ABSTRACT
The ability for an organization to adapt quickly to changing market conditions while simultaneously delivering high levels of customer service at superior quality and low cost are no longer differentiators in the competitive marketplace: they are minimum requirements to survive in a global business environment. Thomas L. Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, pioneered discussions regarding the challenges and opportunities related to the merging of world economies and the need for organizations to adapt; as a result of advances in information technology and logistics, the playing eld is leveling [2]. China, Europe, India, and the United States are now competing for the same customers and operating in a global economy; all are also inuenced by conditions in the integrated economies. Friedman points out that this was painfully evident in the 2008 economic crisis where the entire global economy at one time acted totally in synch as a result of the mortgage crisis in the United States [3].
