Module 3

 

Offshoring is taking a large part of what a company does and sending it somewhere else (generally to another country). The company usually sets up a factory in a different country where production can be done cheaper and faster with higher quality work. Companies that can utilize offshoring well can save time and money. Offshoring and outsourcing are different in a few different ways. While outsourcing is usually a small part of a project that lasts for a short time, offshoring is done for a long period of time with a factory being built to produce goods. Another difference is that offshoring is done by expanding the company while outsourcing is going outside of the company to get work done.

A supply train is when one company controls all of the raw materials needed to construct something, as well as the means to pack, transport and sell the finished product. The best example of a supply train is Walmart. Walmart owns companies that manufacture so many things that they rarely need to buy from other companies. When Walmart wants to sell a TV stand they have a division of Walmart that supplies the wood and another to supply the nails and another to provide any metal needed. By controlling all these resources Walmart saves a lot of money and time. 

Google has changed business in many ways. Before google if a company wanted to know the prices other companies were charging for their goods and services they had to send someone to find those prices. If a company wanted Intel on their competitors they had to go out and buy the product and test it for themselves. Now they just need to google the product and a list of customer reviews can be seen. Google has helped small businesses by allowing customers to look for the best prices from home. If a small business can compete with the large corporations in price they don’t need much advertisement because they can be found on google.