"Brave New World" - Business Sans Borders

Shakespeare's Brave New World was one that was inhabited by handsome, noble creatures -- especially in the eyes of young Miranda who had never seen such people before and rather trusted her first impressions. From there the expression came to be ironically used by Aldous Huxley to describe a Utopian world state. And now in our own times, we use this to signify our advanced world and existence where technology reigns supreme. The new brave world is one envisioned as the flat world by bestselling author Thomas Friedman who sees it as a global, web-enabled playing field that "allows for multiple forms of collaboration without regard to geography or distance-or, soon, even language." Now, how does this flattening of the world impact businesses? Though opinions are divided on this, the pros outweigh the cons.

The Positives

Friedman's "playing field" is flat or level in the sense that there is free flow of information worldwide. This flattening has been made possible with the fast paced technological advancements. The world has become a much smaller place with the tremendous explosion in communication systems. The information we need is at our fingertips. We receive information via mail, chat, blog and mobile phones to speak of a few information sharing platforms. The popularity of the Internet and easy accessibility of technology have proved advantageous to small as well as large businesses across the world. The so-called borders have been disrupted facilitating smooth communication. Businesses can now look to becoming much more competitive.

It's a Small World after All

The internet and mobile technology has made the world a small and cozier place to live in. Businesses can now enter new markets and reach out to organizations anywhere in the world forging new relationships and enhancing performance. Language was something that was a major deterrent earlier, hindering smooth business functioning. Now there are Internet translation tools to help you out. Remarkable advancements have been made in speech and voice technology such as those introduced by Google that is bound to revolutionize communication. Smartphones and other advanced business phones help businesses thousands of miles apart to work together.

Leverage Skill and Talent on a Global Level

The concept of the flat world rules out the prospect of businesses functioning in watertight compartments. The entire world is lying open before you, waiting for you to tap into the immense skill and talent available. It is now easy to cut costs and invest more in core areas that can bring about business improvement. Mobile, cloud and social computing are the greatest breakthroughs that help businesses function from virtual offices, with employees in far-off destinations. The outsourcing industry has experienced tremendous growth with the globalization trend. With their guarantee of affordable labor, efficient handling of non-core business processes and round the clock functioning, business process outsourcing companies have earned the trust of even big businesses. These companies have an exceptional way of functioning, rounding up trained and experienced professionals from around the world and utilizing the best technology has to offer. Businesses aiming to cut costs and work on a more global level, thereby improving productivity and profit could consider outsourcing some of their business processes.

There is no doubt that global economy has changed, it is flat now and sooner or later all companies will have to rethink their business model if they still want to be around in a few years from now. Competitiveness will remain the prerogative of those businesses that are sensitive to the trends in the market and change their business models accordingly, to inhabit the brave new world.

Managed Outsource Solutions (MOS) is a leading BPO company in the US providing individualized business process outsourcing services.