Blog 4

 The T.A.L. episode David and Goliath talked about the experience of Cambodia within the global market. Cambodia’s main export is textiles and it originally had trade deals that guaranteed manufacturing work in this industry. These trade deals allowed Cambodia to develop some of the best labor laws that regulate working conditions, such as 8 hour days, no child labor, and maternity leave. However, these trade deals have since expired and textile manufacturers in Cambodia are struggling to find orders, especially since their textiles cost more money due to their labor laws. This situation raises the question of how human rights and manufacturing efficiency can coexist. Child labor shouldn't have to be utilized in order to produce a cheaper product, yet it happens daily. However, numerous people in developing countries flock to manufacturing jobs as it can provide for whole families in these regions. This is seen in Chapter 20 of the textbook in which it states,” the enormous flow of people, mainly young and unschooled, from China’s villages to Shenzhen and similar cities.” The working conditions in Shenzhen are quite poor. The work shift is on average 12 hours, six to seven days a week, and the book references an incident when 32 people were killed when molten steel was accidently dumped on them. However, areas with better working conditions and more skilled workers can be desirable as seen in Chapter 21. This chapter talks about the three stages of the company Nike and mentions how at the end of the third stage, Nike was looking to relocate its factories back into South Korea. Although the manufacturing in South Korea was more expensive, the craftsmanship of the workers and the quality of the products produced were better than in China. Additionally, all the raw materials needed for the Nike Air were available in South Korea, rather than having to be imported.