Outsource or perish, US firms told

Rediff.com ^ | July 02, 2004 19:23 IST | Rediff News

[CarrotAndStick]

"China...the world's largest market for machine tools."

Scary thinking about what the future holds, with these two giants - China and India.

[TXBSAFH]

If they do this enough they will perish anyway. These countries will take over.

[jpsb]

yes the future looks very dim, with all labor becoming a commodity, even engineering and R&D we will all be reduced to subsistance level living if we are lucky.

Comming soon the super rich and the super poor.

[RetiredArmy]

The report also cited US executives who felt quality of American workers were deteriorating, compared to the high quality of workers in countries like India and China, the Washington Post reported.

You can thank the imperial federal government controlled school system and the American Teachers Association and democrats for this one. The dumbing down of America is taking route. Just sit on a bench and watch what walks around. Think seriously about what you are seeing. The young people that you see that look like retreads from the 60s or purchased their clothing from Goodwill, will be in charge of things in a few years. This country will sink into economic despair, socialism will flourish, quality of life will drop, personal freedoms will cease to exist. It is coming. I wish I could see more positive signs, but when over 1/2 of this country believes in the likes of Kerry, the democrats, Michael Moore, Bill Klinton type people as their heroes, this country is doomed. It is already on a down hill slide. Let the dems get the White House and Congress back at the same time, and it is over. Soviet America will exist.

[Sam the Sham]

Kerry started out with this issue and backed away from it once the big checks started coming in.

That is why he will lose. Without economic populism what does the Democratic Party have ? Gay marriage and Michael Moore ?

[CarrotAndStick]

"You can thank the imperial federal government controlled school system and the American Teachers Association and democrats for this one. The dumbing down of America is taking route. Just sit on a bench and watch what walks around. Think seriously about what you are seeing. The young people that you see that look like retreads from the 60s or purchased their clothing from Goodwill, will be in charge of things in a few years. This country will sink into economic despair, socialism will flourish, quality of life will drop, personal freedoms will cease to exist. It is coming. I wish I could see more positive signs, but when over 1/2 of this country believes in the likes of Kerry, the democrats, Michael Moore, Bill Klinton type people as their heroes, this country is doomed. It is already on a down hill slide. Let the dems get the White House and Congress back at the same time, and it is over. Soviet America will exist. "

Come, on. It does look bad, but as bad as you imagine? Now that's not true!

[StolarStorm]

Load of garbage from a consultant company with a vested interest in outsourcing. Any corp that buys into this fad will pay for it with their own downfall.

[thulldud]

The report also cited US executives who felt quality of American workers were deteriorating, compared to the high quality of workers in countries like India and China, the Washington Post reported.

In the days of "rugged individualism", this was not a problem. Now we have a culture that denies individual responsibility, particularly in the odious mass-production public education [sic] system. When the natural feedback loop between incompetence and failure is broken, both are perpetuated.

[GOP_1900AD]

As a person who has quite literally made a small fortune dealing with international manufacturing, supply chain management and cost management, I am utterly aghast at the infantile assertions that outsourcing, offshoring, greenfielding or any other set of short term tactics for reducing solely labor costs (and, with a weaker set of proof, facility costs) are a prerequisite for survival! My gosh, what about value engineering, error reduction, DFM, CAD/CAE/CAM optimization, automation, reduction in non essential absence, reduction in worker substance abuse, performance management, materials science, and the many other demonstrated effective methods of taking landed cost out of products? It is high time for cost management professionals to silence, once and for all, the current myriad of idiocy.

[No_Doll_i]

Over here.

Geez why does this not suprise me?

[CarrotAndStick]

It's not the report that's worrying, but the general trend of kids in America. But then, when you sit back and think about it, that's the general trend of kids everywhere.

[Doohickey]

Check this steaming load out.

[fooman]

I think I know the woman who is leading the charge on this on-Christine Dietrick from AT Kearney. She is as left as they come...

And yes BCG (aka the Dogbert Consulting Group) wants fat fees (the high upfront costs dontcha know) for this conversion.

[RetiredArmy]

Maybe in your world grasshopper, but not in mine. Like I said, everyone says this country is equally divided. Like 40% to 40% and the other 20% cannot even make up their minds. That means, they need someone to give them something to get their votes. If you think it is all rosey, you need to take off those rose colored glasses. I am not apparently as big an optimist as you.

[CarrotAndStick]

Hey! Now! Now! I didn't mean that we must ignore the threat, but isn't there danger in being too paranoid about the future? For heaven's sake, this is America!

[RetiredArmy]

I don't practice paranoid. I just look through clear eyes. I see what this country used to be. How people used to be. How this country used to act. How this country used to behave. How this country could rely on its leaders, look up to people in high places or in positions of opportunity. But, that is no more. Not in my book. In my book, this country has a huge cancer growing in it's belly and it would take major surgery to cut it out. Problem is, the patient will most likely die on the table.

[CarrotAndStick]

And I don't pride myself in being too much of an optimist either. What I'm saying is that America is far too advanced to backtrack from the privileges it enjoys now.

[Paul Ross]

Ping.

[traumer]

"the average hourly wages will be approximately $1.30 in China, $25.30 in the United States, and $34.50 in Germany "

How can Germany survive for so long - and its people still do quite well ??