Is the World Really Flat?

The book "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman is a pretty popular business title. I even gave it to my board of directors for the PMI component I was running. I recently heard an interview on a Harvard Business Review podcast where the author of another book, Pankaj Ghemawat, argues the world isn't all that flat (his book is "Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter"). Read more here.

Having traveled to Central America, Europe, India, and Japan in the past year, I have to agree that there are still differences and anyone doing business on a global scale has to take into account the differences in each country they are working in.

I am currently working with a client that is moving towards a more global approach to how they run projects. One area they are not losing sight of is the local culture of the different countries they are working with and how that can impact the project.