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partner on products and on service provisions； we partner with universities and with
other participants in our industry。 You have to be disciplined about what they can
provide and what we can sensibly undertake 。 。 。 There is a market in R & D and a
market in suppliers and a market in products； and you need to have a structure that
responds to all of them。〃
A decade ago； he added； 〃We did 98 percent of our research and technology in the U。K。
and now we do less than 40 percent in the U。K。 Now we do it as well in the U。S。； Germany；
India； Scandinavia； Japan； Singapore； Spain； and Italy。 We now recruit from a much
more interna…
356
tional group of universities to anticipate the mix of skills and nationalities we
will want in ten or fifteen years。〃
When Rolls…Royce was a U。K。…centric company； he added； it was very vertically
organized。 〃But we had to flatten ourselves；〃 said Rose； as more and more markets
opened worldwide that Rolls…Royce could sell into and from which it could extract
knowledge。
And what does the future hold？
This approach to change that Rolls…Royce has perfected in response to the flattening
of the world is going to become the standard for more and more new start…up companies。
If you were to approach venture capital firms in Silicon Valley today and tell them
that you wanted to start a new company but refused to outsource or offshore anything；
they would show you the door immediately。 Venture capitalists today want to know from
day one that your start…up is going to take advantage of the triple convergence to
collaborate with the smartest； most efficient people you can find anywhere in the
world。 Which is why in the flat world； more and more companies are now being born
global。
〃In the old days；〃 said Vivek Paul； the Wipro president； 〃when you started a company；
you might say to yourself； 'Boy； in twenty years； I hope we will be a multinational
company。' Today； you say to yourself that on day two I will be a multinational。 Today；
there are thirty…person companies starting out with twenty employees in Silicon
Valley and ten in India 。 。 。 And if you are a multiproduct company； you are probably
going to have some manufacturing relationships in Malaysia and China； some design
in Taiwan； some customer support in India and the Philippines； and possibly some
engineering in Russia and the U。S。〃 These are the so…called micromultinationals； and
they are the wave of the future。
Today； your first management job out of business school could be melding the
specialties of a knowledge team that is one…third in India； one…third in China； and
a sixth each in Palo Alto and Boston。 That takes a very special kind of skill； and
it is going to be much in demand in the flat world。
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。
Because niche businesses can get turned into vanilla commodity businesses faster than
ever in a flat world； the best companies today really do get chest X…rays regularly…to
constantly identify and strengthen their niches and outsource the stuff that is not
very differentiating。 What do I mean by chest X…rays？ Let me introduce Laurie Tropiano；
IBM's vice president for business consulting services； who is what I would call a
corporate radiologist。 What Tropiano and her team at IBM do is basically X…ray your
company and break down every component of your business and then put it up on a
wall…size screen so you can study your corporate skeleton。 Every department； every
function； is broken out and put in a box and identified as to whether it is a cost
for the company or a source of income； or a little of both； and whether it is a unique
core competency of the company or some vanilla function that anyone else could do…
possibly cheaper and better。
〃A typical company has forty to fifty components；〃 Tropiano explained to me one day
at IBM； as she displayed a corporate skeleton up on her screen； 〃so what we do is
identify and isolate these forty to fifty components and then sit down and ask ＇the
company＇； 'How much money are you spending in each component？ Where are you best in
class？ Where are you differentiated？ What are the totally nondifferenti…ated
components of your business？ Where do you think you have capabilities but are not
sure you are ever going to be great there because you'd have to put more money in
than you want？'〃
When you are done； said Tropiano； you basically have an X…ray of the company；
identifying four or five 〃hot spots。〃 One or two might be core competencies； others
might be skills that the company wasn't fully aware that it even had and that should
be built up。 Other hot spots on the X…ray； though； might be components where five
different departments are duplicating the same functions or services that others
outside the company could do better and more cheaply and so should be
outsourced…provided there is still a savings to be made once all the costs and
disruptions of outsourcing are taken into account。
〃So you go look at this ＇X…ray＇ and say； 'I have these areas here that are going to
be really hot and core；'〃 says Tropiano； 〃and then let go of the things that you can
outsource； and free up those funds and focus on the
projects that could one day be part of your core competency。 For the average company；
you are doing well if 25 percent is core competency and strategic and really
differentiating； and the rest you may continue to do and try to improve or you may
outsource。〃
I first got interested in this phenomenon when an Internet business news headline
caught my eye： 〃HP bags 150 million India bank contract。〃 The story on
Computerworld。com （February 25； 2004） quoted a statement by HP saying that it had
inked a ten…year outsourcing contract with the Bank of India in Mumbai。 The 150
million contract was the largest ever won by HP Services in the Asia…Pacific region；
according to Natarajan Sundaram； head of marketing for HP Services India。 The deal
called for HP to implement and manage a core banking system across 750 Bank of India
branches。 〃This is the first time we at HP are looking at the outsourcing of the core
banking function in the Asia…Pacific region；〃 said Sundaram。 Several multinational
companies competed for the contract； including IBM。 Under the contract； HP would take
charge of data warehousing and document…imaging technology； telebanking； Internet
banking； and automated teller machines for the whole bank chain。
Other stories explained that the Bank of India had been facing increasing competition
from both public… and private…sector banks and multinational corporations。 It
realized that it needed to adopt Web…based banking； standardize and upgrade its
computer systems； lower its transaction costs； and generally become more
customer…friendly。 So it did what any other multinational would do…it gave itself
a chest X…ray and decided to outsource all the funtions it did not believe were part
of its core competency or that it simply did not have the internal skills to do at
the highest level。
Still； w