2 In What Ways Has The Triple Convergence Affected Your Day-To-Day Life Essay Example

In the book `The world is Flat`, Thomas Friedman describes triple convergence as the process by which the flatteners have come together to make the world efficient and a little easier. The ten Flatteners include the rise of the PC, workflow, off shoring, in sourcing, informing, supply chaining, uploading, fall of the Berlin wall, Netscape and steroids. He further explains that since the flatteners’ convergence the direction of the world changed making it better. First convergence describes the collaboration of the flatteners creating workflow efficiencies. Lack of familiarity with these efficiencies forced people to learn the new technology for them to be able to benefit themselves and is described in the second convergence. In the third convergence, the Berlin wall falls, people are able to collaborate with the world outside and resulting to development of new behaviors and habits.
The convergence has resulted in major businesses been able to operate at horizontal level rather than the vertical aspect they used to operate. Bosses have the tools to perform the simple tasks that were initially pushed to secretaries. Outsourcing is depicted in the story of India and Indiana, where Indiana outsources an upgrade to India for the department of unemployment. When details about the deal leak, protests occur and eventually it results to Indiana terminating the project with India and contracting other companies in the country for the upgrade.
Instead of the department creating more jobs, the outsourcing deprived off the rights of control from Indiana and they had no control of whatever took place during the upgrade. It also had a downside to the state of Indiana in that it cost more than what India had quoted thus spending more of the taxpayer’s money, a situation referred to as catch-22.
The read also goes further and give the reasons as to why it is essential to preserve some boundaries. Describing the risks that exist if the United States sent all the information to a single vendor, the vendor might decide to use the secrets and device a more competitive market than the one created by the United States.
1) Discuss the “Indiana versus India” anecdote, recounted in the second section of Chapter Four. Which approach benefits Americans more: off shoring state projects and cutting taxpayer expenditures, or paying higher wages to maintain job security at home?
In Indiana versus India, it is evident that off shoring projects to India is cheaper. With it been cheaper, the taxpayer’s money is used in development of other projects. The projects to be developed are of many benefits to the taxpayer the citizens of United States. With Indiana off shoring it helps create employment in India but deprives United States off employment opportunities. The taxpayers protest a lot once they learn about the deal. When it is given to contactors in the country, it costs more than what was initially anticipated according to the quotation of India.
Triple convergence has come with a lot of benefits and disadvantages. The rise of PC has specifically made my life much easier. Accessing study materials through the internet is much easier instead of going to the library. Online shopping and other services provide by the rise of the PC have made transactions and other processes which consumed a lot of time easier. Through uploading assignments, submission is easier. Printing costs are eliminated since introduction of uploading.
3) Friedman calls the tenth flattener “steroids.” Are these crucial to success, or are they luxuries? Will the globe’s nonsteroidal citizens be able to compete without them?
Steroids are very crucial to success although before people learn and understand them fully they reason out that the steroids are luxuries. Wireless has come to replace cable networking, which is expensive to install and maintain. This has dramatically reduced the operation costs and increased the profits. Digital technology has generally revolutionalized the business world making transacting way easier and enjoyable. It is evident that those who fail to embrace the technology will fade in the market. They lack adequate ability to compete with steroid embracers.