Question for the Candidates: Cabarrus County In A Flat World

April 1st, 2008 by Justin Thibault · 11 Comments

I’m actually moving some of the comments from a thread on an earlier post because they touch on something that nobody else is asking about; but all of the candidates should be talking about. Also, since all candidates and elected officials have access to this site and they are probably either ignoring the invitation and/or trying to figure out Wordpress (with the exception of Bob Carruth who took the opportunity in a jiffy) - I would pose a question to the candidates:

The world is flat. What are you going to do to help us deal with it?

Of course the world is not geometrically flat, but different forces are taking away both the barriers and moorings of the world my parents and grandparents grew up in. In Thomas Friedman’s 2005 book (updated in 2007) The World Is Flat, Friedman described the leveling of the global economic playing field AKA “flattening”. Following the link to the Wikipedia article (because if you started the book now - you wouldn’t finish it until after the Primary) - you’ll read about 10 factors changing our economy and affecting all of us:

#1: Collapse of Berlin Wall–11/’89: The event not only symbolized the end of the Cold war, it allowed people from other side of the wall to join the economic mainstream. (11/09/1989)

#2: Netscape: Netscape and the Web broadened the audience for the Internet from its roots as a communications medium used primarily by ‘early adopters and geeks’ to something that made the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to eighty-five-year olds. (8/9/1995)

#3: Workflow software: The ability of machines to talk to other machines with no humans involved. Friedman believes these first three forces have become a “crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration.”

#4: Open sourcing: Communities uploading and collaborating on online projects. Examples include open source software, blogs, and Wikipedia. Friedman considers the phenomenon “the most disruptive force of all.”

#5: Outsourcing: Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components, with each component performed in most efficient, cost-effective way.

#6: Offshoring: Manufacturing’s version of outsourcing.

#7: Supply chaining: Friedman compares the modern retail supply chain to a river, and points to Wal-Mart as the best example of a company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution, and shipping.

#8: Insourcing: Friedman uses UPS as a prime example for insourcing, in which the company’s employees perform services–beyond shipping–for another company. For example, UPS itself repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.

#9: In-forming: Google and other search engines are the prime example. “Never before in the history of the planet have so many people-on their own-had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people”, writes Friedman.

#10: “The Steroids”: Personal digital devices like mobile phones, iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Candidates: Are we on our own? If not, what kind of changes to you propose to address this shifting in the global economy?

Category: Current Events Tags: 2008 Election

11 responses so far ↓

1 Steve Smith // Mar 28, 2008 at 1:30 pm

Hey Guys

Is always comes down to the money. Brian is trying hard to compete but he falls short because that is the way it works. The cow eats the corn then some passes thru and the bird eats whats left. Called trickel down economics, you guys remember, don’t ya…..
2 Justin Thibault // Mar 28, 2008 at 3:40 pm

Aaron - I heard Kotilkoloff speak on NPR. The market implications of the plan are amazing. For instance, instead of being part of a plan that covered everyone in your company you could join a “Young Families” plan and people who had chronic diseases could choose plans that would be tailored to their needs. It’s an amazing possibility once you get passed it being paid entirely by GovCo (and that’s REALLY hard)

Steve - The issue is what I mentioned before - dynamism. The market you’re in changes. For instance, the job that I had 12 years ago (PC Tech at a Independent Computer Store) has disappeared. Computers are cheaper - taking away the need for a store. However, there are plenty of people making good money as independent computer techs. The issue is that they incorporate new aspects (house calls, free computer “tune-ups”, etc.) into their service.

In today’s economy, it’s important to be unique and for your customers to demand your uniqueness.

I can’t say that Brian didn’t get a raw deal; but I don’t know if influencing the election is really going to help him. If I were working for a local candidate I think a move to kill this program would tick off the most powerful voting block. It’s not illegal, or really unethical…from the County’s point of view. However, there’s something that tells me that CVS/Caremark is playing in some dangerous anti-trust waters.
3 Bob Carruth // Mar 31, 2008 at 6:52 am

One big thing I took from this - in our consumer focused world, where all of us demand the “mostest for the leastest”, a lot can be said for folks like Brian, as well as the local hardware store, clothing store, and independent grocer - they are the fabric of our communities, and if we lose them, then we have lost something far greater than the few dimes of difference in the price.

As our company’s slogan from a few years ago said - “Welcome to the world where price does not always equal cost.”

What do we do in our daily buying decisions that help these folks?

Kinda makes me ashamed of the $100 a week I spend at Wal-mart….
4 Justin Thibault // Mar 31, 2008 at 12:28 pm

Bob -

Kinda makes me ashamed of the $100 a week I spend at Wal-mart….

It shouldn’t.

You should actually be happy that - in this country - it’s harder to make a living doing the exact same job as you did 10 years ago…let alone 50.

A vibrant economy will evolve to one where commodities are available more cheaply, more things are commoditized, and people’s jobs are more specialized.

Did you ever wonder why there are more specialty stores in big cities than in small towns? The reason is that a very small subset of the market wants a certain specialty good or service. So, the greater population density makes that store more of a possibility.

Conversely, once businesses figure out what most people want or need - the delivery of that want or need becomes standardized, and - subsequently - commoditized. Prices competition becomes fierce and the cost of deliver is a race to the bottom. This is being accelerated by better supply chains, globalization, and access to the Internet and more powerful computing capability.

The trick for any individual and/or business is to be ahead of that wave. My parents’ business - making Christmas ornaments - is competitive…people can spend their holiday dollar on cheaper ornaments. Even knock-offs that have similar designs. However, they identify and service so many smaller markets through various designs that the Chinese knockoff artists can’t keep up.

Similarly, the vibe I’m getting from Brian is that he can’t do the same thing that a big chain does for the same price.

Duh.

However, there are things he can do that the big chains can’t do. Let me give you an example, when Palmer had some issue there was a non-traditional treatment available - our pediatrician referred us to a local pharmacy - not CVS or Target.

Brian is in the same boat as a lot of us are (myself included) where what we did yesterday is being done by some giant corporation for a lower price and we need to change our model to service a market that they don’t care to - yet.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that we have access to tools (Internet, local market research, etc.) that we didn’t have 10 years ago and - as individuals - we can service a larger market than before.

It’s a tougher job than it was staying ahead of the curve enough to eke out a living. But, that’s the price we pay to get things like advanced medical care, computers, appliances, and even transportation at a lower, relative cost than we did a generation earlier.
5 Aaron // Mar 31, 2008 at 1:12 pm

Exellent points-All of them!

With the good- More Choices and lower prices

Comes the Bad- Increase competition and less “job security” i.e. being able to sit on your duff and do exactly the same thing you were doing 10 years ago.

I find that the younger generation understands this better than the “old folks”

Maybe it’s because places like Yorke and Wadsworth are less remembered than the local Home Depot by the 20 somethings and early 30 somethings but the older generations remember the local general hardware stores much better.

It’s just a fact of life, the job’s you can do for 30 years without any need to attend school past a bachelors degree are fading fast. Hell, in the past 10 years I’ve gotten various degrees and certificates in about 5 different specialties. I’m even headed back to school AGAIN in the fall for some more classes.

This flies in the face of the baby boomers who thought that a job was guaranteed for 30 years. But as we go forward and the globalization continues (provided economic illiterates like Obama or Clinton don’t get elected) we’ll see the continuing education continue to boom.

The reality is that the “insert peg into slot and send it down the line” manufacturing jobs are becoming a thing of the past. More brain power is needed. I’m sure the folks who shoed horses got really steamed at the invention of the car but that is the cycle of life…

So one has to ask: What’s wrong with a smarter nation? or, a weathier nation?
6 Brad Spry // Apr 1, 2008 at 2:58 pm

It’s time for someone to take a good, hard look at our dependence on technology. The very same technology pushing us forward may very well be our downfall. This may sound surprising coming from someone who eats, sleeps and breathes technology, but I’ve witnessed the dependence first hand and my concern is growing. Governments and businesses should have continuity plans which assume the loss of technology. What if our technology fails? Can our operations continue?

What’s most disturbing to me is how technology is affecting humanity itself. How good is your handwriting after years of computer use? When’s the last time you wrote a letter? Do you send e-mail instead of standing up from your desk, walking down the hall and communicating face to face? I’ve seen people with adjoining offices e-mail each other. That’s pretty ridiculous, wouldn’t you agree?
7 Aaron // Apr 1, 2008 at 9:05 pm

Brad,

To a point you’re right. I work with my son’s cub scout pack and it’s almost impossible to get them to think of something other than the TV, computer or playstation.

I can’t complain too much though. I remember my first Nintendo, our first family computer and the day we got Cable TV installed in our house. I can also remember my grandmother complaining about how her grandkids never went outside.

I grew up in the “come home when the streetlights come on” era and even with all the technological distractions I still had more fun playing outside! My son is the same way. It’s just the fact that technology is more integrated in his generation than it was in mine.

As for a government contingency plan: I’d say we don’t have much to worry about. They use systems that are 10 years out of date. At worst, when those systems fail, they’ll just have to upgrade to an actual modern system!

For the E-Mail, I’m guilty of that too. But the positive side is that you have to be that way on a lot of things. You’ve gotta have proof that they received the information. Perhaps is just another sign of the degredation of the moral fiber of the world but it is a necessity in many cases if for no other reason that to CYA!
8 Brad Spry // Apr 1, 2008 at 9:18 pm

Aaron>>>I work with my son’s cub scout pack and it’s almost impossible to get them to think of something other than the TV, computer or playstation.

When I run for mayor of Kannapolis, I’ll be running on the municipal skate park ticket

Feel free to take the idea and ~~run~~ skate with it!

Check out Kettering Ohio’s street-skating plaza.
9 Aaron // Apr 2, 2008 at 9:47 am

Well Concord already beat you to the punch there Brad. I rambled on about that a few months ago when I found the 400k for their skate park nestled deep in the City’s budget!

I don’t know where they stand on it now but the 400k is slated to be spent somewhere adjacent to the YMCA.

Theres a post on my blog titled “Can you Kickflip” that sums it up pretty well.
10 Bob Carruth // Apr 2, 2008 at 11:48 pm

I have read (actually listened - book on CD) to Friedman’s treatise on the subject. Several things we need to do:

1. Promote Entrepeneurship. It’s not enough anymore to have a job. We must have an education system that rewards out-of the box, adaptive thinking, and not just teach a mindless, robot approach to getting by in an industrial based society (that’s what has been done for the past two generations).

2. Simply getting a high school diploma will not cut it in the future. We must address how do we get our children through at least a two year technical program or to the Associate’s level in higher education.

3. We have to capture the energy in this community that is and will be generated by the NCRC. It must move in our minds from being just “Murdock’s Project” to being “Our Project”, and sieze all the opporunities it will create for our community.

4. As Brad noted, we must get less dependent as we get more dependent. Don’t bulldoze the past. Help smaller, independent businesses to thrive. Create places and events that make people interact in ways other than through IM or over a Bluetooth.
11 Steve Smith // Apr 16, 2008 at 9:59 pm

Bob

I see you used this Friedman’s treatise during the forum on TV. Good stuff. I hope you can put it into practice here in Cabarrus County without raising my taxes….