Offshore production
The world’s consumption of fashion is huge. The European Union imported textiles (clothing and carpets) to the value of €83.7 billion in 2010. Prices have fallen, too, with hand-finished shirts costing less than five euros. To make clothes at these low prices, companies have to keep costs down. They use offshore production to do this. Large companies make their products in developing countries where workers are paid much less than in developed countries.
A point that should be considered in that case is that developing countries encourage developed countries to invest in them to provide jobs. Supporters of overseas production point out that increased investment has positive effects in the long term. Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman points out that the growth in manufacturing has an impact on the rest of the economy, because it reduces the number of people needing to work in agriculture and increases competition for labour. This leads to higher wages, which lead to other improvements, such as the ability to send children to school. On the other hand, the disadvantage of this foreign investment is the fact that it can have a negative impact on the economy of developed countries, because people lose their jobs when production is outsourced to other countries.
It seems that if multinationals are going to benefit from low production costs by using overseas suppliers, they should do more to improve the social situation-for example, by building schools for the children in those communities. It is also clear that multinationals should invest in communities in the developed countries where they sell their products. Furthermore, given multinationals do benefit from lower costs of production in developing countries and their workers, they need to feel obliged to protect the workers in overseas manufacturing plants.
相似题推荐
假设你是明启中学学生李明，你校将开展“节约粮食我先行”的活动。此次活动旨在宣传珍惜粮食，忆苦思甜，杜绝浪费粮食现象。现向学生们征集活动策划。请你给校办老师发一封电子邮件，提出你对此次活动的策划方案。邮件内容应包括：
1. 对节约粮食提出建议；
2. 阐述饮食背后的文化。
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你的短文应包括以下内容：
1. 描述图片内容，如情景、人物、动作、表情等；
2. 分析这一现象对孩子成长的危害；
3. 结合自身实际，就父母如何陪伴孩子给出合理的建议。
注意：
1. 根据图片及中文提示，作必要的发挥想象；
2. 词数120词左右；
3. 作文中不得提及考生所在学校和本人姓名。
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Television is doing irreparable harm
Television hasn’t been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the television. We rush home or have our meals quickly to be in time for this or that programme. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do anything, providing it doesn’t interfere with the programme.
There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programmers are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programmes, the whole became a village.
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become satisfied with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. Television may be a splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real Jiving when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the television.
Seniority in Promotion Is Not a Wise Business Practice
It's not always an easy decision for companies when it comes to filling managerial spots. In the past promoting an employee has been popularly handled by means of basic analysis of the employees' past performance nod seniority, In some cases, the individual's performance has been considered more important while in others the amount of time they have been with the company has been the deciding factor. Nevertheless, seniority is a standard that has never been left out, However, in the contemporary business world, the importance of seniority in promotion is being destroyed as a growing number of companies look outside of their organizations when trying to fill top managerial spots.
Unlike experienced employees who have been with the company for a long time, new people are mare likely generate creative ideas. In rapidly changing markets, innovative and creative talents are sought by many companies in order to adapt to the market. To meet their needs, companies have more to gain by selecting outside employees since they are more willing to try new techniques and less afraid of breaking tradition when introducing new ideas. Thus, rather than promoting existing employees, it might be a wiser management decision to bring in outside talent.
An additional advantage to this new system is that it prevents employees from feeling that they only need to wait for their seniority to provide them with a promotion. Simply put no matter how long they have been with the company, employees have to contribute diligently to the organization if they want to move up the career ladder, As soon as people realize that the company could just as easily bring in a new person, employees will stop judging themselves against each other because they are no longer competing against their colleagues but everyone in the entire industry. As a result, they will begin to show more effort to bring the level of their work up to what they imagine is a much higher standard.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Over the past few decades, more and more countries have opened up the markets, increasingly transforming the world economy into one free-flowing global market. The question is:is economic globalization good for all?
Those who advocated globalization claim that economies in developing countries will benefit from new opportunities for small and home-based businesses. For example, small farmers in Brazil who produce nuts that would originally have sold only in local open-air markets can now promote their goods worldwide by the Internet. According to the World Bank, one of its chief supporters, economic globalization has helped reduce poverty in a large number of developing countries. Home to some three billion people, these twenty- four countries have seen incomes increase at an average rate of five percent compared to two percent in developed countries.
Critics take a different view, believing that economic globalization is actually widening the gap between the rich and poor. A study carried out by the U.N.-sponsored World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization shows that only a few developing countries have actually profited from integration into the world economy and that the poor, the uneducated, unskilled workers, and native peoples have been left behind. Moreover, they maintain that globalization may eventually threaten emerging businesses. For example, Indian craftsmen who currently seem to benefit from globalization because they are able to export their products may soon face fierce competition that could put them out of business. When large-scale manufacturers start to produce the same goods, or when superstores like Wal-Mart move in, these small businesses will not be able to keep up and will be crowded out.
One thing is certain about globalization--- there is no turning back. Advances in technology combined with more open policies have already created an interconnected world. The challenge now is finding a way to create a kind of globalization that works for the benefit of all.
