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* Business Driven Technology

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IT 1 Achieving Business Success

W h a t s i n I T f o r M e ?

This unit sets the stage for diving into Business Driven Technology. It starts from the ground floor by

providing a clear description of what information technology is and how IT fits into business strategies

and organizational activities. It then provides an overview of how organizations operate in competitive

environments and must continually define and redefine their business strategies to create competitive

advantages. Doing so allows organizations to not only survive, but also thrive. Individuals who under-

stand and can access and analyze the many different enterprisewide information systems dramatically

improve their decision-making and problem-solving abilities. Most importantly, information technology is

shown as a key enabler to help organizations operate successfully in highly competitive environments.

You, as a business student, must recognize the tight correlation between business and technology.

You must first understand information technologys role in daily business activities, and then under-

stand information technologys role in supporting and implementing enterprisewide initiatives and

global business strategies. After reading this unit, you should have acquired a solid grasp of business

driven information systems, technology fundamentals, and business strategies. You should also have

gained an appreciation of the various kinds of information systems employed by organizations and

how you can use them to help make strategically informed decisions. All leaders must appreciate the

numerous ethical and security concerns voiced by customers today. These concerns directly influence

a customers likelihood to embrace electronic technologies and conduct business over the web. In this

sense, these concerns affect a companys bottom line. You can find evidence in recent news reports

about how the stock price of organizations dramatically falls when information privacy and security

breaches are publicized. Further, organizations face potential litigation if they fail to meet their ethical,

privacy, and security obligations concerning the handling of information in their companies.


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AppleMerging Technology, Business, and Entertainment

This might sound hard to believe, but a bit more than a decade ago, Apple was on the

brink of bankruptcy. Apple Computer Inc., now back from near oblivion, is blazing a trail

through the digital world with innovation and creativity that has been missing from the

company for the past 20 years. The unique feature of Apples competitive advantages is

that they come from customers and users, not Apple employees. Thats right; the company

welcomes products created by consumers to sell to consumers, a trend new to business.

Capitalizing on the iPodWith millions of iPods in the hands of consumers, many people are finding ways to capi-

talize on the product. John Lin created a prototype of a remote control for the iPod and

took his prototype to Macworld, where he found success. A few months later, Lins com-

pany had Apples blessing and a commitment for shelf space in its retail stores. This is

how Apple supports the iPod economy, Lin said.

In the iPod-dominated market, hundreds of companies have been inspired to develop

more than 500 accessorieseverything from rechargers for the car to $1,500 Fendi bags.

Eric Tong, vice president at Belkin, a cable and peripheral manufacturer, believes that 75

percent of all iPod owners purchase at least one accessoryselling more than 30 million

accessories to date. With most of the products priced between $10 and $200, that puts

the iPod economy well over $300 million and perhaps as high as $6 billion. Popular iPod

accessories include:

Altec Lansing TechnologiesiPod speakers and recharger dock ($150). BelkinTuneCast mobile FM transmitter ($40). Etymotic Researchhigh-end earphones ($150). Griffin TechnologyiTrip FM transmitter ($35). Kate SpadeGeneva faux-croc mini iPod holder ($55).

U N I T O N E O P E N I N G C A S E


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Applesocks set in six colors: green, purple, blue, orange, pink, and gray ($29). Appledigital camera connector ($29).

Capitalizing on the iPhoneLooking at someone using an iPhone is an interesting experience because there is a

good chance they are not making a phone call. They could be doing a number of things

from playing a game to trading stocks, watching a TV show, or even conducting business

with a mobile version of salesforce.coms customer-management software. In a brilliant

strategic move, Apple let outsiders offer software for the iPhone and in less than six

months, more than 10,000 applications had been created. In fact, more than 15,000 appli-

cations are available at its App Store section of iTunes, and they have been downloaded

a total of 500 million times. Now, many of the iPhone apps are available for the iPad.

The iPhone and iPad App Store market is getting so huge relative to other

smartphone markets that some developers argue there is little point adapting applica-

tions for Googles Android or any other iPhone competitor. According to Jeff Holden,

CEO of Pelago Inc., when he created his social networking company he fully intended

to follow the conventional wisdom for how to build a sizable, fast-growing software

company: Get your programs on as many platforms and devices as possible. But when

he crunched the numbers he came to an interesting business conclusion: The 13 million

iPhone owners had already downloaded more applications than the 1.1 billion other

cell phone owners! To entrepreneurs, developing a program for the iPhone automati-

cally provides a significantly larger marketalmost 94 times larger than its competi-

tors. Why would I ever build for anything but the iPhone? Holden asked.

Capitalizing on the iPadApples latest release, the iPad, is a lightweight, portable, tablet computer, simi-

lar to the iPhone, that allows customers to download applications, check email,

and play music all at the touch of a button. Both the iPhone and the iPad can multi-

task, allowing customers to read a web page while downloading email in the back-

ground over wireless networks. The arrival of the iPad brought a simultaneous

expansion of the network of accessories. Because the iPad was designed with an

exposed screen and without a camera, separate keyboard, memory card slots, or

expansion ports, one might say it was specifically built for accessories. Many own-

ers will modify it in some way, whether for mere decoration or hard-core protection.

A few of the new accessories include:

iPad Clear Armor screen protector$35. iPad Antique book case cover$40. iPad wireless keyboard$99. iPad overcoat sleeve$35. iPad Joule luxury stand$130.1


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Chapter 1 Business Driven Technology * 5

Introduction Information is everywhere. Most organizations value information as a strategic asset. Consider Apple and its iPod, iPod accessories, and iTunes Music Store. Apples suc-cess depends heavily on information about its customers, suppliers, markets, and operations for each of these product lines. For example, Apple must be able to predict the number of people who will purchase an iPod to help estimate iPod accessory and iTunes sales within the next year. Estimating too many buyers will lead Apple to pro-duce an excess of inventory; estimating too few buyers will potentially mean lost sales due to lack of product (resulting in even more lost revenues).

Understanding the direct impact information has on an organizations bottom line is crucial to running a successful business. This text focuses on information, business, technology, and the integrated set of activities used to run most organizations. Many of these activities are the hallmarks of business todaysupply chain management, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, outsourcing, inte-gration, ebusiness, and others. The five core units of this text cover these important activities in detail. Each unit is divided into chapters that provide individual learning outcomes and case studies. In addition to the five core units, there are technology and business plug-ins (see Figure Unit1.1 ) that further explore topics presented in the five core units.

The chapters in Unit 1 are:

Chapter One Business Driven Technology. Chapter Two Identifying Competitive Advantages. Chapter Three Strategic Initiatives for Implementing Competitive

Advantages.

Chapter Four Measuring the Success of Strategic Initiatives. Chapter Five Organizational Structures That Support Strategic Initiatives.

FIGURE UNIT 1.1

The Format and Approach of This Text

* Plug-In is Located on www.mhhe.com/baltzan

B1: Business Basics *B2: Business Process *B3: Hardware and Software *B4: Enterprise Architectures *B5: Networks and Telecommunications *B6: Information SecurityB7: EthicsB8: Supply Chain ManagementB9: Customer Relationship ManagementB10: Enterprise Resource PlanningB11: EbusinessB12: Global Trends*B13: Strategic Outsourcing* B14: Systems DevelopmentB15: Project ManagementB16: Operations ManagementB17: Organizational Architecture TrendsB18: Business IntelligenceB19: Global Information SystemsB20: Mobile Technology

T1. Personal Productivity Using IT *T2. Basic Skills Using Excel *T3. Problem Solving Using Excel *T4. Decision Making Using Excel *T5. Designing Database Applications *T6. Basic Skills Using Access *T7. Problem Solving Using Access *T8. Decision Making Using Access *T9. Designing Web Pages *T10. Creating Web Pages Using HTML *T11. Creating Web Pages UsingDreamweaver*T12. Creating Gantt Charts with Exceland Microsoft Project*

Business Plug-ins Technology Plug-ins

Unit 1: Achieving Business Success

Unit 2: Exploring Business Intelligence

Unit 3: Streamlining Business Operations

Unit 4: Building Innovation

Unit 5: Transforming Organizations

CORE UNITS


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6 * Unit 1 Achieving Business Success

C H A P T E R Business Driven Technology

1.1. Describe the information age and the differences among data, information, business intelligence, and knowledge.

1.2. Identify the different departments in a company and why they must work together to achieve success.

1.3. Explain systems thinking and how manage-ment information systems enable business communications.

1

Competing in the Information AgeDid you know that...

The movie Avatar took more than four years to create and cost $450 million.

Lady Gagas real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

Customers pay $2.6 million for a 30-second advertising time slot during the Super Bowl.2

A fact is the confirmation or validation of an event or object. In the past, people pri-marily learned facts from books. Today, by simply pushing a button people can find out anything, from anywhere, at any time. We live in the information age, when infinite quantities of facts are widely available to anyone who can use a computer. The impact of information technology on the global business environment is equivalent to the print-ing presss impact on publishing and electricitys impact on productivity. College stu-dent startups were mostly unheard of before the information age. Now, its not at all unusual to read about a business student starting a multimillion-dollar company from his or her dorm room. Think of Mark Zuckerberg, who started Facebook from his dorm, or Michael Dell (Dell Computers) and Bill Gates (Microsoft), who both founded their legendary companies as college students.

You may think only students well versed in advanced technology can compete in the information age. This is simply not true. Many business leaders have created excep-tional opportunities by coupling the power of the information age with traditional busi-ness methods. Here are just a few examples:

Amazon is not a technology company; its original business focus was to sell books, and it now sells nearly everything.

Netflix is not a technology company; its primary business focus is to rent videos.

Zappos is not a technology company; its primary business focus is to sell shoes, bags, clothing, and accessories.

Amazons founder, Jeff Bezos, at first saw an opportunity to change the way peo-ple purchase books. Using the power of the information age to tailor offerings to each

LO. 1.1 Describe the information age and the differences among data, information, business intel-ligence, and knowledge.

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customer and speed the payment process, he in effect opened millions of tiny virtual bookstores, each with a vastly larger selection and far cheaper product than traditional bookstores. The success of his original business model led him to expand Amazon to carry many other types of products. The founders of Netflix and Zappos have done the same thing for videos and shoes. All these entrepreneurs were business professionals, not technology experts. However, they understood enough about the information age to apply it to a particular business, creating innovative companies that now lead entire industries.

Students who understand business along with the power associated with the infor-mation age will create their own opportunities and perhaps even new industries, as co-founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson did with MySpace and Mark Zuckerberg did with Facebook. Our primary goal in this course is to arm you with the knowl-edge you need to compete in the information age.

Information Technologys Role in BusinessStudents frequently ask, Why do we need to study infor-mation technology? The answer is simple: Information technology is everywhere in business. Understanding information technology provides great insight to anyone learning about business.

It is easy to demonstrate information technologys role in business by reviewing a copy of popular busi-ness magazines such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, or Fast Company. Placing a marker (such as a Post-it Note) on each page that contains a technology-related article or advertisement indicates that information technology is everywhere in business (see Figure1.1). These are business magazines, not technology magazines, yet they are filled with technology. Students who understand technology have an advantage in business, and gaining a detailed understanding of information technology is important to all stu-dents regardless of their area of expertise.

The magazine articles typically discuss such topics as databases, customer relationship management, web services, supply chain management, security, ethics, business intelligence, and so on. They also focus on companies such as Siebel, Oracle, Micro-soft, and IBM. This text explores these topics in detail, along with reviewing the associated business oppor-tunities and challenges.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYS IMPACT ON BUSINESS OPERATIONSFigure 1.2 highlights the business functions receiv-ing the greatest benefit from information technology, along with the common business goals associated with information technology projects according to CIO magazine.

Achieving the results outlined in Figure1.2, such as reducing costs, improving productivity, and gen-erating growth, is not easy. Implementing a new accounting system or marketing plan is not likely to generate long-term growth or reduce costs across an entire organization. Businesses must undertake enterprisewide initiatives to achieve broad general

FIGURE 1.1

Technology in BusinessWeek and Fortune

FIGURE 1.2

Business Benefits and Information Technology Project Goals

Information Technology Project Goals

Improve Customer Satisfaction/Loyalty

Reduce Costs/Improve Productivity 81%

71%

Create Competitive Advantage 66%

Generate Growth 54%

Streamline Supply Chain 37%

Global Expansion 16%

Business Functions Receiving the Greatest Benefits fromInformation Technology

Finance

Sales and Marketing

IT Operations

HR

Operations Management

Security

Customer Service 70%

51%

42%

39%

31%

17%

17%


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business goals such as reducing costs. Information technology plays a critical role in deploying such initiatives by facilitating communication and increasing business intel-ligence. For example instant messaging and WiMax allow people across an organization to communicate in new and innovative ways.

Understanding information technology begins with gaining an understanding of how businesses function and ITs role in creating efficiencies and effectiveness across the organization. Typical businesses operate by functional areas (often called functional silos). Each functional area undertakes a specific core business function (see Figure1.3).3

Functional areas are anything but independent in a business. In fact, functional areas are interdependent (see Figure1.4). Sales must rely on information from operations to understand inventory, place orders, calculate transportation costs, and gain insight into product availability based on production schedules. For an organization to succeed, every department or functional area must work together sharing common information

FIGURE 1.3

Departmental Structure of a Typical Organization

COMMON DEPARTMENTS IN AN ORGANIZATION

MARKETING

PRODUCTIONMANAGEMENT

OPERATIONSMANAGEMENT

SALES

ACCOUNTING

HUMANRESOURCES

FINANCEMANAGEMENTINFORMATIONSYSTEMS

Accounting provides quantitative information about the finances of the business including recording, measuring, and describing financial information.

Finance deals with the strategic financial issues associated with increasing the value of the business, while observing applicable laws and social responsibilities.

Human resources (HR) includes the policies, plans, and procedures for the effective management of employees (human resources).

Sales is the function of selling a good or service and focuses on increasing customer sales, which increases company revenues.

Marketing is the process associated with promoting the sale of goods or services. The marketing department supports the sales department by creating promotions that help sell the companys products.

Operations management (also called production management ) is the management of systems or processes that convert or transform resources (including human resources) into goods and services.

Management information systems (MIS) is the academic discipline covering the application of people, technologies, and procedurescollectively called information systemsto solve business problems.


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and not be a silo. Information technology can enable departments to more efficiently and effectively perform their business operations.4

Any individual anticipating a successful career in business whether it is in account-ing, finance, human resources, or operation management must understand the basics of information technology.

Information Technology BasicsInformation technology (IT) is a field concerned with the use of technology in manag-ing and processing information. Today, the term information technology has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term is more rec-ognizable than ever. The information technology umbrella can be quite large, covering many fields that deal with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and retrieve information securely. Information technology can be an important enabler of business success and innovation. This is not to say that IT equals business success and innovation or that IT represents business suc-cess and innovation. Information technology is most useful when it leverages the talents of people. Information technology in and of itself is not useful unless the right people know how to use and manage it effectively.

Management information systems is a business function just as marketing, finance, operations, and human resources are business functions. Formally defined, management information systems (MIS) is a general name for the business function and academic discipline covering the application of people, technologies, and procedurescollectively called information systemsto solve business problems. When beginning to learn about management information systems it is important to understand the following:

Data, information, and business intelligence.

IT resources.

The challenge: departmental companies.

The solution: management information systems.

FIGURE 1.4

Marketing Working with Other Organizational Departments

Logistics

Marketing

Accounting

Sales

Humanresources

Operations

Functional organizationEach functional area has its own systemsand communicates with every other functional area (diagramdisplays Marketing communicating with all other functional areasin the organization).


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DATA, INFORMATION, AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCEIt is important to distinguish between data, information, and business intelligence. Data are raw facts that describe the characteristics of an event. Characteristics for a sales event could include the date, item number, item description, quantity ordered, customer name, and shipping details. Information is data converted into a meaningful and useful con-text. Information from sales events could include best-selling item, worst-selling item, best customer, and worst customer. Business intelligence refers to applications and tech-nologies that are used to gather, provide access to, and analyze data and information to support decision-making efforts. Business intelligence helps companies gain a more com-prehensive knowledge of the factors affecting their business, such as metrics on sales, pro-duction, and internal operations, which help companies make better business decisions (see Figures 1.5, 1.6, 1.7).

IT RESOURCESThe plans and goals of the IT department must align with the plans and goals of the organization. Information technology can enable an organization to increase efficiency in manufacturing, retain key customers, seek out new sources of supply, and introduce effective financial management.

FIGURE 1.6

Data Turned into Information

Data features, such as Autofilter, turn data into information.This view shows all of Roberta Crosss chicken sales.

Rows of data in an Excel spreadsheet.

FIGURE 1.5

Data in an Excel Spreadsheet


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It is not always easy for managers to make the right choices when using IT to support (and often drive) business initiatives. Most managers understand their business initia-tives well, but are often at a loss when it comes to knowing how to use and manage IT effectively in support of those ini-tiatives. Managers who understand what IT is, and what IT can and cannot do, are in the best position for success.

Putting It All TogetherIn essence,

People use

information technology to work with

information (see Figure1.8).

Those three key resourcespeople, information, and infor-mation technology (in that order of priority)are inextrica-bly linked. If one fails, they all fail. Most important, if one fails, then chances are the business will fail.

The Challenge: Departmental CompaniesCompanies are typically organized by department or functional area such as:

Accounting: Records, measures, and reports monetary transactions. Finance: Deals with strategic financial issues including money, banking, credit,

investments, and assets.

LO 1.2 Identify the different departments in a company and why they must work together to achieve success.

Info

rmat

ion

Tech

nolo

gy

People

Information

BusinessSuccess

FIGURE 1.8

The Relationship among People, Information, and Information Technology

Advanced analytical tools, such as Pivot Tables, uncover businessintelligence in the data. For example, best customer, worst

customer, and best sales representatives best-selling product.

FIGURE 1.7

Information Turned into Business Intelligence


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Human resources: Maintains policies, plans, and procedures for the effective management of employees.

Marketing: Supports sales by planning, pricing, and promoting goods or services. Operations management: Manages the process of converting or transforming

resources into goods or services.

Sales: Performs the function of selling goods or services (see Figure 1.9).

Each department performs its own activities. Sales and marketing focus on moving goods or services into the hands of consumers; they maintain transactional data. Finance and accounting focus on managing the companys resources and maintain monetary data. Operations management focuses on manufacturing and maintains production data, while human resources focuses on hiring and training people and maintains employee data. Although each department has its own focus and data, none can work independently if the company is to operate as a whole. It is easy to see how a business decision made by one department can affect other departments. Marketing needs to analyze production and sales data to come up with product promotions and advertising strategies. Production needs to understand sales forecasts to determine the companys manufacturing needs. Sales needs to rely on information from operations to understand inventory, place orders, and forecast consumer demand. All departments need to under-stand the accounting and finance departments information for budgeting. For the firm to be successful, all departments must work together as a single unit sharing common information and not operate independently or in a silo (see Figure 1.10).

FinanceTracks strategic financialissues including money,

banking, credit,investments, and assets.

Human resourcesMaintains policies, plans,

and procedures for theeffective management of

employees.

SalesPerforms the function of

selling goods or services.

Operationsmanagement

Manages the process ofconverting or transforming

resources into goods orservices.

MarketingSupports sales by

planning, pricing, andpromoting goods or

services.

AccountingRecords, measures, and

reports monetarytransactions.

FIGURE 1.9

Departments Working Independently


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The Solution: Management Information SystemsYou probably recall the old story of three blind men attempting to describe an elephant. The first man, feeling the elephants girth, said the elephant seemed very much like a wall. The second, feeling the elephants trunk, declared the elephant was like a snake. The third man felt the elephants tusks and said the elephant was like a tree or a cane. Companies that operate departmentally are seeing only one part of the elephant, a critical mistake that hinders successful operation.

Successful companies operate cross-functionally, integrating the operations of all departments. Systems are the primary enabler of cross-functional operations. A system is a collection of parts that link to achieve a common purpose. A car is a good example of a system, since removing a part, such as the steering wheel or accelerator, causes the entire system to stop working.

Systems thinking is a way of monitoring the entire system by viewing multiple inputs being processed or transformed to produce outputs while continuously gathering feed-back on each part (see Figure 1.11). Feedback is information that returns to its original transmitter (input, transform, or output) and modifies the transmitters actions. Feed-back helps the system maintain stability. For example, a cars system continuously monitors the fuel level and turns on a warning light if the gas level is too low. Systems thinking provides an end-to-end view of how operations work together to create a product or service. Business students who understand systems thinking are valuable resources because they can implement solutions that consider the entire process, not just a single component.

MIS incorporates systems thinking to help companies operate cross-functionally. For example, to fulfill product orders, an MIS for sales moves a single customer order across all functional areas, including sales, order fulfillment, shipping, billing, and finally

LO 1.3 Explain systems thinking and how management informa-tion systems enable business communications.

AccountingMonetary data

FinanceMonetary data

Human resourcesEmployee data

MarketingTransactional data

SalesTransactional data

Operations managementProduction data

Business Decisions

FIGURE 1.10

Departments Working Together


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customer service. Although different functional areas handle different parts of the sale, thanks to MIS the sale is one continuous process to the customer. If one part of the com-pany is experiencing problems, however, then like the car without a steering wheel, the entire system fails. If order fulfillment packages the wrong product, it will not matter that shipping, billing, and customer service did their jobs right, because the customer will not be satisfied when he or she opens the package.5

Input Process Output

Feedback

FIGURE 1.11

Overview of Systems Thinking

1. Explain how Apple achieved business success through the use of information, information technology, and people.

2. Describe the types of information employees at an Apple store require and compare it to the types of information the executives at Apples corporate headquarters require. Are there any links between these two types of information?

O P E N I N G CA S E S T U DY Q U E S T I O N S

Chapter One Case: The World Is FlatThomas Friedman

In his book The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman describes the unplanned cascade of techno-logical and social shifts that effectively leveled the economic world and accidentally made Beijing, Bangalore, and Bethesda next-door neighbors. Chances are good that Bhavya in Bangalore will read your next X-ray, or as Friedman learned firsthand, Grandma Betty in her bathrobe will make your JetBlue plane reservation from her Salt Lake City home.

Friedman believes this is Globalization 3.0. In Globalization 1.0, which began around 1492, the world went from size large to size medium. In Globalization 2.0, the era that introduced us to multinational companies, it went from size medium to size small. And then around 2000 came Globalization 3.0, in which the world went from being small to tiny. There is a difference between being able to make long-distance phone calls cheaper on the Internet and walking around Riyadh with a PDA where you can have all of Google in your pocket. It is a difference in degree thats so enormous it becomes a difference in kind, Friedman states. Figure1.12 displays Friedmans list of flatteners.


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FIGURE 1.12

Thomas Friedmans 10 Forces That Flattened the World

1. Fall of the Berlin Wall The events of November 9, 1989, tilted the worldwide balance of power toward democracies and free markets.

2. Netscape IPO The August 9, 1995, offering sparked massive investment in fiber-optic cables.

3. Work flow software The rise of applications from PayPal to VPNs enabled faster, closer coordination among far-flung employees.

4. Open-sourcing Self-organizing communities, such as Linux, launched a collaborative revolution.

5. Outsourcing Migrating business functions to India saved money and a Third World economy.

6. Offshoring Contract manufacturing elevated China to economic prominence.

7. Supply-chaining Robust networks of suppliers, retailers, and customers increased business efficiency.

8. Insourcing Logistics giants took control of customer supply chains, helping mom-and-pop shops go global.

9. Informing Power searching allowed everyone to use the Internet as a personal supply chain of knowledge.

10. Wireless Wireless technologies pumped up collaboration, making it mobile and personal.

Friedman says these flatteners converged around the year 2000 and created a flat world: a global, Web-enabled platform for multiple forms of sharing knowledge and work, irrespective of time, distance, geography, and increasingly, language. At the very moment this platform emerged, three huge economies materializedthose of India, China, and the former Soviet Unionand 3 billion people who were out of the game, walked onto the playing field. A final convergence may determine the fate of the United States in this chapter of globalization. A political perfect storm, as Friedman describes itthe dot-com bust, the attacks of 9/11, and the Enron scandaldistract us completely as a country. Just when we need to face the fact of globalization and the need to compete in a new world, were looking totally elsewhere.

Friedman believes that the next great breakthrough in bioscience could come from a 5-year-old who downloads the human genome in Egypt. Bill Gatess view is similar: Twenty years ago, would you rather have been a B-student in Poughkeepsie or a genius in Shanghai? Twenty years ago youd rather be a B-student in Poughkeepsie. Today, it is not even close. Youd much prefer to be the genius in Shanghai because you can now export your talents anywhere in the world.6

Questions 1. Do you agree or disagree with Friedmans assessment that the world is flat? Be sure to

justify your answer. 2. What are the potential impacts of a flat world for a student performing a job search? 3. What can students do to prepare themselves for competing in a flat world? 4. Identify a current flattener not mentioned on Friedmans list.


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