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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (5974)	6/17/2006 1:23:47 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

[Salute Mr. Palmisano!]--Opinion: IBM wants to change the corporate world as we know it By Michael Cooney, NetworkWorld.com, 06/15/06 For a guy who doesn't speak much to the public, IBM Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano sure can deliver a punch when he needs to. Related links Palmisano wrote in Monday's Financial Times that big corporations need to radically change their thinking, get their heads out the sand and fully embrace the world as one big integrated operation lest a bunch of anti-globalization zealots bring down the world economic house. He said large multinational corporations such as IBM, General Motors, Ford and others need to stop treating foreign countries as colonies, basically keeping the good stuff at home and offshoring the junk to the remote outposts where labor is cheap. In Palmisano's "globally integrated enterprise," new technology and business models will let companies treat their functions and operations as component pieces, that can be pulled apart and put back together in new combinations, based on judgments about which operations the company wants to excel at and which are best suited to its partners, regardless of locations. "These decisions are not simply a matter of offloading non-core activities, nor are they mere labor arbitrage - that is, shifting work to low-wage regions," he wrote. "Rather, they are about actively managing different operations, expertise and capabilities to open the enterprise up in multiple ways, allowing it to connect more intimately with partners, suppliers and customers and, most importantly, enabling it to engage in multifaceted, collaborative innovation." Its an interesting concept, one that makes sense on number of levels in that such an undertaking could reduce corporate and manufacturing costs, increase the labor pool and really open up a global economy. But even Palmisano sees the difficulties here, or at least he perceives them. "These issues are too big and interconnected for business or government alone to solve. I believe public sector leaders will find in business a willing partner to reform healthcare and education, secure trade lanes and electronic commerce, advance innovation, train and enable the displaced and dispossessed, grapple with environmental problems and infectious diseases and tackle the myriad other challenges that globalization raises," he wrote. Those are some big requirements. And of course the reality is much more harsh. Countries tend not to be so open - just look at our own H-1B program, which controls the number of foreign tech workers entering the U.S., and the myriad anti-offshoring/outsourcing groups. Not to mention the hoops Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco and others have had to jump through to compete in China. Even India - where IBM recently said it was going to invest $6 billion - is routinely lambasted as protectionist. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. It's a fascinating idea and certainly the world needs more of those, but the reality of the fractured environment Palmisano suggests changing seems beyond the scope of what most companies can handle. networkworld.com

To: RealMuLan who wrote (5974)	6/19/2006 12:33:22 AM
From: 8bits	Respond to of 6370

Unfortunately I can not read Chinese so I'll take your word for it. I will say I am very much about labor rights especially when it comes to safety as I have been injured 5 times on the job. I would suggest bringing this information to the attention of American, Canadian, and European NGOs and try to suggest the idea of a boycott. (Worked fairly well in the case of Nike.. wages were improved and egregious safety violations were reduced..) The Ipod is a device whose market is primarily the under 30 crowd which is more open to activism and boycotts. geocities.com monitor.net Does China allow labor organizing...? It was unions in the US that push for much of the safety infrastructure we have now. "30% lower than the Shen Zhen official regulation" Rule of law is critical for any country going through such a transition as China.