Please try to give me a new answer which is never posted!

Read the Case Incident Apple Goes Global mentioned below. Assume you are a member of the leadership team for a small to medium-sized manufacturing firm, and prepare, as your initial post, a response to Apple and Lululemon regarding the strengths of the North American workforce. What could the North American workforce offer that might not be available in offshore regions?

Case Incident

Apple Goes Global

It was not long ago that products from Apple, perhaps the most recognizable name in electronics manufacturing around the world, were made entirely in the United States.⁵¹ This is not so anymore. In 2020, Apple sold 194 million iPhones, 71 million iPads, and 20 million Mac and MacBook units.⁵² Today, these Apple products are manufactured overseas. Components and materials come from various suppliers, and then they are shipped to an assembly plant in China.⁵³ Once assembled, they are ready for shipment to consumers.

There are over 1.5 million Apple employees who work outside of the United States and 80,000 employees who work within its borders. During COVID-19, jobs were impacted, and this included manufacturers of components and materials for Apple products. Largan Precision Co., which makes camera lenses for smartphones, reported a decrease in sales of 22 percent.⁵⁴ Although a lot of employees were furloughed, Apple employees continued to receive their salaries. Retail employees were even given a $100 reimbursement to purchase equipment for their homes, like chairs or desks. Their internet plans were also reimbursed if they needed an upgrade.

At first glance, this may seem to be a simple transfer of jobs from one country to another based on a difference in wages, but where Apple is concerned this would be an oversimplification. In fact, the reason for the move to China was not simply an attempt to reduce the costs of iPhone production; it was done to fulfill iPhone demand. The Chinese factory employs 230,000 workers,⁵⁵ and there are only 83 cities in the United States that count that many people in their population.

Apples leaders believe their success in China is based on the vast scale of their factories and a cheaper labour force that works longer hours than its North American counterpart. Apple executives tell of shorter lead times and faster manufacturing processes in China that are becoming the stuff of company legend. The speed and flexibility is breathtaking, one executive said. Theres no American plant that can match that. Another said, We shouldnt be criticized for using Chinese workers. The US has stopped producing people with the skills we need.

The perception of an overseas advantage might suggest that the North American workforce needs to be better led, better trained, more effectively managed, and more motivated to be proactive and flexible. If Canadian and US workers are less motivated and less adaptable, its hard to imagine how that does not spell trouble for the future of the North American workforce.

There is an ongoing debate whether companies such as Lululemon and Apple serve as examples of the failure of North America to maintain manufacturing plants at home or whether these companies should best be viewed as examples of global ingenuity.