Ethics of Outsourcing
What is ethics and how is it related to today's world of business? Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines ethics as "the discipline dealing with what is good and bad with moral duty and obligation." In today's globalized society, it seems as though monetary profits are valued higher than making ethical decisions. Outsourcing has become an unavoidable result of globalization. From General Motors to IBM, we can experience the effect of outsourcing in many different sectors of our lives. Outsourcing has brought many economic advantages, and it has greatly enhanced productivity and growth of industries across countries. However, despite such benefits, outsourcing also generated a variety of social, political, economic and cultural issues for the outsourcing receivers and the outsourcing providers. The consequences of outsourcing experienced in America are considered to be unethical as it damages local labor market, and offers hardly any practical solution to address the unemployment issues.
Outsourcing raises an ethical issue, as so many blue collar workers, as well as well-educated white collar workers in the US have lost their jobs due to outsourcing. Especially, many who work in the field of technologically advanced services and software were exchanged for the workers in poorer countries for cheaper labor costs. Many of the multinational companies moved their manufacturing sectors to Mexico, China, or India. According to the article, "The Battle Over Outsourcing" (2004) by Bob Davis, et al. illustrates that many of the software programming work has been relocated to India over the years. Offshore outsourcing started with low-income jobs such as call center operators, and spread to high-paid computer ...
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...sourcing because such a phenomenon will certainly occur in the advent of globalization. The more important discussion is with regards to what policies the government can implement to safeguard the livelihood of its citizens.
References:
Bulkeley, W. (2004, March). New IBM Jobs Can Mean Fewer Jobs Elsewhere. The Wall Street Journal, B1.
Davis, B, et al. (2004, April). The Battle Over Outsourcing. The Wall Street Journal, E1-4.
Maynard, M. and Bunkley, N. (2007, September). G.M. Workers Begin Walkout Over Contract Impasse. The New York Times, B1-3.
Merriam-Webster Online. 2006-2007 Merriam- Webster, Incorporated. From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethics
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). Retrieved November 26, 2007 from http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-warn.htm
http://www.doleta.gov/layoff/employers.cfm
For advocates of global business, the hope is that outsourcing will help lift the United State’s economic growth and development by lowering the input cost of services (i.e. labor and materials) and by opening new markets abroad. Mainstream economists believe that outsourcing will have ...
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This report is extremely credible and qualified, as it was written by an author who is well-versed on the topic. The author was also the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, making him even more authentic source. Throughout the article, the author discusses and examines the words of two other authors, Ron and Anil Hira, who are experts on the subject of American Outsourcing. These authors are also very credible; one is a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the other is a professor at Simon Fraser University. Additionally, the author refers to many case studies that were taken at different universities in order to justify his claims on why American Outsourcing is bad. The intended audience is
One of the hottest trends today for big corporations is outsourcing and offshoring. Outsourcing simply means a company based in one nation will hire from other nations in order to more efficient accomplish its goals. It makes sense on the part of the corporation, why pay a programmer in the US $80,000 a year when they can pay a programmer in India less than 1/10th of that salary, and make him a very happy man. This because even when he is earning 1/10th of the US salary, he is still earning more money than he ever hoped to get in that industry in India. It seems like a win-win situation1, but there is still a loser: The growing unemployed population of the US. As more jobs go overseas, more US citizens are finding themselves becoming obsolete.
Kibbe, C. (2004). Outsourcing” the good, the bad, and the inevitable. New Hampshire Business Review, 26(14), 1A.
Froma Harrop’s essay New Threat to Skilled U.S. Workers is a detailed and factual essay about the mystery of job-outsourcing. She also mentioned the long-term effects of the issue on our economy. Harrop’s audience for her essay leans towards skilled U.S. workers who are unaware that many jobs are moving overseas, but includes young college students as well. At the beginning of the essay Harrop immediately starts with an account from Alan Blinder, a Princeton economist. She describes his great displeasure after hearing how enthusiastic U.S. executives were while discussing job-outsourcing. Another pertinent piece of information included in Blinder’s account was his prediction that a great amount of jobs would be lost in the near future. “We speak of computer programing, book-keeping, graphic design and other careers once thought firmly planted in American soil” (Harrop 130) Harrop’s use of other sources helps give more credibility to the essay; however, it can decrease the complexity. Aft...
Weintraub, Daniel. “Outsourcing is Good for America…and California”. The Sacramento Bee. 13 July 2004. Google Search. 5 December 2004
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This paper provides rhetorical analyses of two presentations pertaining to outsourcing. Neither particularly opposes outsourcing, yet each provides information addressing two different outsourcing concerns. Kibbe’s 2004 article “Outsourcing: the good, the bad and the inevitable” focuses on United States (U.S.) job impact. Van Heerden’s 2010 speech “Making Global Labor Fair” focuses on human rights impact.
Kibbe, C. (2004, 07 09). Outsourcing: the good, the bad and the inevitable. New Hampshire Business Review, pp. 1A-21A.
Outsourcing has become a very popular issue, and it has reached an all-time climax. Firms are starting to do this a lot more than than in the previous decade. What is outsourcing? Outsourcing is defined as “The procuring of services or products, such as the parts used in manufacturing a motor vehicle, from an outside supplier or manufacturer in order to cut costs.” And it has become a big issue in our country. There are thousands of articles and books written on it, and you can attend numerous classes and speeches on the subject. The use of outsourcing is quite simple really… Either pay an American worker $15 an hour, or pay someone in India to do the same job for $2 an hour. There are lots of other advantages and disadvantages to outsourcing but I will address those later in the essay. So what does an average American really know about outsourcing? Most people would say sending our jobs to another country in order to save money isn’t justified. It would cost a lot of people jobs, which would send them into distress and possibly debt. But that’s not the whole story behind outsourcing. People hear about outsourcing and automatically decide that it is bad for our economy. What about the good things that outsourcing brings to our economy? We are sending jobs to India, their consumers will start making more money, and in return buy more of our goods and services. In this essay I will show you both points of the debate and you can decide for yourself whether or not outsourcing is bad for our country.
Globalization has had a major impact on the way business is conducted. Companies are increasingly turning to offshore software development outlets for design management. Anywhere from one-half to two-thirds of all Fortune 500 companies are already outsourcing to India and the amount of work done there for U.S. companies is expected to more than double this year according to Forrester Research. This paper will take a look at some of the arguments for and against outsourcing IT development to India. Most importantly this paper will take a look at ethical standpoints taken on outsourcing. But first, we'll take a look at the history of outsourcing to India.
Outsourcing has been around for many years. In this paper I will discuss some of the history of outsourcing, the goods things about outsourcing, and the bad things about outsourcing.