Many Products in the Marketplace Today Are Built from Components

question 19

Essay

Many products in the marketplace today are built from components designed and manufactured by sub-contractors. While the extent of this practice is not well known to consumers, manufacture and sale of multi-component units that use parts from many different companies continues to grow.
Required:
If the assembling company is using value-chain analysis in its strategic planning, comment on the following:
(a) The cost justification for subcontracting.
(b) The willingness of consumers to buy products they know contain subcontracted parts.
(c) The problems of quality control facing the assembling company.

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Definitions:

Feminine Culture

Cultural values that emphasize traits traditionally associated with femininity, such as cooperation, caring, and nurturing.

Collectivist

Prioritizing the group or community's needs and interests above individual desires, characteristic of cultures or organizations valuing cooperation over competition.

Power Distance

A cultural dimension that reflects the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power is distributed unequally.

Host-Country Nationals

Employees who are citizens of the country in which a foreign subsidiary is located, hired by a multinational organization.