We discussed many topics throughout the semester in MIS. One of the most interesting topics for me was Thomas Friedman's take on the different globalization's. His book entitled "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century" analyzes globalization, primarily in the 21st century. According to Friedman, globalization has changed core economic concepts.

He walks the reader through three phases of American history. The first he calls "Globalization 1.0, which lasted from 1492 to 1800. Globalization 1.0 was characterized by the amount of horsepower, wind-power, steam-power or muscle that a country could deploy.

Globalization 2.0 was an expansion of global intergration through increased trade and opening markets, thanks to steamship, trains, and the wiring of the world through phone lines and computers. This was the era that the global economy began to appear in. Multinational companies led the way.

We are living in the era of Globalization 3.0, which began in 2000. The world went from small to tiny. Individuals are empowered pushed by software and global fiber-optic networks. It has leveled he market between international business and emerging market nations.

This link shows Friedman talking about the different globalization : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp4znWHvsjU

The different globalization eras show how the world has grown and how technological advances have impacted the world, now in 3.0 more than ever. Now days, one's competitor, customer, or employee may come from anywhere in the world. Globalization gives the consumer many more choices of goods and service or may lower prices. It allows us to trade with other countries. This allows for communication across the world. It was one of the most important topics we learned in class because it shows how much the world has grown, and will continue to grow.