Jackelyne Diaz

IDC 4001H – Professor Maciuika

February 1, 2014

The Only Constant in Life is Change, Duh

No matter how advanced we may be in political ideologies, business models, or technology, we can always count on knowing with certainty that they will change at some point in the future.

The Berman article highlights this concept by presenting us with the opinions on modernity of a number of different people; people who love it, people who hate it, people who admire its existence, and people hell-bent on turning back time and ignoring that the world around them is changing. Regardless of the actual changes occurring in said time period, those ideas and opinions were forever in a state of evolution. So long as people have conflicting opinions, arguments and ideas will continue to exist.

Similarly, the Beck article talks about the kind of change that happens as a response to globalization. The point of this article is to highlight the changing role of a company with the nation of its origin. Today, companies outsource their jobs to countries for cheap labor, higher profit, and in turn pay fewer taxes. The evolution of “business” per say, has changed nation states dramatically, and the author addresses this change by making a suggestion. Beck thinks that in order to survive, nation states must incorporate globalization into national politics of “every domain” including economics, law, and military affairs. So long as people are money hungry, the middle class is paying the bulk of taxes, and the poor continue to suffer, business practices will be contested. I don’t think that companies will change for the better, as I don’t have much faith in humanity, but we can hope for former.

While the Rocket Machine article doesn’t address change in as forward a manner as the other two articles, the concept appears yet again. At one point in time, Rocket Internet was a novel approach to e-commerce. It was able to expand abroad (quickly) and attract workers with equally innovative ideas. However, American companies have discovered the method to Rocket’s success and are proving to be viable competitors. This last article address not that change is happening, but that change is necessary. Companies are drawn to imitating models of success. In order to stay both competitive and successful, Rocket Internet will have to come up with new ideas to keep all other companies on their toes, and in turn in an ever evolving state of change.