GOING GLOBAL?A brief outline of events that have shaped the global economy

The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman

You’re familiar with 9/11, but what about 11/9?

•Before the Berlin Wall fell, people around the world had a “behind the wall” philosophy.

•On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came crashing down, eventually leading to the disbanding of the Soviet Union

•After the Berlin Wall fell, symbolic walls around the world began falling.

Netscape—August 9, 1995•First widely-used Internet browser

•Netscape had more than 90% share of the market before Microsoft’s Internet Explorer

•User-friendly format gave access to a variety of digital material

•Before Netscape, you virtually had to build your own browser to get on the Internet

•No traditional boundaries of geography or time

•First website was created in 1991, only 17 years ago

•By 1996, Internet use jumped from 600,000 to 40 million users

Work Flow Software•Work flow software enables users who are in different locations to work on the same project at the same time.

•Work flow software also requires virtually no action on the users part to connect to the global platform.

•This means that if I had a research paper due, I could do the research in the U.S., send it to Africa to have the research typed into a paper, and then sent to Europe to have it edited.

Platform for Flat World

1. Falling of the walls between east and west-Advent of Microsoft Windows-Rise of the personal computer

2. Spread of Internet and the arrival of the World Wide Web-First Web browser created-Fiber optic cables connect virtually EVERYONE

3. Creation of software allowing seamless interaction of users around the world.

Uploading

•Also known as community-developed software or open-source software

•Users create their own software programs to share, generally at no cost

•Uploading allows everyone to be a producer, not just a consumer

Outsourcing—the story of India

Breaking up the process of creating a product into component parts and finding the most cost-efficient place in the world where the processes can take place.

Fiber optic cables built around the world gave India access to the Internet.

India began providing services through its large population of English-speaking professionals.

India took advantage of providing Y2K support to U.S.-based companies. Because Indian companies were providing cheaper services, these U.S. companies decided to keep doing business with them.

Offshoring—the story of China and Alabama

OUTSOURCING is taking a specific part of a job and moving it to another country—OFFSHORING is taking the whole job and moving it to another country

Offshoring isn’t always a bad thing. Why? Because there are over 200 international companies from 25 nations that operate in Alabama.

Japan Korea Germany

Supply-ChainingProcess of transforming resources, materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer.

When you buy a Coke at Wal-Mart, a signal is sent across a network, letting the supplier know that its time to send another Coke!

Insourcing•Looking for other centers of revenue within the resources a company already has.

•UPS ships packages, right? They’re also the 11th largest airliner in the world, with a fully-equipped computer repair center at its Louisville hub. Order a pair of shoes from Nike.com and a UPS employee picks, inspects, packs and delivers your shoes for Nike from a warehouse managed by UPS.

•What can BROWN do for you? Almost anything.

In-forming“Informing is about becoming your own self-directed and self-empowered researcher, editor and selector of entertainment, without having to go to the library or the movie theater. Informing is searching for knowledge.” -Thomas L. Friedman, author, The World is Flat

•Search engines like Google put worlds of knowledge at your fingertips, and increasingly pave the way for a flat world

•Google is now available in 100 languages. Only 1/3 of Google searches are U.S.-based, and less than half are in English.

The Steroids

The Ten Flatteners Were Great…But What’s the Big Picture Here?

Instead of competing with fellow Alabamians for jobs, you now have to compete with people around the world.

Skills You Will Need to Compete in the Global Economy

Workers will have to be comfortable with ideas and abstractions; good at analysis and synthesis; creative and innovative; self-disciplined and well organized; able to learn quickly; work well as a team member; and have the flexibility to adapt quickly.—Global HR News (www.globalhrnews.com)

If You’re Looking for a Safe Bet…Become a CPA – Take my word for it

For more information on careers in accounting, visit the ASCPA website

www.ascpa.org