Global considerations in operations

Question 1

global sourcing meaning

Answer 1

businesses buying inputs from markets in other countries

Question 2

Strengths of global sourcing

Answer 2

• reduces costs
• accessing skills or resources that aren’t available locally
• increasing capacity of total supply

Question 3

limitations of global sourcing

Answer 3

• difficult to manage quality of inputs
• hidden costs associated within
• potential risks financially and ethically

Question 4

Offshoring labour meaning

Answer 4

goods produced in a different country to its headquarters.

Question 5

Strengths of offshoring

Answer 5

• reduced cost of production
• reduce delivery costs
• enables business to get its product to the market more quickly

Question 6

limitations of offshoring

Answer 6

• hidden costs associated
• risk financially and ethically
• lead time increased
• extra transport impacts environmentally

Question 7

global outsourcing meaning

Answer 7

part of business operations is transferred to an external person or business in another country

Question 8

strengths of global outsourcing

Answer 8

• improve quality because of access to expert knowledge
• production may be quicker as outsourced provide is able to focus on task they specialised in
• business is able to focus on core activities

Question 9

limitations of global outsourcing

Answer 9

• management may have less control over production process
• difficult to maintain quality
• security and confidentiality issues
• communication issues that lead to customer service problems