Assignment Task:
Introduction: Prior to answering the questions on this worksheet, you need to have read through the first 7 chapters of Going Global, the first 14 chapters of Travels of a T-Shirt, listened to the first 7 NPR Planet Money episodes (including the "Afterlife of a T-Shirt" episode), and viewed all 5 chapters of the NPR Planet Money videos.
Instructions: Answer each question by typing in the shaded text box. Be thorough, but please limit your answer to half a page or less for each question unless directed otherwise; the text box will expand to accommodate your answer. If your Word processor will not allow you to type in an answer, you may delete the text box and type in your answer as part of the document, but be sure to use formatting that enables the instructor to clearly see your answer. Do not cut and paste answers. Every response must be in your own w ords; brief quotes are permissible with quotation marks and a brief citation. You should be sure to save your answers as either a Word doc or pdf (the latter may preserve formatting better) and submit in Blackboard
1. The textile and apparel industries have been subject to a substantial amount of illegal activity over time. With particular reference to the discussion in Going Global, what are some of the most challenging types of illegal activity that importing countries and businesses have to content with when sourcing product from abroad?
2. Rivoli (Travels of a T-Shirt) entitles a chapter, "Perverse Effects and Unintended Consequences of T-Shirt Trade Policy." What are the most important of these effects and consequences?
3. Again from Rivoli: her t-shirt finally encounters a "free market." Does she mean that it encounters a market free from regulation and policy manipulation, or does she mean that ultimately its value is zero and it trades for "free" as a rag? Explain her meaning.
4. Among the many interesting components at the Hofstede Insights website (based on the research of the late Geert Hofstede, 1928 - 2020) is the work on "Dimensions of National Culture," available here: https://hi.hofstede-insights.com/national-culture. Read about each of the dimensions: "Power Distance," "Individualism versus Collectivism," etc. Then explore Hofstede's model as it applies to country comparisons at this site. Use their country comparison model to discuss this hypothetical scenario:
You're in the ranks of upper management for a major U.S.-based global retail chain. In the early years of your career, you worked in the U.S., and then you were sent to Europe to supervise the expansion of regional operations there. You've spent the past few years in Denmark, working with nationals in the corporate office there and with divisions in other nearby countries in northwestern Europe. Now you're being asked to relocate to southeastern Europe to do the same basic job, working with national staff in the next big expansion project. You'll be based in Greece and will work there and in nearby countries. The U.S. corporate office thinks you are the person for the job because you've done a great job so far and you're already familiar with European culture. You're not so sure! Use the cultural dimensions at Hofstede Insights to assess what will be similar, what will be different, and what adjustments you might need to make to manage your staff effectively in your new location. Writ e a one-page summary of what you learn, specifically addressing the implications for your management strategy.
5. Respond to this statement with evidence, either supporting or rejecting the claim: "The price of a t-shirt in the U.S. is largely a product of two components: labor and transportation. Labor, because even though the t-shirt is manufactured in a country where wages are low, it still takes a lot of worker time to take cotton from yarn to shirt; about a third of your shirt's price is going to pay for the workers who made it. Another third of your shirt's cost comes from transporting cotton from the U.S. to Asia, where the t-shirt gets made, and then back to the U.S. Even traveling in bulk is expensive when the shirt has to go around the world... twice!"