Global Forces & Trends Midterm Exam – Questions (15) Define
1. Futuring:
The art and science of exploring the future
2. Trend and give an example:
A general direction in which something tends to move. Examples: long-term, ongoing shifts in things like population, land use, technology, and government systems.
3. Event and give an example:
Something that happens at a given place and time. Examples: the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, World Wars, when China was accepted at WTO it had the right time and the act of signing it is an event.
4. Force and give an example:
A powerful effect or influence that produces or causes change. Examples: If I punch you, you will fall in the
5. Foresight and give example:
The act or power of foreseeing, knowing in advance, or seeing ahead. For example, in the past most people lived in the community in which they grew up, and they simply followed the life choices of their parents. A farmer’s son was almost certain to be a farmer, his daughter a farmer’s wife.
6. Outsourcing and give an example:
It is contracting with another company or person to do a particular function. For Friedman argues that
outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components which can be subcontracted and performed in the most efficient, cost-effective way. This process became easier with the mass distribution of fiber optic cables during the introduction of the World Wide Web.
7. Insourcing and give an example:
It is opposite of outsourcing – delegate operations or jobs from within the company to an internal (stand-alone) entity. For example, Friedman uses UPS as a prime example for insourcing, in which the company's employees perform services – beyond shipping – for another company. For example, UPS repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.
8. Offshoring and give an example:
A type of outsourcing: is simply means having the outsourced business functions done in another country. For example, China's entrance in the WTO (World Trade Organization) allowed for greater competition in the playing field. Now countries such as Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil must compete against China and each other to have businesses offshore to them.
9. Homesourcing and give example:
The transfer of service industry employment from offices to home-based employees. For example, Jet Blue Airlines.
10. Extrapolation:
A technique that allows us to anticipate a future condition based on statistical data available for a trend.
11. Coefficient of flatness:
Countries without natural resources are much more likely, through human evolution, to develop the habits of openness to new ideas, because it is the only way they can survive and advance.
12. The process of introspection:
Countries, its people and leaders, need to engage in some brutally honest introspection:
Be honest and see where does the country stand in terms of others and the ten flatteners.
Is my country taking advantage or lacking behind the ten flatteners?
Are we taking advantage of the new platforms of collaboration and competition?
China is a big flattener.
13. Wholesale reform:
The focus in the area of governance to adopt market-friendly macroeconomic policies during the late 1970’s.
Initiated by leaders from China, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, and India.
All these leaders confronted the irrefutable fact that more open and competitive markets are the only sustainable vehicle for growing a nation out of poverty.
They are the only guarantee that new ideas, technologies, and best practices will easily flow into your country.
14. Retail reform:
It presumes that you have already done reform wholesale.
It involves looking at infrastructure, education, and governance and upgrading each one, so more of your people have the tools and legal framework to innovate and collaborate at the highest levels.
The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation defines some of the key elements of reform retail.
15. Scanning:
The process of identifying significant changes in the external environment- that is, in the world beyond our immediate area of operations- is now generally known as scanning. For example, business scanner and the military scanning “scan, clip and review”.
(20) Other
1. List three of the seven lessons of the Great Explorers. Illustrate one of the lessons by using at least one example related to that lesson.
Prepare for what you will face in the future Anticipate future needs
Expect the unexpected-(An unexpected event is not necessarily bad; it may be a great opportunity. But in either case we want to be ready to deal with it effectively. Many young people today prepare for a career but not for a career disaster or unusual opportunity outside their expected career path. For example, for the great explorers of the past, the weather was the main risk. For example, the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton while he was crossing the Antarctic continent, his ship was trapped in ice.At this point, Ernest was trapped in a hopeless situation. But with ability to make decision, Ernest managed to keep his men’s hope alive while he and five others sailed 800 miles to the island of South Georgia to get help. He was honored for successfully devising and executing Plan B when Plan A had failed.
2. List four of the ten flatteners identified by Th. Friedman in “The World is Flat.” Explain one and give an example.
Uploading Outsourcing Offshoring
Insourcing-Friedman uses UPS as a prime example for insourcing, in which the company's employees perform services – beyond shipping – for another company. For example, UPS repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.
3. According to Th. Friedman, when did Globalization 1.0 started, who globalized, and what kind of action was taken during this era?
1492; countries; countries and government led the way in breaking down walls and knitting the world together, driving global integration (inspired by imperialism, religion or both).
4. According to Th. Friedman, when did Globalization 2.0 started, who globalized, and what kind of action was taken during this era?
1800 around 2000 (interrupted by Great Depression World War I&II); companies; During this era we really saw the maturation of the global economy (movement of goods from continent to continent, global markets, global arbitration).
5. According to Th. Friedman, when did Globalization 3.0 started, who globalized, and what kind of action was taken during this era?
2000 and continuing; individuals and groups; During this era we see the empowerment of the individual and the group. Massive movement and connection between individuals and groups around the globe.
6. List the three technological revolutions and explain one of them.
Agricultural revolution – It began with the early cultivation of grains, notably the ancestors of wheat in the Middle East about 11,000 years ago. Populations increased and encourage the development of towns and cities which provided markets with all goods and services.
Industrial revolution
Cybernetic revolution
7. Grain cultivation is an example of which technological revolution? How did it change human life?
Agricultural revolution. Populations increased and encourage the development of towns and cities which provided markets with all goods and services.
8. Steam engine is an example of which technological revolution? How did it change human life?
Industrial revolution; It began in the 1700s when steam-powered engines began to replace horses in pumping water out of British coal mines ex: Thomas Newcomen’s engine could to the work of 50 horses; railroads were the marvel of the nineteenth century; electricity
9. Computer is an example of which technological revolution? How did it change human life?
Cybernetic revolution; It began in 1937 with Aiken, Harvard professor, developed large scale automatic digital calculator. First computer had more than 750,000 parts used for World War II; Computers can do what humans can do, but faster (Defense Department priority (sonar and radar) ); 1950 – NSA created and drive for superiority over the Soviet Union. Computers created major change in production, financing, marketing, and distribution of goods and services in U.S. Economic transformation intensified in 1970’s with microcomputers 1980’s – “PC” became a household word, internet developed.
10. List three of the six Supertrends as identified by E. Cornish. Explain at least one of them.
Technological process
Includes all the improvements being made in computers, medicine, transportation and other technologies as well as all other knowledge that enables humans to achieve their purposes more effectively.
o When progress weakened in one area of the world, it flourished elsewhere ex. China during the Europe’s Dark Age
o This trend has been powerful, persistent, and accelerating.
Economic growth
Improving health
11. Explain the notion “The World is Flat” used by Th. Friedman.
It is a simple notion of flatness used by Friedman to describe how more people can plug, play, compete, connect, and collaborate with more equal power than ever before.
12. What does Kotler’s trend classification system (DEGEST) stand for? Give an example for each category.
Demography – residence, age, gender, health, education, etc.
Economy – jobs, income, products, etc.
Government – laws, taxes, regulations, administrations, etc.
Environment – air, water, roads, buildings, etc.
Society (culture) – education, science, religion, media, arts, etc.
Technology – computers, telecommunications, etc.
13. Explain and give an example of a great collaborator/orchestrator.
Collaborating with others or orchestrating collaboration within and between companies, especially those employing diverse workforces from around the world. For example, as more and more companies start out, from day one, as global companies with global supply chains, a key new middle job will be that of the manager who can work in and orchestrate 24/7/7 supply chains- which are supply chains which run twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, across seven continents.
The new middle collaboration jobs will be seen in sales, marketing, maintenance, and
management, but what they will all demand is the ability to be a good horizontal collaborator, comfortable working for a global company and translating its services for the local market.
It is about being able to operate in, mobilize, inspire, and manage a multidimensional and multicultural workforce.
14. Explain and give an example of a great synthesizer.
The further we push out the boundaries of knowledge and innovation, the more the next great value
breakthroughs- that is, the next hot-selling products and services- will come from putting together disparate things that you would not think of as going together. The great synthesizers will be able to combine disparate parts around consumer demand to synthesize. For example, Dell is more successful than IBM which used to make chip, the computer and the software itself. Dell does little design or manufacturing. It brings parts together, created elsewhere and satisfies the customer’s demand.
15. Explain and give an example of a passionate personalizer.
It includes people who add a personal touch to vanilla job. Friedman offers the example of a man who sells lemonade at Camden Yards. This man, who sells a simple product, personalizes it by doing a jig while preparing the drink and offers a high-five before handing it. Friedman tells us that he also could get Coke or water but he prefers the lemonade guy because he gives a smile on his face. His something extra gives him something extra.
16. Explain and give an example of a great leverage.
These people are able to leverange technology, to design computer programs that enable others to work smarter and faster. The great leverangers know how to combine the ebst of what computers can do with the best of what people can do-making much more productive. For example, Ross Perot invented information technology outsourcing called EDS. He sold it in 1984, and still does business process outsourcing today competing with companies in India and across the world. Friedman in his book tells us that when he visited the EDS campus, he was totally impressed. There were seven massive wall-size screens, below them smaller TV screens, and below them about one hundred individual control pods with screens and dials in front of them. Today only about of 20 pods have people sitting at their controls, because today 20 people do the work that one hundred people did a decade ago. In order to get one of those jobs, you need to leverage technology. On the other hand, the only way that EDS can compete with low-wage India is by having one person work smarter and faster, rather than
cheaper and harder.
17. What is the basic formula for economic success?
Reform wholesale, followed by reform retail, plus good governance, education, infrastructure, and the ability to glocalize.
18. Explain trend causal analysis and give an example.
Seek in identifying the forces that are creating and shaping the trend. Often, these forces are themselves trends, so we may have to probe further to identify the causes of the trends. This analysis is especially important if we want to slow or halt the trends. For example, India an overpopulated nation for most observers, and yet the population continues to grow at a rapid rate, frustrating the efforts of the government to raise living standards, particularly those of its poorest people. The reason why Indian population grow is because of excess of births over deaths. The birthrate was always high, but a high death rate once served to check population growth.
Indians now are living longer, and the birthrate has not declined enough to prevent population from surging.
19. Explain trend impact analysis and give an example.
Aims at identifying the effects that the trend is having on other things. A trend can have many surprising
consequences, which can be hard to anticipate. Trend analysts learn to identify more of these consequences than an untrained person. For example, a Census Bureau report that the number of U.S. women remaining single at age forty is reaching new highs. This demographic change might offer growing opportunities for companies with products that might interest single women in their forties and fifties; at the same time, products designed for married women over forty might suffer.
20. Explain how might a trend affect us personally?
(8) Bonus Questions (4 points)
1. “Globalization went from globalizing industries to globalizing Individuals.” Vivek Pauk, the president of Wipro, India, 2005.
2. Middle class vs. democracy vs. economic stability
3. “The issue is not employment but increasingly productive employment that allows living standards to rise.” Klein and Bita Hadjimichael, WB Study, The Private Sector Development.
4. Doing Business in 2004 …, asks five basic questions on how easy or difficult is to:
Start a business in terms of local rules, regulations, and license fees.
Hire and fire workers.
Enforce a contract.
Get credit.
Close a business that goes bankrupt or is failing.
5. Five-step checklist for reform retail:
Simplify and deregulate wherever possible in competitive markets.
Focus on enhancing property rights.
Expand the use of the Internet for regulation fulfillment.
Reduce court involvement in business matters.
Make reform a continuous process.
6. “Moguls come, Moguls go, the British come, the British go, we take the best and leave the rest – but we still eat curry, our women still wear saris, and we still live in tightly bound extended family units.” – an India saying.
7. “If we could first know where we are and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it.” Abraham Lincoln
8. “If you can tell me with a hundred percent certainty that we are going to be bombed, it is too late for me to do anything about it.” - General Colin Powell