OVERVIEW:

This assignment serves to encourage student dialogue and collaborative engagement of course material. We will dedicate a portion of each class session to review and clarify key concepts from the assigned readings and related lecture materials. Discussion posts receiving the most 'Likes' and discussion will serve to direct the focus of class discussion time.

In this chapter we explore many methods by which businesses can benefit from entering and competing in international markets. Many companies that compete in international markets hope to gain cost advantages. Offshoring has become a popular yet controversial means for trying to reduce costs. It involves relocating a business activity to another country. While it can reduce a companys costs of doing business, the job losses in the companys home country can devastate local communities.

A growing number of U.S. companies are finding that offshoring is not providing the benefits they had expected. This has led to a new phenomenon known as Reshoring whereby jobs that had been sent overseas are returning home because the quality provided by workers overseas is not good enough and/or the expected cost savings have not materialized.

ASSIGNMENT:

Reply to this thread with an answer to the discussion prompt(s) below...

• Is offshoring ethical or unethical? Why?
• Do you expect reshoring to become more popular for US companies in the years ahead? Why or why not?