Week 1 Discussion

Global Trade II

The ILO is dedicated to establishing social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights. The WTO has a strong interest in trade between nations. As you well know, �rms from China and India are moving a lot of their production to the United States and other countries in order to cut costs. With the opportunity to open manufacturing plants in the United States and other countries, these companies expect a signi�cant savings. Japan also has interest in offshore sourcing to other countries since Japan is experiencing a skill and labor shortage.

According to Vance and Paik (2015):

Offshore outsourcing increases MNCs' strategic �exibility by either contracting their manufacturing processes outside the home country or by forming joint ventures. The development of a dynamic organizational network through contracting and joint ventures enables �rms to maximize the specialized competence of individual operations and to use human resources more effectively that would otherwise have to be accumulated, allocated, and maintained by a single organization. This development means a company's global competitiveness will increase due to its ability to perform a certain value-creation activity in a country where it can be produced most ef�ciently. (p. 101)

As you consider the reasons for an organizational shift, outsourcing, offshoring, and offshore outsourcing, devise a list of US-based companies that are taking advantage of these strategies. How would you prepare for the global expansion? As an HR professional, you will be required to manage the global workforce in these international settings.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Offshore Sourcing According to Vance & Paik (2015), “Although immigrant workers represent one solution to the declining number in developed countries' labor supply, offshore sourcing is another option that can achieve the same objective by utilizing the overseas workforce without physical transfer of workers” (p. 100).

Advantages Disadvantages

Opportunity for expansion or strategic �exibility

Cultural differences or issues

Reduces labor costs Communication barriers

Increases the talent pool Security issues

Advantages Disadvantages

Reduces the cost of produced goods Economic threat in home country or labor force issues

Tax advantages Intellectual property issues

Additional Materials

From your course textbook, Managing a Global Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities in International Human Resources Management, read the following chapter:

Changes and Challenges in the Global Labor Market

From the South University Online Library, read the following articles:

Global Trade in Services: Fear, Facts, and Offshoring (https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp? sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=cat06146a&AN=sou.205804&site=eds-live)

Bringing Workers' Rights Back in? Propositions towards a Labour-Trade Linkage for the Global South  (https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp? sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100319498&site=eds-live)

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