Case Study 8
THE OUTSOURCING SYNDROME
In Case Study # 3, we discussed some of the economic and ethical problems related to Wal-Mart. However, is it fair to blame Wal-Mart for this downsizing of our standards? What about the other large U.S. corporations that have been sending manufacturing and other jobs overseas? Lou Dobbs, on CNN, in late 2003, started listing during each evening program those corporations which have sent jobs overseas. The list keeps growing and growing. It is a virtual Whoâs Who of American business.
In late December, 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported that IBM told its managers that it will be moving as many as 4,700 high paying white-collar jobs overseas. This type of change represents the latest threat to employment in the U.S. It was bad enough to see the exodus of manufacturing jobs but, now, this move overseas is extending to the higher-paying technical and white-collar employees.
When U.S. corporations first started shipping factory jobs overseas, workers were advised that they should become better educated and acquire more skills, enabling them to achieve an even higher standard of living. There would be more and better jobs in technology and information processing. Now, it is these more educated and skilled workers at IBM and other corporations who are losing their jobs. To be fair to IBM, many other technical companies have also moved these higher paying jobs overseas. An executive at Microsoft, the ultimate American success story, told his department heads last year to âpick something to move offshore todayâ.
Globalization may be a fact of life but does that mean that its destructive impact on any
single countryâs families can't be mitigated? Should the exportation of jobs and the effect on the standard of living be monitored by the government, the civic center sector and the media of the base country? Should trade agreements and tax policies be examined and updated to encourage the creation of employment that enhances the quality of life at home?
If we donât do something about all of these issues, we may all end up working at Wal-Mart, by one name or another. If we donât do something, then who will be able to afford the IBM and Microsoft products?
Almost 100 years ago, Henry Ford was astute enough to realize that he had to pay his workers a living wage so that they could afford to buy his automobiles. Evidently, American manufacturers have forgotten that strategy. Will the rest of the world follow suit?
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS SITUATION?
WHAT SUGGESTIONS DO YOU HAVE TO ADDRESS THIS ESCALATING PROBLEM?
WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IF YOU HAD AN IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT POSITION?
Case Study 8
THE OUTSOURCING SYNDROME
In Case Study # 3, we discussed some of the economic and ethical problems related to Wal-Mart. However, is it fair to blame Wal-Mart for this downsizing of our standards? What about the other large U.S. corporations that have been sending manufacturing and other jobs overseas? Lou Dobbs, on CNN, in late 2003, started listing during each evening program those corporations which have sent jobs overseas. The list keeps growing and growing. It is a virtual Whoâs Who of American business.
In late December, 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported that IBM told its managers that it will be moving as many as 4,700 high paying white-collar jobs overseas. This type of change represents the latest threat to employment in the U.S. It was bad enough to see the exodus of manufacturing jobs but, now, this move overseas is extending to the higher-paying technical and white-collar employees.
When U.S. corporations first started shipping factory jobs overseas, workers were advised that they should become better educated and acquire more skills, enabling them to achieve an even higher standard of living. There would be more and better jobs in technology and information processing. Now, it is these more educated and skilled workers at IBM and other corporations who are losing their jobs. To be fair to IBM, many other technical companies have also moved these higher paying jobs overseas. An executive at Microsoft, the ultimate American success story, told his department heads last year to âpick something to move offshore todayâ.
Globalization may be a fact of life but does that mean that its destructive impact on any
single countryâs families can't be mitigated? Should the exportation of jobs and the effect on the standard of living be monitored by the government, the civic center sector and the media of the base country? Should trade agreements and tax policies be examined and updated to encourage the creation of employment that enhances the quality of life at home?
If we donât do something about all of these issues, we may all end up working at Wal-Mart, by one name or another. If we donât do something, then who will be able to afford the IBM and Microsoft products?
Almost 100 years ago, Henry Ford was astute enough to realize that he had to pay his workers a living wage so that they could afford to buy his automobiles. Evidently, American manufacturers have forgotten that strategy. Will the rest of the world follow suit?
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS SITUATION?
WHAT SUGGESTIONS DO YOU HAVE TO ADDRESS THIS ESCALATING PROBLEM?
WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IF YOU HAD AN IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT POSITION?
