The World is Shrinking and Everything Else is Growing

Yesterday, I read an interesting article in Kompas, titled Dunia Rata ala Indonesia, inspired from Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat. Just like the book said, thanks to the technology factor, the world is entering the third milestone of globalization where neither superpower countries nor superior companies rules anymore. In the third era of globalization, individual rules!

As the world become borderless, people speak more about themselves and they want to be watched by others. Blogs, Youtube, Flickr and many more technology media makes us possible to do that and is tempting us to follow the new trend.

-- Kompas, 22 November 2007 --

I heard from my friend, Muhammad Nuh, the Minister of Communication and Information Technology of Republic of Indonesia, that the Palapa Ring will launch in early 2008 and plan to operate at the end of 2008. I don’t know so much about the ICT technology but as I read it from many sources, the Palapa Ring will enable people in Indonesia (in remote area and secluded areas) to access information on the net. They will become more knowledgeable and we do hope they can improve their living standard because of that. A story of eChoupal in Bangladesh (a famous story told by Prof. Prahalad in his book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid) is a fantastic example of the usage of ICT.

I gave a speech in front of AIESEC students few days ago with topic “Marketing Yourself @ the Flat World”. I told them that knowledge gained in the school is important but not the only one. As information in the net is just a click away, smart students will become nothing in business world if they are unable to update themselves with the latest information. I also opened their eyes that the landscape is changing in this flat world. The change factors become dynamic because of the digitalization, globalization and futurization trend. The competitor and customer are different from campus life to business world. They don’t only compete only with peer but also with professionals from other university (either local or global graduate student). Our customers are not their professor anymore but the real consumer/end-user (and the boss), and don’t forget that they are also becoming smarter because of technology. That’s where marketing plays a role. Not only to market products or services, but to market ourselves.

Once again, I want to remain us that the coming technology in our homeland will makes Indonesia becomes flatter. Don’t blame the technology because we can’t hold it not to happen. So, instead of making it an enemy, let us use its advantage to improve ourselves. Passion for Learning is a must-key formula to win the future competition.

I want to share want I give to AIESEC student to all of you, my blog reader...

Download marketing_yourself_at_the_flat_world.pdf

Comments

[Susan Ashcroft]

You may want to see www.mkpress.com/flat
and watch www.mkpress.com/flatoverview.html
for an interesting counterperspective on Friedman's
"The World is Flat".

Also a really interesting 6 min wake-up call: Shift Happens! www.mkpress.com/ShiftExtreme.html

There is also a companion book listed: Extreme Competition: Innovation and the Great 21st Century Business Reformation
www.mkpress.com/extreme
http://www.mkpress.com/Extreme11minWMV.html

[Zamri Mohamad]

Dear sir,

My name is Zamri Mohamad, 26 years old, an author from Malaysia. I come accross with this blog when http://hermawan.typepad.com/blog/ appeared in my video site http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXrthoRNZik.

Yet, I did not find my video here.

However, in this changing world, the art of marketing is expanding. By using YouTube as the tool of marketing and creating branding could help business to grow.

In my humble opinion, it is the time for South East Asia small business owner to grab this opportunity in creating new path by internationalizing their business online.

Thank You,

Oh, I still wondering whether my video is in this blog or not ? Hahaha!

ZAMRI MOHAMAD
Freelance Author,
www.zamrimohamad.com

Malaysia

[Razaq Manan Ahmad]

Actually i agree with u, bout all things what we hv 2 do (as a student) 2 prepare ourself in the bussiness world. When u made speech on sby (aiesec), i was 1 of them, n i was so impressed with ur speech. U gv me some "enlightement". U ask us 2 always up 2 date. But, we should realized, dat hi-tech or IT not yet accessible 4 the poor... Maybe U, with ur other great friends should make something 2 help the poor so they can get easy or maybe free access 2 the hi-tech or IT... If it succeed i believe, our nation, Indonesia will become a great nation...
Salut 2 u, Mr. Hermawan Kartajaya...

[Asep Supriyadi]

Yes I agree with you. And be careful with many jobs that will dissapear. Good luck for every one in new millinium.

[Gladys Valenia]

Salam kenal untuk pak Hermawan.
Kami senang membaca tulisan Anda baik di buku maupun artikel dan blog. Tulisan Anda menambah wawasan dan motivasi bagi kami yang ingin mempelajari marketing lebih baik.
Kami adalah pemilik dan pengelola situs web www.komputeron.com, yaitu website yang menyediakan layanan dimana banyak pedagang/penjual komputer (retailer) bisa bergabung untuk mempromosikan usaha dan produk mereka secara cuma-cuma.
Saat ini kami kesulitan untuk menyediakan high quality content bagi para pengunjung website kami, karena hampir semua retailer hanya sekedar mendaftar namun tidak mencantumkan produk yang dijualnya secara lengkap. Atau hanya mencantumkan dengan sedikit keterangan dan jarang diperbaharui. Kami sudah menawarkan para retailer untuk membantu mengisikan produk yang mereka jual namun tidak ada tanggapan.
Mungkin pak Hermawan bisa memberikan solusi untuk permasalahan kami ini.
Sebelumnya kami ucapkan banyak terima kasih.
Salam,
Komputeron.com

[Richard Carenton]

One way to guard against the shifting of market trends is to work online instead of in any specific brick and mortar industry. I use the James D. Brausch Letter, a monthly newsletter, to get the information I need to keep my online business ready. Without that I'd probably have to go back to working in an office and wondering whether my job was going to be outsourced or sent overseas or not.

[Indry]

100% agree with you, pak!
one has to sell him/herself with unique way and his/her unique-id...

it can be counted by number-of-people who know you SHOULD-BE more than numbers-of-people you know him/her...

here is my latest branding : http://accentual.wordpress.com/2007/11/16/my-new-watch/