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Does Culture Matter?

In: Social Issues

Submitted By shrutibal
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DOES CULTURE MATTER?

BY SHRUTI BALABHADRA
DM16144

In the yearly part of the 21st century Thomas L. Friedman published the bestseller “The World is Flat: A brief History of the 21st century” which was an international hit. The author stated that the world has become a flat and levelled field with respect to commerce thus in turn giving equal opportunity to competitors across the globe. Further, it stated that we have reached a time where geographical, cultural and historical divisions have become insignificant in terms of a trade culture.
Friedman stated ten “Flatteners” that have levelled the global map: * The Berlin wall collapse: the downfall of communism was a primary breakthrough in terms of freedom of trade, content creation and an opportunity for the world to connect with each other. * Netscape: when the company went public, it gave rise to a new era of digitization where anyone could access and information form any part of the world. * “Workflow software”: the rise of new programming languages and machines resulted in the rise of a global platform for new multinational collaborations. Also called as the “Genesis Moment of the flat world”, it gave rise to the rest of the global flatteners. * Uploading: people were uploading and working together on online assignments from different parts of the world. * Outsourcing: this has helped companies in mass distribution where services and other activities like manufacturing have been segregated for better efficiency and cost effectiveness. * Offshoring: relocating of production and manufacturing activities to foreign destinations for better cost efficiency. * Supply chain: use of better technology and latest software to streamline and improve different components of supply chain management like distribution and sales. * Insourcing: just the opposite of outsourcing, the local

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