snipped from below: " Prison and child labor in some cases perhaps?"
greg-issimo read my post. i wrote, "otoh, if asian production of generic frames is going to lead to a nike- like "sweatshop" story by geraldo, then i respectfully recant my opinion." to wit, if you are suggesting that that any/all of the frames made "there" are made in unsavory or unscrupulous environ- ments, then i will bow out of the conversation and hope that someone important can rectify that situation. e-RICHIE chester, ct
On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 15:13:08 EST GPVB1@cs.com writes: Um, Richard, who do you think makes the billions of widgets that flood this country's ports from China every day, a great percentage of which is of shoddy or questionable quality and durability? Prison and child labor in some cases perhaps?
Hard to compete with that....
I think the world is a very complex place, made even smaller by the Web and other modern Information Technology marvels, and this is of course a very
complex issue. There is certainly no simple "answer."
I agree that it's a global market / business environment these days, and Nationalistic blinders certainly don't work in our modern world (and never really did without serious Government intervention and cooperation), but there is a very clear timeline that occurs in many Manufacturing industries for companies that start outsourcing to "save labor costs." The final step is going out of business!
Once you've gone to the absolute cheapest labor and raw material sources,
regardless of quality, relinquished your design and manufacturing duties, and are merely an importer that "badge engineers" instead of being creative and finding other ways to compete and actually manufacture product, what do you do next with your cookie-cutter MBA practices? Nuthin,' that's what, because you've lost almost all control over your product, and the book don't tell ya what to do at that point, other than invoke your golden parachute and/or defraud your investors on the way out. Look at the first Schwinn bankruptcy for a textbook case of how to run a third-generation once-class-leading company into the
ground. (Not implying fraud there, just bonehead moves). Crain's Chicago Business did a great multi-part article about it - I recommend it highly. Giant exists today as the juggernaut it is due in great part to Schwinn's management ineptitude through those times. It's a jungle out there!
Greg Parker former Corporate Stooge People's Republic of Ann Arbor, Michigan ;-)