Globally, communication technology has made it possible for businesses to expand much faster and more easily than was the case before. Cultural research is much easier by means of the Internet and electronic communication. Expansion and research into market requirements are similarly facilitated and much cheaper than the case was before. These are but a few of the ways in which the world has become a "flatter" place for both American and global businesses.

The same phenomenon can be seen worldwide: foreign and domestic businesses abound equally within the same country. The most significant elements that Friedman uses in his book to explicate his "flat world" theory include the processes that flatten the world, and the elements of convergence.

According to the author, there are ten "flatteners." These ten events, discoveries, or elements have contributed to globalization in that they allowed both industrial and emerging markets to participate in current...
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