends, associates and business contacts. Two seminal works have addressed the new mindset required for this new world. One is The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas Friedman. Friedman’s book talks about how many of the old paradigms that concerning how business and the world operated are no longer functional. A change in thinking about the marketplace and who is in the new marketplace is needed. Friedman’s book will help the newcomer adjust to the world as a marketplace.
Another seminal work in understanding this new world is The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson. Anderson’s book addressed the impact of the internet on the marketplace in terms of longevity of products within the new marketplace. His thought provoking ideas concerning how products are sold on the internet will help newcomers adjust to the how the internet is changing product availability in the marketplace.
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I dont know about the 2nd book mentioned, but there is an interesting small book which I read, which offers a counterperspective on Thomas Friedman’s best seller, “The World Is Flat”.
Thomas Friedman’s New York Times bestseller, The World is Flat, asserts that the international economic playing field is now more level than it has ever been. As popular as it may be, some reviewers assert that by what it leaves out, Friedman’s book is dangerous . I just finished a great little book that challenges Friedman’s idea of a ‘flat’ world. Here’s a snippet from an interview with the authors:
“The world isn’t flat as a result of globalization,” say Ronald Aronica and Mtetwa Ramdoo, business analysts and authors of a critical analysis of Friedman’s book. “Globalization is the greatest reorganization of the world since the Industrial Revolution,” says Aronica. But by what Friedman’s book ignores or glosses over, it misinforms people and policy makers alike.
Aronica and Ramdoo’s concise monograph, The World is Flat?: A Critical Analysis of Thomas L. Friedman’s New York Times Bestseller, brings clarity to many of Friedman’s stories and explores nine key issues Friedman largely disregards or treats too lightly. To create a fair and balanced exploration of globalization, the authors cite the work of experts that Friedman fails to incorporate, including Nobel laureate and former Chief Economist at the World Bank, Dr. Joseph Stiglitz.
Refreshingly, you can now gain new insights into globalization without weeding through Friedman’s almost 600 pages of tedious tome. “If you read Friedman’s book, and were awed, you really should read more rigorous treatments of this vital subject,” says Ramdoo.
I read Aronica and Ramdoo’s 143 page book in one sitting!
Aronica and Ramdoo conclude by listing over twenty action items that point the way forward, and they provide a comprehensive, yet concise, framework for understanding the critical issues of globalization. They paint a clear and sometimes alarming picture of the early twenty-first century landscape, and present timely information needed by governments, businesses, and individuals everywhere.
And what I also like is that the authors provide a wealth of interesting information at the book’s Web site:
www.mkpress.com/Flat
Also a thought-provoking 13 minute Overview on the Web:
www.mkpress.com/FlatOverview.html
And the recent interview: “Aronica and Ramdoo pummel Friedman’s flat world back into a sphere,”
http://www.mkpress.com/AronicaRamdooInterview.html
Also a really interesting 6 min wake-up call: Shift Happens! www.mkpress.com/ShiftExtreme.html
There is also a companion book listed: Extreme Competition: Innovation and the Great 21st Century Business Reformation
www.mkpress.com/extreme
http://www.mkpress.com/Extreme11minWMV.html
So, if you want to know much more about globalization than what Friedman provides you, check out
www.mkpress.com/flat for concise and very interesting information.