E-learning Activities
Week 2 – Activity 1 – Thomas Friedman on Globalisation; 3 Eras of Globalisation; World is flat
Three times Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman is of the view that globalisation is not a part of a craze, which means it is here to stay it is not a process that will fade in the future or there will be an end to the phenomenon in any way. In his argument he has presented with three eras of globalization the first on is globalisation 1.0 which developed during the period of 1492 till the early 1800s marking the start of global arbitrage. This was regarded as the first step which made the world a small place and this happened because the countries were reaching out to the outside world for example Britain colonising India (youtube.com 2017).
The second phase as termed by Friedman Globalization 2.0 began during the early 1800 till 2000. This was a step closer, taken by the companies in terms of globalisation in search of untapped market and reasonable cost of labour; the “multinational company” term was being picked up farsighted entrepreneurs and statesmen.
Globalisation 3.0 is where the world is at the present time. Friedman describes that in this phase the world is a tiny place to live in. A person with an internet access has the access to the world. He explain that it is exciting enduring and at the same time frightening as the spearhead of globalisation is in the hands of an Individuals. He states that there are several factors that have been developed in this time periods which enables and empowers individuals to globalize themselves. Individuals now have the ability to connect to the world by themselves and find competitors in the run. In his arguments he also urges that if an individual has an idea he or she should implement it as he says,” what can be done, will be done hence do it before it is done to me”. He says the world is flat as he believes that it is possible for anyone to contribute to globalisation. He calls it frightening as there are no people who are in charge of the whole facade. It depends on the personal thinking and sense of responsibility (youtube.com 2017).
With the advent of social media in this era or as Friedman has put globalisation 3.0, individuals are capable of taking globalization ahead. Technology, modern thinking, developing economy have a grave role to play in this field. For example: An individual with an aspiration of becoming a news producer can do so with the help of YouTube (Bethlehem 2014).
This reach of an individual is backed by knowledge, source availability along with monetary back up to certain extent as well. Hence the level of globalisation cannot be same throughout the world. There are other external factors as well, for example economic policies, government policies, environmental factor as well (Kriesler and Nevile 2016).
Week 4 – Activity 1 – Structure and Strategy
Yves Morieux is the managing director of The Boston Consulting Group’s Institute for Organization. As a leader in one of world renowned organisation, he has come up with various concepts of organisation design and growth strategies. Yves has designed new and improved approaches that will revolutionise organizational thinking process with the help of the concept of smart simplicity. He has designed this concept in cooperation with BCG clients in various locations and market sectors.
The point of inception of this theory of Smart Simplicity is making a healthy working atmosphere for the employees of an organisation. He says that a resource can work with one another, collectively develop ideas and innovate to cultivate a creative solution to complex situations. According to Morieux, the best asset for a company is to leverage the optimum productivity of the intelligence that is available at disposal. This is only possible if the work force is happy with the work environment and is content with the employer policies and salary (Morieux and Tollman 2014).
The main issue that an organisation face is giving a strategy a concrete structure, he says that it is also possible other way around but that is a rare and difficult case. One of the pressure points for an organisation is the vertical communication process. Information should reach from the lower level to the top management in order to maintain a smooth running of the business in a day to day basis. This is where the company forgoes of the market expansion opportunities and fails to understand the threats that the organisation posses (Baker 2014).
Many times a company takes wrong decision even if they have a right structure. Morieux says that even the most efficient ways of tackling resource may sometimes fall adapt as these theoretical values and traditionally efficient ways fall into a cycle of operations and fail to come out of this loop. It is often seen that the employees are behaving against the cause of the company and are following an unsatisfied approach towards work. The cause of this failure is the way it is applied in the organisation. He argues against the fact that many organisations are of the view that more rules mean more control and more productivity. The idea before implementing any policies is to have a concrete conceptualised vision about the future of the organisation and to design the structure accordingly. It is as he defines “what it takes to be alive tomorrow” (youtube.com 2017).
He has set 6 rules to simplify work and reduce the new complexity of the business structure. Firstly, the company must understand its resource, understand where the strength lies. Secondly, it is important for companies to identify the people who can lead. Next is the distribution of power among the employees so that delegation process is easier. He is then argues that employees should be more dependent on each other and behave as a team. This brings to the fifth rule which states that employees should be attached to the work they are doing their work mist affect them only then they will strive to do better. Lastly, Morieux says that an individual resource is never to be blamed for failure it is the failure of the institution (Morieux and Tollman 2014).
Conclusion
Both the above ideas are revolutionary in their own terms. Thomas Friedman’s theory is more practical as we can see it and feel the effect at the same time. The proof of relevance of his theory is evident in our day to day work. Whereas the concept of Yves Morieux is more theoretical and his approach deals more with changing of the though process of the current organisational strategies.
Reference List
Baker, M.J., 2014. Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bethlehem, D., 2014. The end of geography: the changing nature of the international system and the challenge to international law. European Journal of International Law, 25(1), pp.9-24.
Kriesler, P. and Nevile, J.W., 2016. Macroeconomic impacts of globalization. In Post-Keynesian Essays from Down Under Volume II: Essays on Policy and Applied Economics (pp. 32-47). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Morieux, Y. and Tollman, P., 2014. Smart Simplicity. Paris, Manitoba/Les Belles Lettres.
Morieux, Y. and Tollman, P., 2014. Six simple rules: how to manage complexity without getting complicated. Harvard Business Review Press.
youtube.com. (2017). Organization Design: BCG's Yves Morieux on organization and competitive advantage. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm7d1dzOKmw [Accessed 11 Aug. 2017].
youtube.com. (2017). Thomas Friedman's Three Eras of Globalization. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp4znWHvsjU [Accessed 11 Aug. 2017].
youtube.com. (2017). What Thomas Friedman means when he says "The World is Flat". [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM2BguxRSyY [Accessed 11 Aug. 2017].
