Is the universe truly level? The ‘flatness ‘ of the universe depends on the position with which we look at it. When we look at a merchandise whose parts are made in China, assembled in India and sold in the USA, we say the universe is level. When we see people all over the universe pass oning with one another, sharing their ideas and conveying each other closer culturally and emotionally, is it because of the two-dimensionality of the universe or is it merely due to technological promotions and effects of globalization?
Harmonizing to me, the universe is non going flatter every bit much as the balance of power and control changing. A few old ages back, one had to travel to the US to derive more cognition, gain money and keep a good criterion of populating whereas now a individual in China or India can gain the exact same sum of money, maintain as good a criterion of life, all the piece, remaining in their place state. Does this intend the universe is acquiring flatter?
A genuinely level universe is one in which 1 is able to make anything anyplace and there is a truly horizontal work flow system with equal accent on each of the intermediate phases. Everyone should hold equal entree to a cosmopolitan pool of resources. Presently, what is go oning is that the rich universe is acquiring its work done from the hapless universe. It has happened to come that in the single-mindedness of the western states to acquire their work done cheaper, they have started an overdependence on each other. The western states can non acquire any work done, be it fabricating or composing package, without aid from China and India. Similarly, India and China can non boom based merely on domestic demand. They need the western states to outsource and offshore work for them to gain better income, increase foreign investing influxs ( FDI and FII ) into the state.
Some of the advanced flattener such as supply chaining have still non penetrated many markets like India where retail selling is still in its babyhood and more than 90 % of goods are sold through neighbourhood food market shops. Insourcing as a construct, faces a batch of hurdlings in the signifier of legal and copyright issues. Internet incursion, though it has improved, has a long manner to travel in states like India where one still pays truly high rates for even dial-up connexions. Even in states like China, where low-cost high velocity cyberspace entree is available, the free flow of information is tightly constricted and regulated as is apparent from the recent backdown of Google from the state.
The construct of a level universe will neglect when the incomes all around the universe get flatter. Then, the construct of outsourcing and off-shoring will non work as the basic aim of cutting costs fails. Hence, this flattening of the universe is nil more than a signifier of globalization which is chiefly due to the technological progresss.
This state of affairs is altering even as we speak with the domestic demand spiking as more people earn good and the criterion of life at all societal degrees improves.
The competition for resources has decidedly intensified in the current scenario, be it natural, fiscal or human resources. In footings of human resources, there is a batch more demand for extremely skilled and specialised workers in most Fieldss. The stating ‘Jack of all trades, maestro of none ‘ will non work any longer. One has to be extremely specialised and an expert in his field. The demand for quality human resources increases as competition among companies and industries increases. At the same clip one needs to do sure of his basic competences in order to last in this extremely competitory universe.
There is a batch more competition in the current universe, as a Malayan company can offer for a glandular fever rail undertaking in India and if successful, can besides construct a manager edifice mill here to cut costs as is the instance presently with the monorail undertaking being presently implemented in Mumbai.
As respects natural resources such as fuel, nutrient, shelter, the demand has increased as in the globalized universe we live in, the spread of engineering has ensured that people all over the universe have entree to vehicles, need more electricity, need more nutrient, need proper lodging, all of which is provided for by the Earth. The competition for natural resources is clear in the monetary value rise of all indispensable trade goods mentioned above.
In a level universe, the cultural differences across the Earth should hold been bridged by the two-dimensionality of the universe. As pointed out by Pankaj Ghemawat, the celebrated expert on planetary scheme, Wal-Mart is non able to carry on its concern in India without the aid of an Indian spouse. Similarly, any organisation planning to make concern outside its place state, needs to bridge the cultural divide by using people from the foreign state unless the cultural differences are negligible.
There is more of a group wise flattening go oning among the assorted power blocks in the universe. The Americas, Britain, Canada and so on have moved closer in footings of trade and cultural divides and therefore the cooperation among them has besides improved. Besides, among the developing states like the BRIC states ( Brazil, Russia, India, China ) there is a flattening go oning as they try to turn together and vie at the same clip. This was apparent even at the recent Copenhagen acme where this axis of states took a tough common base against the demands of the developed states.
Part B
“ The World is Flat: A Brief History Of The Globalized universe in the Twenty-first century ” is written by Thomas Friedman, an American Journalist good known for the compelling anecdotes that he uses in order to back up a construct or an thought. In this book, Friedman ‘s message is clear: Globalization has made the universe flat and one needs to be prepared because this phenomenon waits for no 1. He paints the image of a level universe traveling faster than most can maintain up. In India, the common perceptual experience is that globalization is the wake of outsourcing by US houses which lead to the much talked about IT revolution in the state and hence this phenomenon is confined to the IT sector. But what one fails to gain is that globalization will someday ( if non already ) hit everyone in the face and those who are non prepared will die. In India, few have been able to anticipate the changing hereafter and have taken equal steps non merely to last the new revolution but besides to profit from it. The Tata group is one such Indian concern house which has to the full internalised the construct of globalization. It was one of the first few Indian houses which realised that globalisation was no longer a pick, but inevitable. The Oklahoman you embrace it, the easier it gets to last in this level universe.
Tata Group is presently the largest private corporate group in India and has been recognized as one of the most well-thought-of companies in the world.A It deals with a broad scope of merchandises and services likeA steel, cars, A information engineering, A communicating, A power, A teaA andA cordial reception. The Tata Group has operations in more than 85 states across six continents and its companies export merchandises and services to 80 states. The Tata Group comprises 114 companies and subordinates in seven concern sectors.
In his book, Friedman says “ the autumn of the Berlin Wall on 11/9/89 unleashed forces that finally liberated all confined peoples of the Soviet imperium. It tipped the balance of power across the universe towards those recommending democratic, consensual, free-market oriented administration. “ India ‘s “ Berlin wall ” came down when in 1991, Manmohan Singh, the finance curate of India at that clip ( now prime curate ) opened India ‘s economic system and abolished legion trade controls.
Post liberalization, the Tata Steel Company ( TISCO ) found themselves working with an out-of-date works with disused and inefficient machinery. The quality of their merchandises was hapless and cost of production was high. They needed to go competitory and utilize new engineering and procedures in order to fit up to the planetary competition and hence, a new Tata Steel Plant was built station 1991.
The modernising of the works was a immense challenge as the company did non hold the needed capital. Old ages of authorities control had left it in hapless fiscal wellness. But that did non weaken their resoluteness. Between 1991 and 2000, Tata Steel spent more than Rs 10,000 crores to construct a new works within the old campus. Today, the Jamshedpur Steel Works is one of the most modern, technologically up-to-date and environmentally clean workss in the universe.
Friedman says that one time the “ Berlin Walls ” of the universe started to fall, the platform for the flattening of the universe started to emerge. It was so that more people from different topographic points found that they could join forces with more people on more different sorts of work and portion more different sorts of cognition than of all time earlier. This lead to the outgrowth of two new constructs: Off shoring and Outsourcing. Outsourcing allowed companies to divide service and fabrication activities into constituents, with each constituent performed in any portion of the universe in the most efficient, cost-efficient manner. Offshoring is the Manufacturing ‘s version of outsourcing. ( 4 )
When Ravi Kant joined Tata Motors as the Managing Director, the new subject that he scripted for the company was “ Not seeking to develop everything in-house ” . The construct of off-shoring and outsourcing was therefore introduced in the company. He brought about a immense alteration in the mentality of the vertically incorporate company and moved the administration from a hierarchal theoretical account to a collaborative attack. Tata Motors has expanded its production and assembly operations to several states including South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Argentina. 80 per cent of the parts for ‘Ace ‘ , the lone Diesel mini truck in the universe is outsourced. Many constituents of the Nano are made by the Bosch, such asA fuel injection, brake system, ABS etc ( 5 ) . Thus Tata was traveling with the remainder of the level universe where outsourcing and off-shoring were turn outing to be some of the best ways to cut costs and better productiveness. They were doing full usage of the two-dimensionality of the universe.
The Tatas have sharply pursued enlargement by agencies of taking over of companies outside the state. For illustration, Tata acquired Natsteel, a company in China, following which Tata Steel has a production footmark in China every bit good. They have followed up by opening new workss every bit good like the Greenfield undertaking in Liaoning Province in China ( 6 ) .
In Africa, Tata Steel has set up Tata Steel KZN to fabricate high C ferrochrome in a new works in Richards Bay on the KwaZulu-Natal seashore. This is used in the industry of Stainless Steel which is exported to Asia Europe and United States.
In 1968, Tata Consultancy Services ( TCS ) , India ‘s first package services company, was established as a division of Tata Sons. Today, it offers non merely “ Business procedure Outsourcing ” solutions but besides other IT services like IT substructure services, Enterprise Solutions and Business Intelligence. ( 7 )
A Friedman compares the modern supply concatenation to a river, where a company utilizing engineering to streamline point gross revenues, distribution, and transportation.
Sing Tata Motors as an illustration here, supply chaining is of extreme importance for companies associated with fabrication and piecing units for vehicles. Here, the full procedure is to the full automated and this is where a supply concatenation comes in.
The makers of single parts of the vehicle such as the engine maker, the human body provider, the ECU maker should all be in sync so that rules like JIT ( Just In Time ) can be used to increase the efficiency and cut down stagnation of parts. The makers are continuously kept informed of the count of parts already used and those that are available and ready to be assembled. Hence production can be uninterrupted and optimal use of the assembly works is achieved.
Tata Consultancy Services has gone one measure further and has introduced a new system of computerized stock list direction by presenting IMMOLS ( Integrated Materials Management Online Services ) , a nation-wide systems integrating undertaking turn toing the cybernation demands of stock list control and logistics direction for the Indian Air Force ( 8 ) .
TCS IMMOLS covered all the issues faced by the IAF sing their Inventory direction including stock outs, holds, dependences on persons and inaccurate communicating and provided a host of benefits such as efficient stuffs direction, assets visibleness, speedier demand procedure rhythm, speedier procurance & A ; fix rhythms, decrease in stock list degrees, efficient spares accounting and much more ( 8 ) .
The construct of a new age supply concatenation direction is still in its babyhood in India and the TATAs, populating up to their repute, were one of the first to anticipate the benefits of such a system in the state and have pioneered the acceptance and execution of new techniques to increase productiveness and pave the manner for the state to stand out in a planetary economic system.
Harmonizing to Friedman, “ insourcing is a whole new signifier of coaction and making value horizontally made possible by the level universe and flattening it even more. ” Many large companies which do non desire to pull off certain complexnesss which they fell are non a portion of their nucleus competence ; outsource that peculiar map either to other divisions of the same group or to wholly different companies. Tata Motors is one hunt company that outsources the logistics and distribution portion of its concern to a to the full owned unit, TML Distribution Co. Ltd.
Similarly, TATA Teleservices outsources its full IT substructure direction to Tata Consultancy services. TCS manages all of its IT related activities including execution, application development and care every bit good as alteration direction across the endeavor. In add-on, direction of information Centres, information security direction, developing end-users is besides portion of the understanding. ( 9 )
Tata Motors besides has a distribution confederation with Italian auto shaper Fiat SpA under which it sells Fiat autos through Tata franchises. For Fiat to make concern without a local spouse would be really hard and through the tie up with a company with as broad a web as Tata Motors, it ensures that it reaches out to the length and comprehensiveness of India thereby increasing their concern. For Tata Motors, every bit long as there is no direct struggle of involvement, it is a really profitable agreement.
The Tata group is merely one illustration in a state of 1.2 billion people. One can cite 100s of other cases of different companies ; large and little, old and new ; which have spotted the chances provided by traveling planetary alternatively of losing slumber because of the unjust advantage it provides to some. Globalization has opened doors of prosperity for 1000000s across the universe. The universe is flattening at a rapid rate and the degrees of the resort area are now going equal for all.
