Reform To Survive The 21st Century

For Thomas Friedman, author of the book The World Is Flat, cheap, ubiquitous telecommunications have finally obliterated all impediments to international competition, and the dawning 'flat world' is a jungle pitting 'lions' and 'gazelles,' where the weak will fall farther behind.

The metaphor of a flat world, used by Friedman to describe the next phase of globalization, came to him after hearing an Indian software executive explain how the world's economic playing field was being leveled or equalized. What economists call ''barriers to entry'' are being destroyed. Today, an individual or company anywhere can collaborate or compete globally.

”Adaptable companies and entrepreneurs will be empowered. The service sector (telemarketing, accounting, computer programming, engineering and scientific research, etc.), will be further outsourced to the English-spoken abroad.”

In the 21^st century, hierarchies are being eroded and playing fields leveled as other countries and people rise in importance and ambition.

People in advanced countries will need to find ways to move up the value chain, to have special skills that create superior products for which they can charge extra.

Of course, there will still be countries who will be losers, out of step in an age of free markets, free trade and democratic politics.

What created the flat world? “Friedman stresses technological forces. Paradoxically, the dot-com bubble played a crucial role. Telecommunications companies given to them by investors and they used it to pursue incredibly ambitious plans to ''wire the world,'' laying fiber-optic cable across the ocean floors, connecting Bangalore, Bangkok and Beijing to the advanced industrial countries. This excess supply of connectivity meant that the costs of phone calls, Internet connections and data transmission declined dramatically -- so dramatically that many of the companies that laid these cables went bankrupt. But the deed was done, the world was wired.”

The next blow was the dot-com bust. “The stock market crash made companies everywhere cut spending. That meant they needed to look for ways to do what they were doing for less money. The solution: outsourcing.”

Another primary force driving the flat world is the shifting attitudes and policies of governments around the world. Governments are becoming more market-friendly, accepting that the best way to cure poverty is to aim for high-growth policies… aim for a robust, open economy and free market. This change, more than any other, has unleashed the energy of the private sector.

Forces that continue to “flatten” the world are moving fast and appear to be unstoppable. No one can switch off these forces except at great cost to his own economic well-being. As can be seen, countries that have tried to preserve their systems, jobs, culture or traditions by keeping the rest of the world out all stagnated.

Reform wholesale or retail … but countries and people need to change to fit into this new world.

Speaking of reform, I still haven’t received an update from the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) regarding the office application for a DSL Service. I told them that 30-45 days processing of application is excruciatingly long even for other countries. That’s days longer than applying for a business permit !!! Whoever said that government has too much red tape… its even longer applying for a PLDT DSL Service which is privately owned !

So the PLDT account officer mumbled something about transferring our account from Manila Head Office to their Cebu office and having to look for the right switch. I told them that I’d be glad to help them look for that switch. They thought I was kidding. I am serious about my offer. There has to be a way to cut-down the processing time for PLDT DSL applications …. if the company values its clients.