To: Biomaven who wrote (155617 ) 4/11/2005 8:56:59 PM From: Sam Citron Read Replies (1) | Respond to Speaking of the Dell opportunity, Thomas Friedman just wrote a book, The World Is Flat , in which Dell and its supply chains feature quite prominently. Apparently Michael Dell asked Friedman to come to Round Rock to give a talk to employees. Since his employer, NYT, says Friedman cannot receive monetary compensation for such things, Friedman asked instead for a complete parts list to his Dell laptop and the factory where each part came was assembled, like some big Wassily Leontief input-output table. His operating thesis is that in the 21st Century supply chains are just as important, if not more important, than political alliances. There is a chapter called The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention in which he argues quite persuasively that countries that recognize their own longterm strategic interests will be extremely reluctant to enter into conflicts with other countries that are part of their supply chains. Helps explain why the US has little difficulty pushing its weight around places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran that are not a part of our supply chain.
