Thursday, June 12, 2008
Chapter 1 - Outsourcing
This chapter mentions about outsourcing. This day in age, many companies are opting to outsource some part of their company in attempts to reduce the amount of salary expenses. However, this doesn't necessarily help out our economy. Some argue that by outsourcing some part of the company, the company (in terms of product companies) can reduce the price of the product, which in turn results in more people wanting the product thus spending more and helping the economy. However, my counterargument is, by outsourcing, we are taking jobs away from the people to provide to other people. Thus, we have more people unable to make money to spend the money on the goods that are being offered to us at the lower cost! My mom has worked in companies, major one being Samsung, where the department is starting to outsource. She has lost jobs because of outsourcing, and when that happens, she can't make ends meet, so how can she go out and buy the new dvd player from samsung that is cheaper because they outsourced a department? My opinion is, outsourcing doesn't help our economy. Just helps the companies get away with cheap labor and turning in greater profits.
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2 comments:
Outsourcing does raise issues of ethics and economics. Outsourcing to other organizations could mean going to an underdeveloped country where labor is cheaper and that people or even children are paid below standard rates. Organizations such as Nike have been criticized for cheap labor and sweat shops. Outsourcing also leads to an increase in unemployment rate as you mentioned. As consumers, we must make our own decisions of whether or not to purchase products of organizations that outsource, especially those that outsource to underdeveloped countries. It is debatable that companies like Nike are bringing business to poorer countries where employment opportunities are scarce. It can be said that businesses have to find ways to profit, but is the action ethical?
I have to agree that outsourcing is ethically questionable. So many companies, today, have call centers in countries like India. My dad's company is able to pay someone in India 4K a year in American dollars rather than pay an American employee 30K for the same job... seems quite unethical. Of course, our text also talks about other countries outsourcing here and acquiring American employees. I guess if we're going to live in a "global" society where countries' borders are blurred, then outsourcing will play a pivotal role and the ethics of it is then subject to negotiation due to the varying perspectives.
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