Outsourcing

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses why outsourcing helps and protectionism hurts the United States' economy. It provides an overview of a series of articles and research papers which discuss the impact of offshore outsourcing on the American economy. It analyzes whether it is ultimately better for America to be challenged competitively or if it is more prudent to protect American industries.

Table of Contents:
Summary
Offshore Outsourcing Has Become the Political Football of Choice
Offshore Outsourcing Hits Iowans Hard
Evaluating Lou Dobbs' Commentaries on Offshore Outsourcing
Making American Manufacturing Lean: A Perspective
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Instead, the author takes the approach of looking at the concepts of lean manufacturing as the true point of differentiation and long-term growth of American manufacturing. Link (2006) argues that efficiency and cost reduction through lean manufacturing techniques can actually forestall or even stop the outsourcing of jobs en masse. The other side of this argument however is that many Indian outsourcing companies including HCL, Infosys, Tata and others can deliver a 40% reduction in the costs of doing a complex task or process, which would ironically alleviate the pressure on companies to outsource their core business. The author tends to applaud the Toyota Production System too often, and could have made the entire article stronger by showing the ironies of Toyota themselves doing much of their outsourcing work on non-strategic parts of their business so they could focus on the core aspects of next generation auto development."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Peek (2006) - Shrinking Unions Push Democrats toward Protectionism, New York Sun newspaper. Published November 14, 2006 and accessed from the Internet on February 9, 2007 from location: http://www.nysun.com/article/43448 and http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=43448
• Gram (2006) - Sanders' vows to continue fighting outsourcing of U.S. Jobs. Boston.com and Associated Press. September 23, 2006. Accessed from the Internet February 9, 2007:http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2006/09/23/sanders_vows_to_continue_fighting_outsourcing_of_us_jobs/
• Hitt (2006) - Protectionist Stance is Gaining Clout. Greg Hitt, Wall Street Journal. November 6, 2006. Page A4. Accessed from the Internet on February 9, 2007 from location: http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB116277226395813918-TvtW_7IYYvHHLZCbZTWcbV3_aQc_20061205.html
• McCarthy (2005)- Dobbs Fires Away Against Outsourcing. USA Today. February 22,2005. Money Section. Accessed from the Internet on February 9, 2007 from location: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2005-02-22-dobbs-usat_x.htm
• Link (2006) - Lean Manufacturing Can Save American Manufacturing. Jack Rick. February 20, 2006. Maintenance World Magazine. Accessed from the Internet on February 9, 2007 from location: http://www.maintenanceworld.com/Articles/rinkJ/Lean-Manufacturing.html

More papers on Outsourcing:

• Research Paper # 96954 : "IT Outsourcing"
• Term Paper # 90130 : "Outsourcing of Jobs in the United States"
• Essay # 90107 : "Outsourcing"
• Essay # 69407 : "Outsourcing"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: