In the Learning Activity “The Economist: Report on Outsourcing and Offshoring,” Tamzin Booth comments that companies are rethinking their offshoring strategies. 

1.  In briefly explaining the differences between outsourcing and offshoring mentioned in this topic one can boil the differences down to distance and control.  The term "offshoring" refers to the fact that the work, production, or whatever it is that we are talking about has proven to be of less risk if done on another continent or overseas. Basically, the term implies that there is an ocean between where the work is generated and where it is performed. One instance might be when a company that is based in the U.S. decides to hire workers in the Philippines for the production of the item in question. Outsourcing does not make this distinction. One can Outsource to a party in the same town and it is still outsourcing. The second main distinction is that in offshoring the overseeing and control of the production stays with the firm, while in outsourcing the contractor, or vendor that is outsourcing oversees the entire production of whatever it is that they have been contracted for. The outsource vendor has only the contract that they must adhere to. 


2.  List three reasons from the video or (podcast) as to why companies are rethinking their offshoring strategies. 
        
        The Economist reports that companies are changing their outsourcing and offshore standing. The merits for this are as follows. 
            
            1.  The global labor arbitrage. You can no longer rely on cheap labor. This resource is all but used up as evidenced with the labor markets in China and India. Cheap workers in China and India are showing little loyalty but quitting the companies that trained them and leaving companies for better-paying jobs with different companies.
            
            2. Industrial automation is increasing. The need for the masses of low-paid workers is now heavily offset with automation and robotic advancements.
            
            3. Due to the indulging of herd behavior, companies were losing the benefit offshoring.  Offshoring and Outsourcing seems to be herd behavior. As a result, when one company choose a location for low-paid worker production the rest of the companies follow them to that area. The end result is a worker to the highest bidder effect. It is possible to end up paying more for the outsourcing or offshoring than it would have cost to do the work in-house
            
            Lenovo is getting rid of Offshoring with a desire to have production closer to their main market.
    A. What automotive company is mentioned in the video that has turned to offshoring? 
        General Motors is taking over all of its own IT systems itself. General Motors wants new information, new products, and these things are just better done in-house. Further, call centers are moving in-house to improve customer service. Because of automation, the pay cost is not that much. 
    B. Research this company and comment on what the status of offshoring is with this company today. 
        "Ten times more productivity. One thousand percent more data. Nearly 10,000 more employees."(Wayland, 2017). It seems that this new rebuilding and move from outsourcing is paying off big.  
    C. What automotive company has followed in the footsteps of the company mentioned in the video? 
        According to Wayland Ford Motor Company is following suit and broke ground on $200 million advanced data center in Michigan. In addition, other companies such as Toyota are joining in the transformation (Wayland, 2017).
    D. Do you support the strategies of these companies? Why or why not?
        I do support these strategies but for different reasons.  The only avenue the U.S. has to prevent bankruptcy is to raise the Gross National Product.  The current president helped by getting rid of NAFTA, but bringing the jobs back home must be done by our biggest companies. The U.S. needs to at least be able to pay the interest on its loan. If we cannot get to that point we are done. 
    
    
    
    References
    Wayland, Michael. GM plots next phase of IT overhaul, Unlocking the potential of a vast data empire. Automotive News  September 18, 2017, http://www.autonews.com/article/20170918/OEM06/170919754/gm-it-randy-mott