A Flat World

Superior Essays
A flat world is a sea of opportunities within a globally dispersed supply chain. Li & Fung defines and instructs the public how to utilize this flat world through network orchestration and competing network to network in a globally competitive economy in order to maximize the customer’s demands. This is not an easy tasks as the world is not completely flat and many stipulations cause companies in the global market to become stagnant. The following essay answers the questions of what is the flat world and how we can manage the benefits and bumps to progress to a borderless world.

A Flat World: What and How?
A flat world describes a world in which everyone is interconnected and more opportunities are presented. A flat world is a world in which
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Based on the text by Li and Fung, the challenge of globalization is classified into three eras. Thomas Friedman identified these periods and there flatteners as follows. The flat world first reared its head through the emergence of a global market with advanced transportation and technology in order to more accessibly connect to other parts of the world (Fung, 2008, 4). This occurred from Christopher Columbus journey to the New World until the 1800s (Fung, 2008, 4). Next, the rise of the multinational company occurred from the 1800s to 2000s (Fung, 2008, 4). Transportation and communication costs facilitated a global economy driven by hardware revolutions, such as, railroads, telegraphs, telephones, steamships, etc. (Fung, 2008, 4). In the now, from the 2000s to the present, things that were once unattainable are now tangible because globalization has been flattened by, internet; personal computers; workflow software, such as Google Docs, where individuals can collaborate on projects from anywhere; outsourcing; offshoring; supply chaining; uploading; informing; and wireless technologies (Fung, 2008, 4-5). In short, the text states that these various flatteners connect individuals anywhere with each other via email and information through fiber optic cables, or the World Wide Web (Fung, 2008, 4).
Is the world still flat? Five years later, the text is still relevant and we are still in a flat world. In regards to globalization and global trade a flat
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The words strategic and tactical are similar in terms of meeting a goal but, opposite in the approach in which they are achieved. The word strategic relates to the identification of long term goals and how to achieve them. The word tactical refers to carefully planned actions to meet a specific goal. For example, in the context of global competition, the strategic approach would state a goal of maybe reducing average manufacturing costs and work backwards to meet such goal by reducing core vendors, improving monitoring, quality control, and communications over time (Fung, 2008, 25-26). Such case is presented in the text with Ecko’s youth lifestyle brand and the results of their strategic approach via joining Li & Fung’s network orchestration in 2006 (Fung, 2008, 25). Strategic approach states the big goal and then works to complete the parts that would add up to the

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