Who Moved my Job? is a short story about globalization and the migration of work throughout the world. I’ve written several more formal books on the subject, and my next book is entitled Talking Outsourcing so you can guess what that’s about, but I wanted to try exploring some ideas of migration by using a… Continue reading
Archive for the 'Globalization' Category
The Invisible Rise of Cross-Border Telecommuters
Fernando Ara faces an extreme virtual commute from his Orange County, CA office to Madrid, Spain. Ara is in the vanguard of worldwide cross-border telecommuters. Ara is the U.S. country manager for Redkaraoke, a social networking website, but works out of his California-based home office and travels when necessary for meetings. Ara’s colleague, Justin Abbott,… Continue reading
Change Agent Agassi Seeks Last Laugh
When we last encountered Shai Agassi he resigned from his position in software product development at SAP AG and was bashed by the Wall Street Journal “as a failed change agent.” Agassi’s second act will be far more memorable than his first. He’s raised $200 million in venture capital to build a “new kind of… Continue reading
Extending Benefits for Global Trade Layoffs
If you lose your job as a result of globalization, House Democrats want to extend employment benefits to you to ease your transition. There’s a good chance that Republicans, also capable of reading polls, may jump on this bandwagon, too. Rep. Charles Rangel, a Democrat from New York, told the Wall Street Journal that benefits… Continue reading
EDS: Unready for a Global Stage
EDS, the wayward outsourcing giant, is stumbling to compete in the global economy. Cost-cutting was the theme of Wednesday’s announcement to shareholders that the company is beefing up its workforce in low-labor-cost regions while offering “packages” to 12,000 U.S. employees. A company spokesman said, “In order to remain competitive, we must constantly rebalance our workforce… Continue reading
How Globalization Improves Working Conditions
Opponents of globalization contend that there is an economic race-to-the-bottom underway as first-world economies will be forced to cut their standard of living in order to compete with third-world economies. One prominent supporter of globalization counters that most of the support for this argument is anecdotal – there’s not much smoke and little substance to… Continue reading
When HR Goes Too Far
While the streets of Madrid team with anti-globalization demonstrators, a multinational corporation pits seven candidates for a senior position through a cut-throat job selection process. The winner must be chosen by the end of the day no matter the cost. This is the premise of a terrific Spanish movie called The Method (El Método), now… Continue reading
Friedman Flattens Trojans
“When the world is flat, whatever can be done, will be done. The only question is will it be by you or to you?” asked Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and best-selling author, sounding a familiar theme in a Tuesday night speech to University of Southern California students. True or False? Globalization – it’s… Continue reading
Spare Us the Anti-Globalization Rhetoric
Watch out, the 2008 U.S. presidential elections are coming and globalization will be all the rage. If Virginia Senator Jim Webb’s recent comments in the Wall Street Journal are any indication, there could be a lot of hot air by politicos yet very little substance to these assertions. Webb wrote: “In the age of globalization… Continue reading
