Tuesday, June 4, 2013
TWIF Flattener 5 - Outsourcing
Use one of the current events sources linked at http://svhs-hwc-fall2013.blogspot.com/2013/06/approved-sources-for-twif-current.html to find a recent news article that relates to, supports, or refutes Friedman's assertion that outsourcing 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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ReplyDeletehttp://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23239764
ReplyDeleteBrompton boss: The bike-maker who disproved the doubters
This article from BBC focuses on Will Butler-Adams, the 39 year old managing director who drove the foldable bike company, Brompton, to its global success. When he joined the company, it was small and unorganized. Today, the company makes over six times as many bikes as it did when he was first employed. The article goes on to explain that the company's success started when Mr. Butler-Adams began outsourcing the manufacturing of certain parts and processes to other companies within the UK. This article exemplifies Friedman's ideas regarding the abilities of small businesses in Globalization 3.0. For example, by using outsourcing, Brompton was able to focus on the final production of its bikes, organize its storage rooms, and increase its revenue. Despite the company's small size, it was able spread its sales globally. Now, due to outsourcing's flattening capabilities, a small company can expand its reach so that it functions on the same level as a large business.
Birmingham schools could outsource to save £20m a year
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-23057508
The BBC news article thoroughly analyzes the potential decision to outsource education jobs in Birmingham, England. The article states that the schools of Birmingham could save twenty million euros if the jobs are outsourced. The schools need to cut back their budgets since more government owned schools are entering the city. Since there are more government run schools, the Birmingham government can not afford to fully pay for them all. Therefore, the schools face large budget shortfalls. The article continues with testimony from Tim Boyles, a head teacher who experienced the benefits of outsourcing. In the school that he taught at, the services of school lunches and nursing were outsourced. He also said that the quality of service did not change. However, there is opposition from leaders who fear that jobs could be lost if the services are outsourced. Even though the final decision has not pass the city council yet, the article still supports Friedman’s arguments. The whole article was an example that outsourcing can be beneficial. Tim Boyles statement about outsourcing some services showed that outsourcing still gets the job done while saving money. This supported Friedman’s argument that outsourcing benefits companies. Next of all, the school is expected to save twenty million euros if the outsourcing measures pass. This example proves Friedman’s argument that outsourcing saves companies money. In all, this example of outsourcing verifies the claims that outsourcing is beneficial.
Call Centers Call on Multilingual Portuguese http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/07/08/199032441/Call-Centers-Call-On-Multilingual-Portuguese
ReplyDeleteThis article from NPR describes a potential revival for the diminishing Portuguese economy. Foreign companies are learning that many Portuguese citizens are very well-educated and speak several languages, so an increasing number of multinational businesses are outsourcing their call center work to Portugal. This benefits many of Portugal's citizens, especially younger ones, because they are not forced to leave the country for work. In The World is Flat, Friedman argues that outsourcing is flattening the world because it gives the people of developing countries an opportunity to fulfill their intellectual potential by working for multinational companies without leaving their homes and families. This is exactly what is occurring for many Portuguese people, who are using several languages each day in call centers near home, so this article supports Friedman's argument. Moreover, Friedman discusses the flattening benefits for countries to which work has been outsourced; he explains how, after Y2K necessitated that coding work be done in India, this developing country caught the attention of many businesses. Something similar is happening with the Portuguese call centers because Western companies, instead of having this customer service work done on the other side of the globe, are starting to outsource to places closer to home, still for a low cost, and in a similar time zone. All in all, the situation described in this article models Friedman's argument that outsourcing is a flattener.
Outsourcing 2.0: India May Now Become a Hub for Creative Work
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theworld.org/2012/04/outsourcing-arts-to-india/
This article discusses the newest type of outsourcing brought to us by India. This new type of outsourcing is used for music videos. A writer from anywhere in the world can contact Asha Sarella, a virtual assistant based out of Bangalore who also happens to run a dance studio. Creating a music video through Asha's company can cost 1/20 of the price of a music video professionally directed in America. The economy friendly price was not the only draw for artists to outsource their music videos. Many western artist are drawn to outsourcing because of the Indian culture that will be dipslayed throughout out their music video, giving their work a unique edge. This article complies with argument that many businesses are choosing to outsource because it is more cost effective. Moreover, this article shows that outsourcing is a flattener because it is making it easier for Indian directors and dancers to become involved in the western music industry.
Unboxed Extra: I.B.M. and America's Job Challenge
ReplyDeletehttp://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/unboxed-extra-ibm-and-americas-job-challenge/
This article discusses I.B.M.'s reasoning behind outsourcing jobs to India. It also mentions the increase in jobs being outsourced over the last couple of years. To rationalize the company's motives for outsourcing jobs, the argument that there are lower labor costs, skilled engineers, and a fast-growing market in India is presented. This article supports that outsourcing is a flattener because it explains why a company, I.B.M., would outsource jobs, therefore flattening the world. Through outsourcing, efficiency becomes easier to maintain, allowing more companies to turn towards outsourcing as a source of labor. India is a common place for outsourcing to occur because of its large pool of educated, motivated, and youthful population. Through this summary of the article, one can understand and view a first-hand example of Friedman's assertions about why the world is flattened from outsourcing; increased, efficient communication between India and the United States puts both countries on the same level for business interaction. Using cheaper labor from other countries, outsourcing, is a trend described in The World is Flat with great detail by Friedman. Although Americans appear against the trend of sending jobs to another country, it is ultimately inevitable, as I.B.M. exemplifies in the article.
Philippines' puzzle: Growing economy fails to create jobs
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23598279
This article analyzes the economy in the Philippines. It compares two different people working there, one having success in the economy and the other not. The economy in the Philippines is growing, but the employment rate is decreasing. A percentage of this unemployment rate is due to outsourcing. Instead of creating new jobs for the country's own people, it is giving away jobs to others worldwide in order to receive cheaper labor. Some believe that if they can convince foreign countries to manufacture into the Philippines that the country would not have such unemployment issues. This article relates to Friedman's points about outsourcing and how it can boost a country's economy by giving jobs to people in foreign countries in order to receive cheaper labor.
E-ppointments
ReplyDeletehttp://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/08/online-healthcare
In an article from The Economist, Zesty, a London start-up company, seeks to eliminate the struggles many British people face when trying to book a healthcare appointment. Unlike their American counterparts, many British dentist offices and doctor offices do not allow patients to book appointments in advance; rather, patients must book an appointment the morning after getting sick in hopes of being seen in the afternoon. Zesty, taking advantage of this predicament, allows users to book appointments to their dentist or doctor online for free, eliminating the need to vie with others in the morning for a spot. Although the company only launched last April, it already collaborates with two hundred dentist practices in ten boroughs from all over London. Zesty charges these companies £80 (roughly $123) a month to use the service. It may seem impractical to the dentist offices to pay so much, but collaborating reduces not only the torrent of morning appointment calls, but also increases publicity and advertisement on the growing website. This is just the beginning, co-founder Lloyd Price says, promising that soon the website will allow users to rate and recommend the healthcare companies who use the service. This particular story illustrates Friedman’s fifth flattener, outsourcing. Outsourcing essentially consists of a company contracting some of their work to a third-party company, whether they are foreign or domestic. In this case, many dentist offices are taking advantage of this growing resource and letting Zesty handle appointments and bookings, eliminating the need for them to do so. In the past, manufacturing and IT companies were mainly the ones outsourcing work; however, in today’s flat, modern world, even small, regional healthcare companies are outsourcing certain portions of their work. In essence, this article embodies the fifth flattener, exposing how modern healthcare services are beginning to outsource appointment bookings.
India, Long the Home of Outsourcing, Now Wants to Make Its Own Chips
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/business/global/india-known-for-outsourcing-now-wants-to-make-its-own-chips.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
This article talks about how the Indian Government wants to start making its own computer hardware. India spent over 8.2 billion dollars in 2012 just on imported semiconductors and it is estimated that each year that number could increase by over 20%. They realized that building a plant in the country would bring in great profits. India is planning on making their own computer chips and semiconductors. India started requiring at least half of all the laptops to be made from domestic resources. This is refuting Friedman's idea that the world is becoming flatter because of outsourcing. India, who is the world's largest country for outsourcing, is now starting to reduce their own outsourcing.
Switching To Gmail May Leave Reporters' Sources At Risk:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/08/16/212678437/switching-to-gmail-may-leave-reporters-sources-at-risk
In this article from NPR, the New York Times has outsourced all of its journalists’ email accounts because many of their emails were hacked. They are now using a corporate email that has much more security and has a mandatory fee. The article also describes why journalists make a common target for hackers. Due to the new developing world everything leaves a trace and with these journalist’ s traces from emails and phone calls, hackers can acquire the journalists’ locations and resources on all of the cutting edge news stories. Hopefully these new accounts will add security and help the company protect their journalists. I believe that this move made by the New York Times confirms Friedman’s assertion that outsourcing flattens the world. Using another email provider was a logical and aggressive move for the New York Times and it proves that outsourcing usually helps companies, but where as in this case it is helping the company through security not cost value as Friedman posed in his argument. Most outsourcing is done out of the convenience of lower costs and labor as mentioned in The World is Flat, however, I believe this still proves Friedman's point that outsourcing flattens the world because moving the emails increased the companies security and made the New York Time a more respectable company all together.
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ReplyDeleteUS Airways and American Airlines Should Settle with Justice
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/us-airways-and-american-airlines-should-settle-with-justice/2013/08/16/e97dc8ae-05ff-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html
This article supports Friedman's theory of the world being flattened by outsourcing. This article on the Washington Post website describes the reasons and speculations behind the merger between US Airways and American Airlines. American Airlines and US Airways are planning to merge together for many reasons. One of these reasons is that when these two companies will be combined they will create one of the largest air transportation providers in the world. Their union will bring the customers from both airline companies together, creating more revenue. This merge will help benefit both airlines by saving money, up to half a billion dollars every year. The airlines also explain that with this alliance they will be able to provide better services for lower costs. Just as the American businesses began leaning towards Indian workers in The World is Flat, these two enterprises are leaning on each other for support. This article supports Friedman's argument by demonstrating how two different corporations come together to provide services more efficiently and at lower costs, making the playing field more level for everyone.
Call Centers Call on Multilingual Portugese
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/07/08/199032441/Call-Centers-Call-On-Multilingual-Portuguese
This NPR article starts by describing the struggle that Filipa Neves, a young woman from Portugal, is going through to find a job in her home country. She decided to send in a resumé to a call center, and she got the job since she is fluent in five languages, which is necessary since many different countries outsource their calls to call centers in foreign countries. These foreign hotlines look to employ people from Portugal because of their high unemployment, multilingual talents, and low wages.
The information in the article directly supports Freidman’s argument about the fifth flattener, outsourcing. Freidman describes the outsourcing from America to India as a result of the cheap wages and abundance highly trained workers in India. This directly links up to the article because European countries are outsourcing their calls to Portugal for the same reasons that America outsources to India. Both countries are trying to save time and money, and are taking advantage of the benefits of outsourcing to foreign countries to improve their businesses.
Why China May Lose Manufacturing Jobs to the US
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theworld.org/2011/10/why-china-may-lose-manufacturing-jobs-to-the-us/
This article begins by stating the choice that the business SolarWorld has. They could either outsource to China or build a new factory in Oregon. Even though China is basically the home of outsourcing, or used to be at least, they chose to remain in the US. SolarWorld spokesman Ben Santarris explains this by presenting the information that the combination of shipping costs and the lower quality work that they find in China almost makes up for the extra cost of salaries. Since wages are going up by almost 20% a year in China, many companies are pulling out of China or simply avoiding that option. Friedman suggests that outsourcing helps flatten the world and is cost effective for many, and this article agrees, although it also observes that this soon will no longer be a logical option in China, and soon other countries such as India also.
A Broken Outsourcing Model
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/opinion/a-broken-outsourcing-model.html?_r=0
In this article in the New York Times, 50 Western companies have signed an agreement to improve the working conditions in factories in foreign countries, where their clothing is manufactured. Since the collapse of the clothing factory in Bangladesh that killed over 1,100 people top companies have agreed to improvements. Many workers die from fires that could be prevented however the factory owners skimp on safety because they have little money to make advancements. Many American and European brands rotate through hundreds of factory suppliers, instead of going for the more logical option and creating long-term relationship with a few factories. This would help the brands by keeping costs low. These factories provide jobs in third-world countries, and help to boost the economy. This article relates to Friedman's flattener of outsourcing and provides cheaper labor for top brands.
http://www.theworld.org/2013/06/washingtons-reliance-on-contractors-for-surveillance/
ReplyDeleteWashington’s reliance on Contractors for Surveillance.
This article written on June 10, 2013 demonstrates the government’s national security and surveillance work as done by outsourced IT contractors. Outsourcing is common in the information and technology industry as some of the work as work can be temporary and inexpensive. Edward Snowden, was an IT contractor who released information obtained while during his temporary government assignment. Snowden represents “one of tens of thousands of intelligence workers hired since 9/11.” Like in The World is Flat, talking about flattener #5, Friedman explains that outsourcing allows companies, or in this case, the government, to split themselves up into smaller divisions. However in this situation with the government failed.
Birmingham schools could outsource to save 20m a year
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-23057508
The schools were losing money from the government due to an increase in academy schools, and they needed a way to be able to make up for the loss. Academies are different from normal schools, they are only state funded and receive all of their money from the central government, rather than getting it from a local authority. According to the Labour-led council, half of secondary schools and a third of primary schools would be transferring to academies in the next couple of months. This is why schools like Birmingham were not getting as much funding as usual, the state government would not be able to provide for all of the new academies if they kept funding the old academies the same way. Consequently, Birmingham needed to find ways to save money and cut costs, they did this by outsourcing for items like food. They saved money and claimed it was easier to keep track of what the students ate. By using outsourcing the school saved about 20m euros and made up for the lack of funding from the central government. In "The world is flat", Friedman explains how businesses can outsource to save money and get work done overnight. He gave examples of people in India answering calls from people in America 24/7 and doing it for cheaper than it would be done in the United States. The same is done by the Birmingham school to keep them financially stable.
How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
This article by the New York Times was written to show how Americans have lost jobs in the iPod. Within the article apple states that they have 40,000 workers in America and have outsourced 23,000 to other countries because it is much cheaper to hire someone in Asian companies such as China. In addition to the 23,000 workers outsourced out of America Apple has 700,000 contracted jobs to people in Asian countries simply because it is cheaper. When asked why Apple cant bring the jobs back home they answered that it was too expensive and that Americans simply do not have the skill that is needed. Obviously Apple is doing something right as they make 400,000 per worker and in total last year and made over 108 billion dollars total. This article supports Freidman’s argument that jobs will continue to be outsourced to China and other countries. Freidman says the Chinese will do anything to become more economically strong and Apple in this article supports that assertion.
The Benefits of Outsourcing for Small Businesses
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/allbusiness/AB5221523_primary.html
This article talks about outsourcing, and how it can benefit small businesses. It states that companies outsource not only to save money, but also to increase their efficiency, work quickly, minimize risks, and to up smaller companies' ability to compete with larger companies. This article relates to Friedman's fifth flattener, outsourcing. Outsourcing is when a company moves a certain task that it needs to complete to a place where it can pay workers less money than it would have had to otherwise. This helps to flatten the world because it provides a way for smaller businesses to pay their workers less and be able to have a chance competing against larger companies with more resources. The article relates to Friedman's flattener because it talks about how outsourcing saves costs as well as leveling the playing field for smaller companies to compete with larger ones.
NSA Leaks Focus New Attention On Government Contractors
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=200104716
This article speaks about how our government had and still use outsourcing for intelligence. Edward Snowden had been trying to turn attention to the contractors, where as the CIA explains how the outsourcers are just as trustworthy as an US agent. The government is not allowing anything about the intelligent work out of the ring of worker they inform to get better answers. As Freidman fifth flattener, outsourcing, explains that we use other countries brains to help us create things better, fast, cheaper, or to get things done by the faster and the better people, that may not be our own.