Originally posted by Nesster Thanks, it's a good read.
And one of his main points applies to GM, namely, that the factory and engineering can have a beneficial symbiosis. In the case of tech, this is broken by offshoring, with an ultimate cost to US employment and initiative. In the case of GM, know-nothing management and unions, and separation of function in the design, engineering, manufacturing, and bean counting.
Offshoring in almost any business - banking for example - is false economy. 1) while the immediate financials show a save, actual project efficiency suffers as well as end quality. Efficiency and quality are difficult to quantify in dollars. 2) current old timers know the business and product and what works, and we wonder where the next generation will come from as there are no ranks to move up from.
Companies that offshore their operations are hollowing themselves out. I don't know enough about taxes and other similar whether or not there are incentives either way. I do know that the IRS related bookkeeping requirements (to catch tax cheats), real estate costs, and health care costs are three very large bits of overhead that such companies seek to avoid by offshoring.
The focus on this quarters financial has hollowed out these companies. You can't make a product for the future if 100% of your focus is on this quarter's filing.