Monday, November 9, 2015
TWIF Flattener #8 - Insourcing
Use one of the current events sources linked at http://svhs-hwc-spring-2016.blogspot.com/2015/11/approved-sources-for-twif-current.html to find a recent news article that relates to, supports, or refutes Friedman's assertion that insourcing was a "flattener." Your comment should include the title of the news article, a link to the article, and a summary of the article including an explanation of how the article relates to this point. Don't forget to check your rubric for evaluation criteria!
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Link: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/24/the-multinational-equation-on-jobs/
ReplyDeleteTitle: The Multinational Equation on Jobs
Summary: Job growth in America has recently been on a rise, and has reached a high point since 1999. Currently, numerous foreign companies are manufacturing their products in American factories. In addition, many corporations such as Ford have been "insourcing," or returning formerly outsourced jobs to the United States. This immense growth can be traced back to the idea that, "foreign companies are 'betting' on the United States," and therefore have begun to take advantage of the opportunity. While so many American companies still rely heavily on outsourcing, the recent growth in insourcing creates hope for more American jobs in the future.
This brief article is somewhat contradictory to Friedman's definition and analysis of "insourcing." As described in the novel, "The World is Flat," insourcing is most evident in the case of UPS. This company has integrated itself into the inner-working of many other large corporations, who "insource" middle-man jobs such as repairs and customer relations to the shipping company. Friedman's definition of insourcing describes the process as a way to extend the global reach of small companies. In contrast to this, the article defines insourcing as, "bringing more jobs home." It is presented as the opposite of outsourcing, instead of being recognized as an entirely separate flattener. Essentially, the book and the article provide completely contradicting definitions of the term insourcing, and apply it in very different ways.
Title: Is 'Made in the USA' Coming Back?
ReplyDeleteLink: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-21541858
Insourcing occurs when a product is made and sold by and in the same country. This article discusses how America is beginning to institute insourcing into their businesses. Many products that used to be made in China are now going to be made in the United States again. This was done to give Americans more job opportunities and because it is cheaper for the factories to run in the America. This relates to The World is Flat because the article discusses how insourcing is becoming more common, at least in the United States of America.
Title: Amazon expands logistics reach with move into ocean shipping
ReplyDeleteLink: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-freight-idUSKCN0US2YW
Summary:
This article examines Amazon's expanse into logistics. Amazon now subcontracts the ocean freight business and has gained the status of a freight forwarder. This news infers that Amazon plans to increase its own logistics reach in order to slash prices for its retail business. It may also look into insourcing for other companies by potentially providing third-party-managed logistics to other industries and businesses. Its own growth in its supply chain is appealing to its suppliers, especially the Chinese sellers who are interested in direct access to Amazon's American customer base using the ocean freighting system. This gives Amazon a good starting point before venturing into the possibilities of insourcing.
Friedman's book "The World is Flat" states that insourcing is a flattener. Insourcing is a practice of collaboration that is especially utilized by UPS; it helps smaller companies go global and big companies to stay local by having a third party manage the logistics of its client company. This article relates to this because it indicates that Amazon is about to enter the practice of insourcing. This would help more companies go even more global or even local to markets everywhere, and flatten the world even more.
Title: "Amazon to Create 2,500 UK Jobs"
ReplyDeleteLink: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35379861
Summary: This article highlights the influx of new employees Amazon will be hiring in the UK. Amazon is looking to expand across Europe with offices in major cities such as London, Cambridge, and Edinburgh. The jobs coming in will be given to trained workforce members to show the working quality in Europe. An analysis of these actions show only that Amazon will continue to grow and improve on its current technology and services. There is a developmental service from Amazon called Amazon fresh which has not been growing strong in the US, but the growth in jobs may allow this to take off. The union is concerned about the job growth because of working conditions within Amazon's facilities for non skill positions. Amazon is like UPS and FedEx as Friedman describes in The World is Flat. Amazon delivers goods and connects society, thereby flattening it. In this article Amazon is growing its company and growing society by connecting it together through the services it provides.
Article Title: At WeWork, an idealistic Start-Up Clashes With Its Cleaners
ReplyDeleteArticle link: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/business/at-wework-an-idealistic-startup-clashes-with-its-cleaners.html?referer=&_r=0
This article describes the decision made by the company WeWork to insource its cleaners instead of hiring through another company. WeWork had previously contracted cleaners through the Commercial Building Maintenance Corporation, which gave them a $10 per hour salary with no paid time off or benefits. In June, CBM attempted to unionize, so WeWork ended its contract and decided to hire employees on its own. This would not be as large of an issue if CBM workers could work directly for the company, but WeWork denied jobs to all CBM employees, leaving all of their former cleaners jobless. When Friedman discussed insourcing in the book, he mostly talked about how beneficial it is to companies and how efficient it can be. He neglects the issue of job losses in previous companies.
Title: For Israeli-Palestinian interaction, a new venue: the Arab doctor's office
ReplyDeleteLink: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2016/0201/For-Israeli-Palestinian-interaction-a-new-venue-the-Arab-doctor-s-office
Summary: This article discusses Arab and Jewish citizens working together to open up new opportunities for eachother. Arabs ans Jews most commonly became associated with eachother through blue-collar jobs such as builders, drivers, or restaurant waiters in the Middle East. In the past few years, both groups have worked together fo be a part of Israel's health care profession. Although the minority faces difficulties in agreeing with the government, their hard-working personalities and successful careers show how they are assimilating to the country. Since both groups are arguing with the government, it brings up an Arab- Jewish interaction. This is similar to flattener #8 of TWIF, insourcing. In the book, Friedman describes UPS as a company who teams up with a smaller business in order to create a simpler process for everyone. Big companies are frustrated with this action, because the alliance between the two groups helps them get even with the bigger companies. To compare, the small companies are the Jews. UPS is the group of Arabians who team up with others to come together and achieve greater things. The angry big companies, also known as the government, is frustrated by these actions because they are commonly known to be the superior ones, and their business is crumbling from the joining of smaller associations.