Capital Speed
An especially shiny and unsurprisingly optimistic take on new shifts in globalised capitalist production from BusinessWeek:
Take clothing retailer H&M. Every time it designs a new outfit, the Swedish company can choose on the fly among more than 700 manufacturers worldwide. It looks for the right skills, geographic proximity, and ability to finish the job quickly—and then gets the plant rolling in a matter of hours or days. Or consider Wipro Ltd., the Indian outsourcing firm. It does engineering and design for clients, and in some cases, part of its fee is based on the success of the product it delivers. Customers can keep costs low, until they know they’ve got a hit on their hands. “Our clients are under a lot of pressure to get new products faster into the market. Their core employment isn’t adequate for it, so they’re looking for partners who can do it for them,” says Azim Premji, Wipro’s chairman.
It’s all about speed, you see. Might be time to start reading up on Paul Virilio again.
Your Comments
Catherine Howell writes:
On a related outsourcing-and-globalisation note, check out the recent report in the THES by Geoff Maslen. Australian Go8 leaders visiting India have been sent a firm message by Indian HE and business leaders that Australian universities should act in partnership with India rather than behave as “aggressive marketers in Asian countries.” The Australian higher education industry should help contribute to India’s development, not exploit it as just another market for Australian products and services. But I don’t know how this message will go down with a Howard government strongly focused on its economic agenda—cf. Lisa’s post…
Posted: 21 03 2006 - 20:58 | Permanent link to this comment
Nick Caldwell writes:
Yeah, it’s exactly these kinds of issues that get lost in the intensely polarised globalisation debate.
On a tangential note, see also an interesting piece by Crooked Timberite economist, Daniel Davies.
Posted: 21 03 2006 - 21:05 | Permanent link to this comment
Glen writes:
I am currently reading Steve Redhead’s relatively new semi-personal/intellectual biography on Virilio. Interesting stuff, particularly on Virilio’s early ‘oblique function’ work.
Posted: 23 03 2006 - 13:58 | Permanent link to this comment
Commenting is closed for this article.