Globalization Bites Boeing

This article discusses the importance of Boeing to seek parts and components for their planes, including military planes, in countries outside of the U.S.; in other words, globalizing their company. However, to every story there are two sides, in this case – the pros and cons of globalization. One of the biggest advantages of globalization today is that when companies go multinational, they retain or gain competitiveness within their field. Throughout the world, there are many great ideas when it comes to everything and restricting yourself as a company to just one nation’s ideas is not the most productive thing. “Multinational corporations train their employees and partners how to make the fastest computer chips, the most productive food crops, and the most efficient light bulbs” (132, BaS). In Boeing’s case it was the same thing. As such a developed company, [it] could never stay competitive if it were not for the benefits of global alliances.” When it was first announced in February of 2009 that Boeing would be outsourcing jobs for the production of planes to foreign countries, Americans were very upset, stating their concerns of “lost jobs and the security risks in outsourcing production of military gear to foreign companies.” This goes hand in hand with Chapter 6 in Business and Society, where some of the costs of globalization are mentioned. One of the biggest concerns with globalization is job insecurity. “As businesses move manufacturing across national borders in search of cheaper labor, workers at home are laid off.” This is why Americans are torn between globalization being very beneficial to individuals and organizations or it being the exact opposite.