In The News

The Future of Outsourcing

Pete Engardio February 1, 2006
In recent years, the specter of outsourcing has haunted US business and labor. Much as competition from China and Mexico decimated the US manufacturing base, remote call centers and consulting firms flourishing in India and elsewhere in the developing world could put thousands of white-collar middle-class jobs in peril. Desperate to cut corners and costs, many leaders of US corporations became...

In Threat to Internet’s Clout, Some Are Starting Alternatives

Christopher Rhoads January 31, 2006
Since the advent of the commercial internet more than a decade ago, the US has overseen the administration of that global resource. Now, however, alternatives to the internet are emerging in other nations—a development that is in part a reaction to US control. As other nations push for a greater say in how the internet is run, competing networks start up for political, business, and cultural...

Globalisation Focus Shifts from Costs to Customers

Reuters January 30, 2006
Survey results released at this week’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos suggest that the orientation of global business is shifting. Companies no longer regard large developing countries like China, India and Brazil as merely sources of cheap labor. A survey of executives conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that businessmen expect developing countries to play a much...

Free and Fair Trade

Noam Chomsky January 30, 2006
MIT professor Noam Chomsky envisions the potential of “just globalization,” in an interview with Global Agenda, and raises concerns about the lack of truly free trade and evenhanded governance within the changing global business climate. Contending that everyone favors globalization, or “international integration,” he cautions about divisive applications that are detrimental to the rights of...

No Single Recipe for Facing Challenges of Globalization

Takashi Kitazume January 28, 2006
Though it still makes headlines, outsourcing may be going out of style. At a recent Tokyo symposium held in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, a bevy of economists assessed the costs of outsourcing for companies. Announcing the findings of a five-year study of more than 500 firms, MIT economist Suzanne Berger suggested that a range of strategies can lead to success...

E-Waste@Large

Elizabeth Royte January 27, 2006
Computer recycling is meant to keep hazardous materials out of incinerators and landfills, reusing components to avoid the pollution and energy use required to obtain new materials. But recycling is also expensive and hazardous. So many companies, rather than disassemble the machines, chose to export them to developing nations, where they are not repaired or sold, but dumped. Each month, 400,...

A New Wrinkle for Globalization

Katrin Bennhold January 26, 2006
For its proponents and opponents alike, economic globalization’s greatest force is its disregard for the sanctity of national borders. Some analysts have forecasted that growing cross-border transaction will weaken the nation-state as we know it. Yet recent events suggest otherwise. While some nations empowered by natural resources like oil and gas have been flexing their muscles against...