The downside of globalization

Globalization is good, right? Not necessarily. Displaced workers, easy spread of disease, for example, are two negative consequences of globalization.

In class, we discuss the impact of globalization on women, specifically, that there's some evidence that women in more globalized countries tend to do better, in terms of access to health care and education, legal rights, etc.

However, I don't think it's a simple relationship. More globalized countries are also richer countries, an.d maybe it's just that women do better in countries where there are more resources available.

MIDEAST: Women Migrant Workers With HIV Get Raw Deal - IPS ipsnews.net

BBC News - Mothers tempted to abandon babies in Moscow

Human Trafficking in Europe a 2.4 Billion Euro Industry UN Dispatch

"Emblems of Corporate Corruption"

Very nice look, with a historical perspective, at the public image of Big Business. It's a British perspective, meaning close enough to understand US thinking, yet far enough to have some objectivity. I especially liked the insight about our love-hate realtionship with W**Mart.

America's most-hated companies The very bottom line Economist.com

Doing well by doing good: The case of Costco

ABC News: Costco CEO Finds Decency Is Compatible With Profitability

Note, too, that CEO Jim Sinegal's salary of $350,000 is about 12x what the rank-and-file employees earn; the average in the US today is at about 500x that of employees. This doesn't consign him to poverty; Sinegal is also a major stockholder in a very profitable, growing company.

Your thoughts?

Janitors' Drive in Texas Gives Hope to Unions - New York Times

Read this story from the New York Times, then watch the 60 Minutes segment entitled "Living Large" (3d story down). Am I the only one who sees a major disconnect here?

Your thoughts?

WTO Hong Kong Meeting: Setting the Bar Low

Following arecent meeting of the trade / commerce ministers from the US, EU, Brazil, India and Japan, a general consensus was reached -- that the December meetings of the WTO in Hong Kong will likely not result in much in the way of new agreements. The issue of US / EU agricultural subsidies will be on the agenda, but is unlikely to be resolved, while the richer nations will proabably ask for concessions from the lesser developed countries in areas such as access to markets.

Trade ministers dampen down expectations

The question is, though -- is this necessarily a Bad Thing? One's automatic reaction is to say, yes, that we want diplomatic talks (be they military, political or economic) to move towards resolution of conflict.

However. WTO / GATT negotiating rounds have been on a more-or-less continouius basis for over 50 years now, and there's no question but that progress has been made. The trade barriers we saw prior to WWII just aren't there any more.

[We'll leave out here the deeper philosophical issues over whether free trade is a Good Thing].

Ok. So GATT / WTO has moved slowly, yet continued to make progress. But I'd also make the argument that the issues being negotiated are important ones (the US agricultural subsidies have been around since the 1930's; the EU's agricultural subsidies are driven, by part, from famine expereinces in WWI and WWII). If these are important issues, doesn't it make some sense to move slowly, so that whatever solution is ultimately arrived at is one that all parties concerned can live with? The ag subsidies are an important issue. But, are they such an important issue that we need to rush to settle the issue or is it so important that we need to move slowly, so that whatever answer we reach is the best one?

Your thoughts????

WalMart and their overseas suppliers

According to this article ("Wal-Mart Accused of Denying Workers' Rights") in The Washington Post,

An American labor rights group filed a class action lawsuit today against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., alleging that suppliers in five foreign countries denied workers a minimum wage, overtime pay and the right to unionize.

The group is suing...

...on behalf of 15 foreign workers, who contend they were subjected to
illegal working conditions, and four California business owners, who argue
Wal-Mart's alleged conduct amounted to unfair business practices.

Should be interesting. Your comments? Both the HR and International folks should be interested in this.

Of Interest to both HR and International Business

This article from the New York Times deals with the efforts of workers, many of them immigrants, to organize labor unions in poultry processing plants.

Union Organizers at Poultry Plants in South Find Newly Sympathetic Ears

For the HR class -- as we discussed last week, there is a rationale for a low-cost HR strategy, such as in cases where jobs are low-skill and there's a lot of price pressure on the company (to deliver a low-cost product). What you want to think through is just how far should that strategy be followed? In other words, what are the ethical implications here?

Your thoughts?