Books Discussion Summary

Team TITO
Why and how our world is changing
The amount of interconnectivity among nations, organizations, and individuals is increasing
such that many are affected by the actions of others. This shift in information availability is
shifting the power balance once held by 1st world capitalist countries. This greater
interconnectivity is also increasing the level of interdependence between corporations,
governments and people they are connected to. What affects one affects many.
Overall, our group did not voice great concern for the shrinking of the world. Discontent was
expressed with a perceived intolerance of the U.S. and its use of power to impose its rather
individualistic beliefs on other countries.
Influence of individuals and individual organizations in this evolution
Evidence of network issues in play
Utilizing available technology, individuals and corporations are driving the creation of large
amounts of interconnectivity and interdependence in the world. This availability of information is
connecting all parts of the world. Advances in technology have shed light on the reality of how
interdependent the world is. This network issue is punctuated by three (out of many) examples:

An Ebola outbreak in Africa interdependently impacts Texas and New York. Fifty years
ago, we may not have been able to map an event in one country to a response in a
world apart, but today it is a daily occurrence.

A decision of tribal leaders in the Middle East to execute an attack in Paris sparks a
global response of marches and peace demonstrations within days of the event.
Availability of information has created a network of people and organizations that when
impacted, causes waves of interdependent reactions across the network.

Decisions made by a few people within the World Health Organization impacts how the
medical community, pharmaceutical companies, and governments all over the world,
react to health issues, in an interdependent way.

Role of China in this

Countries are opening the door for China to invest and build business partnerships. And China
is opening its doors for direct foreign investment (DFI). China is allowing corporations to gain a
competitive advantage with lower manufacturing costs for now (which may or may not include
the costs of supply chain, inflexibility, and environmental costs) creating a financially attractive
opportunity for businesses. But Chinas market, economic and geographical size also means
that its movements in technology and financial markets impact the rest of the world, as do their
government monetary policies.
It would be interesting to see whether or not some of the practices of censorship by Chinas
government truly reduce how connected its citizens are to the broader global social network.