Globalised Manufacture/Trading

Question 1

What are the environmental issues influencing customer’s decisions to buy?

Answer 1

• Growing cotton uses vast amounts of land/water that could be used for crops or water, often in these countries there is not enough drinking water in the first place
• Customers looking for green/organic cotton which doesn’t pollute waterways and the surround land areas
• Sustainable plant fibres such as ramie, jute, bamboo
• Traditional dyeing methods use large quantities of water and produce toxic waste which is not often treated before disposal
• Tencel/Lyocell, new environ. friendly fabrics
• Avoiding high street mass manufacture, looking for craft products
• Recycled fabrics/components
• Reduced excess packaging
• Fair trade/eco friendly marks where there are minimum requirements for social,economical and environmental factors to be met.

Question 2

What are the ethical issues influencing customer’s decisions to buy?

Answer 2

• Increased awareness that there is not always laws to protect workers like there is in the UK
• Less economically developed countries
• Cotton pesticides and fertilisers can affect farmers health and poison water supplies
• Workers could be illegal immigrants or young children, little pay, dangerous conditions
• This is reflected in the low prices, no regard to workers health, safety or dignity

Question 3

Globalised Manufacture What, where, why?

Answer 3

• Competition, need for efficiency, reducing costs and heavily supported by electronic communication
• Designed in UK, west eu, North USA, manufactured elsewhere, taking advantage of newly industrialised countries - Far East, India, Africa
• Designers and manufacturer communicate by internet
• Final design info sent in seconds, fed directly to machines
• NICs invest in outwork factories, manufacture for wide range of retailers, quickly suing CAM, dependent on constant stream of work

Question 4

Benefits of Globalised Manufacture?

Answer 4

• Reduces cost, ensures high quality product with sub contracting
• Labour is cheaper, materials may be more easily available
• Skilled workers may be able to carry out more specialist tasks
• Increased employment, living standards, influx of foreign currency to off set debt

Question 5

Disadvantages of Globalised Manufacture?

Answer 5

• Environmental cost of manufacturing processes
• Usually only low level work available
• Less rigorous H&S
• Low pay
• Profits go back to foreign countries
• Decisions made my removed executives