TWIF+Chapter+11

The World is Flat Chapter 11

__ How Companies Cope __ According to Friedman (2007), “companies that have managed to survive and grow today are those that are most prepared to change” (p.442). Companies willing to change and accept change are more likely to do things than have things done to them. “ They are the ones that recognize-faster than their competitors-everything new that the flattening of the world enables and everything new that it enjoins and are the first to develop strategies to exploit the new possibilities and cope with the new requirements” (Friedman, 2007, p. 442). **// Rules for how to cope: //** **Rule #2:** Because we are in a world where whatever can be done will be done, the most important competition today is between you and your own imagination. What people imagine matters more than ever in a flat world. The most successful are not those individuals or companies that adapt or improve someone else’s ideas but rather create or provide services and products that did not previously exist. - Example: Aramex, a Jordanian package company that was able to maintain a coalition of small companies and build their own software when their large partner Airborne was bought by FedEx. The web-based global network of Aramex, allowed cofounder and CEO Fadi Ghandour, to cut costs and compete with the biggest in the business and come out ahead.
 * Rule # 1:** “What ever can be done will be done….and much faster than you think. The only question is….whether it will be done by you or to you.” With the flattening of the world so many people are able to connect and collaborate to discover and invent new things that you have to be quick to pursue your ideas before someone else beats you to it.
 * Rule #3: **  And the small shall act big.

One way that big companies learn to flourish in the flat world is by learning how to act really small by enabling their customers to act really big. -Example: Starbucks offering customization (19000 versions of coffee), many of the innovations (such as soy milk) coming from customer requests. ** Rule #5: ** The best companies are the best collaborators, because the world is becoming so complex you can't do it alone. In the flat world, more and more business will be done through collaborations within and between companies, for a very simple reason: The next layers of value creation - whether in tech, marketing, biomedicine or manufacturing - are becoming so complex that no single firm or department is going to be able to master them alone
 * Rule #4: **  And the big shall act small.

Companies need to constantly be doing this to identify and strengthen their areas of specialization. -Example: IBM business consultants analyzing companies systemically and breaking them down into components in order to study the corporate skeleton. Every department, every function, is broken down and identified as either a cost or a source of income for the company.
 * Rule #6: **  In a flat world, the best companies stay healthy by getting regular chest X-rays and then selling the results to their clients.

** Rule #7: ** The best companies outsource to win, not to shrink. They outsource to innovate faster and more cheaply in order to grow larger, gain market share, and hire more and different specialists - not to save money by firing more people ** Rule# 8 ** : How you do things as a company matters more today than ever. You will differentiate your company from the others by //how// you do business. How you treat your colleagues, customers, suppliers and investors means the difference between you and your competition. Rule #9: **   When the world goes flat - and you are feeling flattened - reach for a shovel and dig inside yourself. Don't try to build walls. - Example:   The experiences of a small photographer, where the photography business, all aspects of it except the ability to take really clever pictures, are being commoditized. In industries where everything is the same and supply is plentiful, each company is driven to be more creative and innovative, or risk falling between the cracks. “It used to be about what you were able to do. Now it’s much more about the creative flair and personality you can bring….it’s all about imagination” (Friedman, 2007, p.474). -Dua Obeidallah