Holmes Institute HI6005: Management and Organizations Research Paper 1

This research paper, submitted for the HI6005 Management and Organizations in a Global Environment course at Holmes Institute, explores the concept of globalization through the lenses of Thomas Friedman and Pankaj Ghemawat. The paper examines Friedman's 'flat world' theory, discussing its advantages and disadvantages, including the impact of technology and business ethics. It also delves into the concept of globalization 3.0, emphasizing individual empowerment in the global landscape. The paper then contrasts Friedman's views with Ghemawat's perspective, challenging the notion of a completely flat world by analyzing real-world data and addressing fears associated with globalization, such as cultural homogenization and increased competition. The conclusion synthesizes the differing viewpoints, highlighting the complexities and nuances of globalization's impact on management and organizations. The paper includes references to relevant academic sources and online resources.

Higher Education Faculty
Assignment Cover Sheet
Subject Title Management and Organisations in a Global Environment
Subject Code HI6005
Lecturer
Assignment Title Research Paper 1
Due Date Friday Week 5
Contact Details Student ID
Student Name
Student e-mail address @my.holmes.edu.au
I acknowledge that:
1. This assignment is my work. I acknowledged and disclosed fully any assistance received in its
preparation and cited any sources from which I used data, ideas, words, either quoted directly or
paraphrased.
2. This assignment was prepared by us specifically and only for this subject.
3. This assignment is identical with the work submitted via Self-Check on Blackboard.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................3
E-learning Activities...............................................................................................................................4
Week 2– Activity 1: Thomas Friedman on Globalisation; 3 Eras of Globalisation; World is flat.......4
Question1......................................................................................................................................4
Question2......................................................................................................................................4
Question3......................................................................................................................................4
Week 2 – Activity 2: Pankaj Ghemawat on Globalisation..................................................................5
Question1......................................................................................................................................5
Question2......................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................5
References.............................................................................................................................................6

Executive Summary
The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief view about the globalization activities
happening worldwide. This paper tells that is globalization actually happening or it is just
present in books and exaggerated by people. More details about globalization in the view of
Friedman and Pankaj Ghemawat are discussed below:

E-learning Activities
Week 2– Activity 1: Thomas Friedman on Globalisation; 3 Eras of Globalisation; World
is flat
Question1
According to Friedman, flat world refers to the platform where there is no boundation and
people can easily work, communication and initiate activities with people present in different
parts of the world. Apart from these there are some disadvantages in this type of thinking.
The drawbacks of flat world of Globalization are discussed below:
 Business ethics reduces the freedom of organizations to work effectively. For
instances, multinational organizations moving to developing countries with an aim to
reduce the costs (Glenberg 2015).
 People present in different part of the world have different thoughts and opinions.
 The presence of boundaries across the world has been eliminated so under such
circumstances people can do whatever they want. Resulting to which they create their
own rules for business that might not be liked by other organization.
 Use of advanced technology in the business increase stress level for them and
introduces tough competition in the environment as well (United Way of Greater New
Haven 2008).
Question2
Yes, I totally agree to the Fridman’s iron rule. The rule says that when the world is flat,
whatever that can be done will be done. And it will be done by the people themselves. Due to
introduction of new and efficient technology, people can initiate activities according to their
will. For instance, Qantas Airlines, started a website with the use of which people can easily
go online, use the website and download and print the boarding passes in the form of bar
code. So, with the use of it, a person can become their own ticket agent (Darling-Hammond,
2015). This help people to change and learn something new that will help them to do what
they want without facing any boundations. The idea of flat connects all the tools and provides
it to a person who can use them to sustain their living. Through this, what one can do, can be
easily get done by others as well (United Way of Greater New Haven 2008).
Question3
It should be noted that globalization now is not looked as the globalization country, or
globalization companies. Instead the globalization 3.0 is now regarded as the globalization

individuals where people develop themselves to use the resources and ideas present with
them and convert it into profits for them. Friedman said that either globalization would be
done by you or to you. It is irrelevant to see the uniformity of globalization among countries
as it depends upon the discretion of people use the resources and make themselves global.
Any person who has the idea will definitely use the resources to be a part of globalization
irrespective of the fact that he is living in a small town of Peru (United Way of Greater New
Haven 2008).
Week 2 – Activity 2: Pankaj Ghemawat on Globalisation
Question1
Yes my view on globalization totally changed after listening to the statements given by the
Pankaj Ghemawat. With respect to the statement that world is ‘flat’; I came to know that the
world is not actually flat. Things and activities that a person believes are happening are not
actually happening in the real world. Like, in the case of export data given by Pankaj
Ghemawat, the data that he analyzed and the data mentioned in books have large difference
(Franklin 2011). So, though this one needs to analyze it themselves and then understand that
the world not connected to the extent that it might be called ‘flat’. One of the globaloney is
that people believing that the world is becoming smaller and smaller day by day but actually
it is not. It is a presumption that limits the real scope of globalization (Ghemawat 2012).
Question2
According to Ghemawat, people might fear of globalization in the environment because they
do not want a large segment to compete with. Coming into a flat world will make companies
to share their resources and fight with more powerful companies present worldwide. People
worldwide overestimate the information given by people that make them exacerbate the
current situation related to globalization. Lastly, it should be noted that people feel that their
culture would get lost or other different cultures would oppress or invade their culture due to
which they feel fear of globalization (Ghemawat 2012).
Conclusion
Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events, it should be noted that initially through
Friedman’s statement it was believed that the world is flat. But with the statements presented
by Ghemawat it was analyzed that the people have overestimated the growth of globalization
worldwide.

References
Darling-Hammond, L., (2015) The flat world and education: How America's commitment to
equity will determine our future. Teachers College Press.
Franklin, S., (2011) Not a flat world: the future of cross-border reproductive
care. Reproductive biomedicine online, 23(7), pp.814-816.
Ghemawat, P., (2012) Actually the world isn’t flat [online]. Available from <
https://www.ted.com/talks/pankaj_ghemawat_actually_the_world_isn_t_flat#t-824762>
Accessed on 29 April 2018.
United Way of Greater New Haven (2008) Thomas Friedman's Three Eras of Globalization
[online]. Available from< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp4znWHvsjU> Accessed on
29 April 2018.
United Way of Greater New Haven (2008) What Thomas Friedman means when he says "The
World is Flat" [online]. Available from < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=oM2BguxRSyY> Accessed on 29 April 2018.