There are quite a few reasons America has fallen from it’s once “mighty steep”. In this essay I hope to discuss a few reasons that I see
relevant to the situation. One is the Bush administration and the globalization that it has pushed for and outsourcing a by product of it; I will
provide some thoughts on both sides of the argument. The second is the financial crisis that has occurred and why I think people are as much to blame
as the banks are or more. And finally, the most critical issue in my opinion, the one that most people do not really think about: that is the Puritan
belief that has held America hostage from the very beginning. I got my inspiration for this little essay from mister.old.school’s thread: The End
of The United States: The Bush Administration (can be viewed here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...&flagit=338704).If anyone wants
to know, my degree will be in Business Management with minors in Economics and English (mainly literature). I graduate in two months or so and I
think I have a decent perspective and maybe even a new view to the situation.
I personally believe that globalization isn’t a bad thing, and neither is outsourcing; they can be good, and if used correctly, they can be
awesome tools. I will try to come at globalization and outsourcing from both sides of the issue. However, if these tools are used incorrectly, it
can turn into something of what we have now. The main goal of globalization, in my opinion is to unite cultures, cut costs, and to hopefully provide
an overall better quality product. Ideally that is what is supposed to happen. It’s a good idea, but right now, almost unfeasible to fulfill with
the results many businesses foresee. An example of how globalization could be used to help people is with hospitals. I know that some surgeries can
run in the $100,000+ range in the states. However, with globalization, you can go to Thailand and have the same surgery for a fraction of the cost.
This is a result of free markets forces and how they actually can work. Paying an outrageous fee in the U.S.? Just go to Thailand and get your
surgery done. If anyone is interested in this, this is the hospitals website:
www.bumrungrad.com... I believe this hospital has something like
eight RN’s or so per floor while here in the states it might be one if you’re lucky. An example of how outsourcing is good is thus: sending
x-rays, blood work and other medical tests too other countries, I’m going to use India in this example, and having those tests done while the doctor
here sleeps. The doctor then receives the results back the next day and passes them on to the patient. These are two good examples that I can think
of how globalization and outsourcing can work for the good of all.
However, there is a darker side to globalization, the one we are most familiar with. This is an ever increasing and disturbing trend, and you can
attribute it to the Bush organization, and that is the outsourcing of America. I don't have stats, and I'm taking my best educated guess that from
the tail end of Clinton's presidency to now, outsourcing has jumped at a staggering percentage; in the business world, outsourcing is our "friend".
Upon a review of an article on E-Commercetimes.com by Alison Diana, Outsourcing by the Numbers (11/12/03):
“Corporate America is outsourcing an increasing number and variety of jobs to foreign shores, a trend that few industry experts predict will
slow, let alone reverse, in coming months and years.
"Offshore outsourcing is just one small part of a (US) $5 trillion global outsourcing market. This market is growing by more than 15 percent per
year, and the offshore component is certainly among the fastest growing," Michael Corbett, president and CEO of New York-based Michael F. Corbett &
Associates, told the E-Commerce Times. "We are at the earliest stages of a fundamental transformation from regional economies to a single, integrated
global economy. Just as companies now compete globally, workers need to realize that they, too, are competing globally."
The main thing we have seen from the late 90’s to now is outsourcing and a move towards a global economy; I’m sure that even if you haven’t been
directly effected as a result of outsourcing, you’ve either been effected by it indirectly or someone you know has been effected. There use to be
an emphasis in the U.S. on loyalty. Some members on ATS might have worked in those times (40’s-70’s/80’s or so) and can relate to what I’m
talking about. An article from September 19, 2005 entitled Rethinking Company Loyalty; Lauren Keller Johnson writes:
"Few business leaders would deny the importance of organizational loyalty; perhaps fewer still believe they can achieve it the way they once
did. After all, the lifetime contract expired long ago, and your people—especially your best people—are more likely to display loyalty to their
careers than to you, their employer.
The very nature of the relationship between employers and employees has undergone a fundamental shift: Today, workers not only don't expect to work
for decades on end for the same company, but they don't want to.”
Some companies in Japan still use the loyalty method, giving some employees the option to work for the company for life. In doing so, the employees
are given all the necessities and in some cases their children will take over the job at the parent’s retirement. However, in Japan, this concept
has changed some over time. There are now three options to choose from, the above mentioned and then two more that are still somewhat loyal to the
company but allow for more job movement. In America loyalty was never to that effect, but nonetheless there was a sense that you’d get your pension
when you retired and your company would take care of you. I’ll give the example of my Dad and what I’ve observed over the years. Back in the
early 90’s when I was still young I would never hear any discussion over him moving to another job or anything of that nature being discussed; my
parents always let us hear everything so that we always knew what was going on. Fast forward to the mid to late 90’s, that’s when all the rumors
and downsizing, or outsourcing, started to occur at his job. How he made it out with a job is a mystery, but I suppose his skill level might have had
something to do with it (he can work on live electrical stuff, breakers, transformers, ect.); but for years the discussion was over what would happen
if he did lose his job, or was “forced” out. My Dad’s worked for his company for 35 years or so and has been there a lot longer than others
with the exception of a few others. From talking to him and some of the others at his work, they distrust management in full. The thing is, he, and
the other employees have pretty much given their all to the company, and now that retirement is coming around, it’s not like it was in the past
where you expect to get your pension and be taken care of, instead they may get quite a bit less than what they should get, all to cut costs. But
this is the other side that comes with globalization and outsourcing. Me, I take a manager’s prospective on these issues. I assume that I will one
day be in a position where I will have to make these decisions. Preferably, if put in that position, I would like to choose to keep my employees over
firing them and earning a small profit from outsourcing their jobs, but I don’t know if that will be the case. From a business standpoint it makes
sense more and more to outsource. It doesn’t always work the best, but it saves on the bottom line, and that’s the most important thing in
business, turning a profit. I know some people will disagree with me, but, that’s what business is all about, that and pleasing the shareholders;
employees are a secondary thought.
Cont'd