Lin Marklin
EDT 6460
Due March 25, 2006
lin.m.marklin@wmich.edu

Assignment VII – Rules of Coping with Globalization (100 points)

My Rank Order of Friedman’s 7 Rules

1. Rule #1: Don't build walls.

2. Rule #6: The best companies outsource to win, not to shrink.

3. Rule #4: The best companies are the best collaborators.

4. Rule #2:  And the small shall act big.

5. Rule #3: And the big shall act small.

6. Rule #5: Best companies stay healthy by getting regular chest X-rays

7. Rule #7: Outsourcing isn’t just for Benedict Arnolds.

Discussion

My First Ranked Rule. “Rule #1: When the world goes flat, and you are feeling flattened, reach for a shovel and dig inside yourself. Don't build walls.” To me this rule means figure out what you do that no one else can do as well, and expand that. Friedman used the example of a friend in the photography business who needed to be flexible and focus on the creativity aspect of his job and outsource the rest. This rule is almost a 21^st century version of ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

At the community college level, there are several areas where we meet a specific need and have carved out a niche for ourselves that will not quickly be outsourced. These areas include developmental education, meeting the needs of high risk students, and vocational/technical programs. With regard to the first two items, the community college needs to hone its ability to work with under-prepared students. The teachers are focused on teaching and are experienced in enhancing the success rate of students who come to college without the academic background needed to learn challenging new material. This is one of the things community college teachers do best, and the college needs to play to our strengths.

With the outsourcing of jobs, comes the need for retraining, and the nation will turn to community colleges to meet many of these training needs. Community colleges need to stay nimble and capable of offering new curriculum on demand. Administrators need to be able to survey the economic horizon and predict what will be needed. With regard to vocational/technical programs, community colleges need to continue to strengthen the following programs that will always be in demand: health sciences programs, early childhood, and fire/safety. KCC in particular has developed its previous CNA/LPN program into a program that also offers a RN degree. We also have an EMT program, a police academy, and an early childhood program. Finally, we have a training center dedicated to the needs of area businesses. These are all programs that we do well and will help maintain the health of our institution in a flat world.

My Second Ranked Rule. “Rule #6: The best companies outsource to win, not to shrink. They outsource to innovate faster and more cheaply in order to grow larger, gain market share, and hire more and different specialists-not to save money by firing more people.” Friedman used the example of a company called LRN that did online compliance education and advising of board on ethical issues. After Enron blew up, LRN experiences an upsurge in business. In response to this upsurge, LRN saw an opportunity to position itself in a new market the offered online accessibility to both of the services LRN was currently offering. In order to enter this market, LRN needed to develop a web-based system the seamlessly integrated the two foci of the business. In the end, LRN outsourced the development of this software in order to increase its market share

Community colleges can also collaborate with each other to outsource dwindling programs to each other and in effect create a win-win situation. Historically KCC and KVCC both offered programs in Fire Science and Criminal Justice, but there were not enough students for the program to be successful at both colleges. KCC made the decision to outsource Fire Science to KVCC about 5 years ago. KCC students can take general education classes at KCC and then take the Fire Science specific courses at KVCC, but during this time the KCC students remain enrolled at KCC and pay KCC tuition rates to KVCC. I think that at the same time KVCC outsourced their Criminal Justice program to KCC, but I am not certain. The take away lesson is that KCC gave up one money-making opportunity (Fire Science) to enhance the success of a different one money-making opportunity (Criminal Justice).

Community colleges can also outsource their food services and janitorial services, which many of them have done. In some ways the over-reliance on adjunct faculty can be seen as outsourcing. This is a strategy that all institutes of higher education use reduce cost and help their bottom line. I would not like to see an increase in the percentages of adjunct faculty at KCC. Currently about 60% of our courses are taught by adjunct faculty, and that provides enough cost savings to the college and enough of a core faculty to ensure a coherent, quality curriculum for the students. I wonder if out-sourcing administration is a viable option to cut cost and help grow market share.

My Third Ranked Rule. “Rule #4: The best companies are the best collaborators. In the flat world more and more business will be done through collaboration within and between companies, for a simple reason: The next layers of value creation-whether in technology, marketing, biomedicine, or manufacturing-are becoming so complex that no single firm or development is going to be able to master them alone.” Friedman used the example of Rolls Royce not manufacturing its own cars. The ability to partner nationally and internationally becomes important. With this type of partnering comes the need for managers who are able to oversee international teams that collaborate in a virtual environment.

The community colleges need to look for more collaboration efforts with businesses. KCC has met this challenge through our RMTC (Regional Manufacturing Technology Center) that offers a wide variety of training to area manufacturers. KCC could go one step further and begin marketing their online learning at the national level. These courses have run successfully in the local area, so there is a good chance that they would be successful on the national level. In this way KCC can collaborate with national companies as an outsourced supplier of their training needs. This type of collaborative outsourcing (which is actually in-sourcing in the case) can also be done with the information technology and office information technology courses offered at KCC.

Community colleges can also collaborate with each other to outsource dwindling programs to each other. This was the case with KCC and KVCC and their decisions regarding the Fire Science and Criminal Justice programs as discussed above.

My Fourth Ranked Rule. “Rule #2:  And the small shall act big. One way small companies flourish in the flat world is to act really big. And the key to being small and acting big is being quick to take advantage of all the new tools for collaboration to reach farther, faster, wider, and deeper.” Friedman used the example of a Jordanian package company (Aramex) that originally was partnered with a larger company. When that company was company was bought by Federal Express, Aramex was able to stay in business and to eventually thrive through collaborations with a variety of small Arab companies.

Community college need to collaborate to increase overall enrollment in two-year colleges. Michigan has a Virtual Learning Collaborative that meets just this goal. The VLC lists the online course offered at all Michigan community colleges, and students from all over the state can take these classes at the tuition rate for the community college district where they live. In this way the community colleges can compete with the universities in online learning because the VLC courses are transferable to the universities, but the cost to the student is significantly lower. However, community colleges need to go further than simply trying to lure in university students.

The community colleges need to look for more opportunities to collaborate with businesses. KCC has met this challenge through our RMTC (Regional Manufacturing Technology Center) that offers a wide variety of training to area manufacturers. Courses are offered at the convenience of the students and the companies. Course offering are not what one would expect from a college: Avionics Technician; Electricity/Electronics; Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, & Refrigeration; Instrumentation & Process Control; Machine Tool/Tool & Die; Maintenance Mechanic/Millwright; Pipefitting; Robotics; Sheetmetal; Welding; Industrial Mathematics; Statistical Process Control; Forklift Operation & Safety; Injection Molding Operation; Industrial Blueprint Reading; CNC Plasma Cutter Operation; and Industrial Safety. Our neighboring community colleges (KVCC, JCC, and GRCC) have nothing like this in their curriculum. The RMTC allows KCC to act big because we have become the training provider for most of the major manufacturers in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties.

My Fifth Ranked Rule. “Rule #3: And the big shall act small. One way that big companies learn to flourish in the flat world is by learning how to act really small by enabling their customers to act really big.” Friedman used the examples of Starbucks which not only offers customization (19000 versions of coffee) but listens and responds to customer requests (i.e. offering soy milk) and of e-Trade which allowed small players to buy and sell stock without a broker as the middleman.

The RMTC (discussed above) also offers customized training for any business. This includes assessment of current employee skills and a uniquely designed training curriculum that can be delivered to meet the customers’ time frame and training location. In addition, the RMTC web site had links to Lifelong Learning at KCC. The college program offers lifelong learning opportunities (not for credit) that range from Yoga to gardening to Spanish to finding focus after 50 to learning how to sell on eBay. KCC is acting small and meeting the need of niche individuals in the community.

The community college could also move into the realm of specialized/on demand degrees. In many ways we have already done this in our Information Technology Degree programs. The classes and certificates offered regularly change to meet the changing demands of the workplace. Students can choose a 22 hour certificate or a 42 hour associate degree in a wide variety of technology and word processing related topics.

My Sixth Ranked Rule. “Rule #5: In a flat world, the best companies stay healthy by getting regular chest X-rays and then selling the results to their clients.” Friedman used the examples of HP taking an outsourcing contract for an Indian bank and IBM business consulting group systemically scrutinizing and breaking company functions into components and then deciding if anything can be outsourced. This brings to mind the new buzz word in education, “data driven decision making.” However, Friedman takes it one step further; the purpose of collecting the data is to determine what can be outsourced. This is an important idea that has been used at the college level. Most public school systems have outsourced food services, bussing, and janitorial. KCC outsourced food services in 1994 and janitorial services in 2004. We considered outsourcing the copy center, but the projected turn around time that made move impractical. I am not sure if support staff could be outsourced. I think that job is too important to give to people outside of the college. There are times when I definitely think administration could be outsourced.

My Seventh Ranked Rule. Rule#7 – Outsourcing isn’t just for Benedict Arnolds. It’s also for idealists. Friedman used the example of what he called a social entrepreneur who worked in Phnom Penh to develop a data entry company that provided jobs for skilled Cambodians and incentives to continue their training. This idea is reminiscent of the corporate social activism that Freidman talked about in Chapter 7. This sounds great, but it is either for small players, like the example in the book, or for large players who have the resources to go overseas and invest the time needed for this type of project. I just do not see a role for the community college as global social activist by providing employment opportunities for workers in under-developed countries. The product/service of the community college is knowledge, and the typical worker in the under-developed world does not have the ability to deliver this product/service. My only idea is to outsource foreign language courses, but that makes little sense as these teachers would need to be proficient in English and have a basic understanding of the pedagogy of online learning. I just do not see this rule working the academic world.

Resources

Andersen, E. (2005). “The Flat and the Unflattened.” Applied Abstractions: Technology, strategy, IT management and miscellany. Downloaded on February 3, 2006, on http://www.espen.com/archives/2005/11/the_flat_and_th.html.

Friedman, T. L. (2005) The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.