The Relative Competitiveness and Socio-Economic Outcomes of Manufacturing in China - Essay Example

The Relative Competitiveness and Socio-Economic Outcomes of Manufacturing in China   Introduction In the21st century, China has emerged as the new economic power. Most international corporations and brands have set up manufacturing facilities in China. For those that have not, to some extent they have outsourced some of their services to the Chinese. The affairs between the United States and China can be termed as extraordinary, resulting to the American opinion of a growing China threat. Nevertheless, there is need for a cautious re-evaluation of China as a threat. There is need to recognize that China is a trading partner of unparalleled value, but also an increasingly significant political player capable of influencing key parts of United States interest. The 20th century will perhaps be remembered for China’s unprecedented evolution pace in global order, a development that has accelerated in the first stages of the 21st century. No other place is this more clear than in the ostensibly inexorable rise of Asia, and particularly China. Statements from the United States government earmarking the U.S-Chinese relationship as vital in the 21st century reveal the magnitude of Chinese influence globally. China’s growing power has been narrowly monitored among observers including political analysts. Indeed, Chinese impressive and explosive modernization- military and economic- unavoidably lead to speculation regarding the implications of such growth in years to come. However, with all that responsibility and opportunities being availed to china, certain issues cannot be overlooked. Critics claim that this new wave of doing business has overwhelmed china to the point that the quality of both the goods and services being delivered to clients is compromised. This essay looks into the various underlying factors as raised by the various stakeholders. It also concentrates on the relative competitive and socio-economic effects of manufacturing in China. There has been accusation of use of minors in most Chinese manufacturing companies. Human rights activists claim that the lower cost of manufacturing in china is a true reflection of this ill practice. There have been revelations of use of small children below the legal age by the United Nation Children protection agency and this is worrying. This situation gets worse due to the fact that most of the working conditions in those areas are health hazards (Coates, 2013, p. 12). Even for workers who are past the legal age for working, the environment endangers their lives. Most of the factories have very few if any sanitary facilities such as lack of good and clean water. When workers fall sick, there are no structured policies that can facilitate the access to proper medical assistance by the companies. Poor pay is a common complaint by the workers who insist that their pay does not truly reflect the amount of work they are subjected to. Environmental rights are the other issues that are a result of manufacturing in China. Most manufacturing companies use chemicals and other raw materials that are harmful to the environment and sequentially to the residence of those areas (Coates, 2013, p. 24). Due to lack of effective regulatory bodies to implement environment policies, the general pollution percentage by the factories has led to one of the highest rates of contaminated air and water resources in the world. The traditional way of living of the residents of those cities have been changed with most of them adopting the use of nose and mouth masks to reduce the chances of inhaling contaminated air .e.g. the skyline of Beijing at times has a lot of industrial fog reducing visibility to the point where flight get delayed or are diverted to other airports outside the city. Poor disposal mechanism of liquid based factory waste has contaminated the water resources that were initially used by the residents there. Also, on the part of corporates that outsource manufacturing to china, instances of corruption and fraud may be reported. Due to lack of a centralized system of governance in the manufacturing such as the company headquarters being in one country and the manufacturing in china, under the table deals may creep up. In terms of awarding the tenders to overseas companies, corruption may play a hand. Well positioned members of the company may decide to privatize such facilities especially those overseas to their own benefit since the public may not relate to such foreign based companies (Coates, 2013, p. 36). Such companies most of the times never reveal the nature of their revenue traffic and the lack of frequent audits and impromptu inspections. The risk with such practice ranges from fines by the federal government to imprisonment, which may be as a result of fraud charges filed against the responsible company. Due to manufacturing being based on another country, the indigenous people of the country where the company is based are denied the chance to benefit from such ventures as employment chances. With big manufacturing corporations, come social amenities and other supporting facilities. Therefore, if a British based company takes its manufacturing to china, the British people are denied the chance to serve and earn from such organizations. An area with a manufacturing plant has good and well maintained transportation and sanitary systems among other resources and lack of a factory denies the natives this chance. Some companies even have community based programs that are enjoyed by the residents around (Coates, 2013, p. 44). Such outreach programs are essential in a society and even though they may not be available for the people who “deserve” them, at least the residents of China where the factories are based are guaranteed of the same. The political nature of china plays an important role when it comes to the companies’ existence in that country. The rules and regulations governing certain industries there are at times established and implemented by the government without consulting the appropriate agencies. As a result, the oversight role is taken by the government which may be aligned towards a certain belief politically and affect the normal operation of the companies. This political uncertainty has led to most upcoming manufacturing companies based in china to be cautious with their long term investments plans in the country (Coates, 2013, p. 56). As a result, the belief by many that it was cheaper to manufacture in china and increase in net profit is overshadowed by this new and bigger threat. Tension exists between some countries in the west and china due to its political stand and this does not play well for her since these big economies have corporation based in china. There have been cases of theft of business ideas and counterfeit products as a result of manufacturing in china. When a company takes its manufacturing responsibility to china, apart from the assurance of cheap manufacturing cost comes the threat of counterfeit and theft of their idea. It is common to find two products from china where one is genuine and another is a fake copy of the original (Coates, 2013, p. 73). Things become worse because these ideas and secrets are stolen by the same manufacturers given the task to make the original genuine designs. It becomes had for such practices to be prevented since the individuals responsible are genuine employees and the victim is the customer who may not know the difference in such two products. The result is production of commodities that do not adhere to international and manufacturing standards and when consumers realize this, the brand of a company may be destroyed. The boom that has been in the manufacturing industries in china has reconfigured the global economic powers. There has been a shift from the west and now every major player in the world economy is headed East even the West themselves. The emergence of this new superpower has created some form of competitiveness and improved quality of high end products demanded by the consumers (Coates, 2013, p. 89). Although the same cannot be said of middle and low end markets, it is a shift that is expected in the years to come where every country wants to have a bigger, loyal and consistent market for its products. The results might be alliances between countries whose goal is to edge their competitors out of the market in manufacturing of products. As a point of conclusion, it is agreeable that manufacturing in china has as many socio-economical as there is competitiveness of products. The advantages are however, overshadowed by existing malpractices and poor work ethics characterized by lack of commitment when it comes to ensuring that working conditions as well as the rights of the stakeholders are taken care of. As of such, there will still be both appraisers and critics when it comes to the subject of manufacturing in china. However, the foundation that has already been laid down can only steer the manufacturing forward and as consumers and stakeholders demand more from the manufacturers, the only way to go up, is to improve and iron out the issues that threaten to destroy the manufacturing industry in china (Coates, 2013, p. 12). Bibliography Coates, R.2013. 42 Rules for Sourcing and Manufacturing in China (2nd Ed.). California: Super Star Press. Press. Read More