Module 3

Jayden Nyman

IST 1100

Module 3

            Offshoring is moving operations of a company to other countries. There can be many different reasons involved that make offshoring a benefit to companies. Being able to pay their employee’s lower wages, paying lower taxes, subsidized energy, and a lower cost on health care as well as maintain better economic conditions are all benefits of offshoring. To me the major difference between outsourcing and offshoring is that when outsourcing occurs you don’t necessarily move your entire company to another country. With offshoring you do move your company to another country because it is smarter economically. Dealing with outsourcing is different because you can still have other countries doing jobs and functions for you but it doesn’t mean your moving part of your company out of the country. Outsourcing is when you contract a third party to do some of your work on the company’s behalf.

            As Friedman states supply chaining is method of collaborating horizontally among suppliers, retailers, and customers to create value. How supply chains work is say a customer buys a product, the product is now instantly relayed to the producer who knows what product to make and ship to the retailer. Now the retailer will know what store will need the product to be restocked. Supply chaining forces a set of common standards as well as encouraging global collaboration. Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas is the perfect example of a supply chain. In their 1.2 million square foot distribution center, they have thousands of workers 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is what makes Wal-Mart the biggest retail company in the world. It is crazy because all Wal-Mart makes is a hyper efficient supply chain. A great advantage to Wal-Mart from other retailers is that Wal-Mart does not need to have such a huge inventory because of their supply chain. All that happens is the supply chain is notified when the stock is low, then more product will shortly arrive. Wal-Mart is one of the most efficient supply chains there is today.

            Google has affected businesses in many different ways. First off, Google has made it easier for businesses to get their name out to the world. There are tons people browsing on Google 24 hours a day all over the world. This meaning that if your business is available to be seen on Google, then there is a good chance for your business to boom in a positive direction. Google can take a negative toll on businesses because of all the reviews that are available just by searching a name on Google. But in other words if you have more positive feedback than negative, then people will see the positive remarks and be attracted to your business.

            What I can take out of this reading is that the world around us is being revolutionized. Google is taking over the internet world, and supply chaining has become a way to increase value in company’s around the world that decide to chase down what Wal-Mart has accomplished. This weeks reading from The World is Flat has kept me entertained and interested. I had never looked into Wal-Mart as much as I have reading this section of the book.