This is a map of global trade in the
1st Century. People are busy trading, exchanging goods, getting wealthy and building cities. The population is rising and people have access to many exotic commodities and new ideas.
Global Trade Today
These graphics show the incredibly large amount of connections and interrelations between countries
Global Waterborne Trade (Shipping)
Global Transportation of Commodities (Sea, Land and Air)
Global Facebook Connections (globalization of communication and ideas)
Global Air Transportation Routes
Global Trade and You!
You are sitting in your bedroom. You are dressed in a Gap T-shirt, and Levi's jeans. You are wearing Adidas
trainers. Your room contains IKEA
furniture, a Nintendo games console, and an Apple Mac
computer.
Here's some global trade information about the
various products that go to make up the scene.
Levi's jeans: You will only wear Levi's jeans. You reckon they're the classic American brand: a symbol of the frontier spirit of the American
West; an icon of individualism and rebellion. But in
fact your Original Levi's 505 Regular Fit jeans were made in China.
The last two US-based sewing plants closed in early 2004 – manufacturing costs
being much cheaper in China.
Trainers: Your trainers are by Adidas, the leading German
sportswear company. You avoid wearing what you call ‘cheapo' less
well-established brands from the Far East. However, these Adidas Rekord
trainers were made in a new factory in Indonesia.
Game console: Your Nintendo was manufactured in Japan. Your
favourite game character is Super Mario – the chubby plumber of Italian descent
from Brooklyn, New York. You picked up a pirated copy in Mall for under a 10,000rp.
Gap T-shirt: Your Gap T-shirt might have been made in Lesotho, El
Salvador, Bangladesh or Indonesia. Gap, the second largest clothing retailer in
the USA, has in fact been one of the large transnational corporations (TNCs)
targeted by campaigners protesting against what they see as one of the
side-effects of globalisation the economic exploitation of developing countries
and poor pay and working conditions.
Apple Mac computer: Apple is a US company that designs its computers and
peripherals in Cupertino, California. However, your machine was actually
manufactured in Cork, in the Republic of Ireland. The Apple Pro Mouse you have just
bought was assembled in Malaysia.
IKEA furniture: Your parents recently kitted out your bedroom with
IKEA furniture. It's the UK's best-known Swedish brand. However, IKEA actually
works with 1600 suppliers in 55 countries all over the world. It has major
production plants in China, Poland and Germany – and
33%
of IKEA products are manufactured in Asia.
What goes into making the things you or your family own? A wide range of resources are needed from allover the world to make many of the items we own and use.
These processes of sourcing and transporting resources and goods is called the:
Global Supply Chain
iPhone
Car
Laptop
Shoes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVYcxi1rDgE
Group Work:
You should work on a presentation to share in
the next session about the global supply chain and your given topic (4 groups = 4 topics chosen from the above 4 examples)
1. What is the product?
2. Where is it designed?
3. Where do the raw materials come from?
4. Where do the component parts come from?
5. Where is the product assembled?
6. How is the product delivered to stores?
7.
Where can
you buy this product?
Reverse Global Supply Chain (tracing the history of a product bought in America to where it was made in Indonesia)
In preparation for your assessment, think about the things you own and use. Where are they made? What are they made from? Where do these resources comes from? You can start by looking at the label or sticker (this will normally say where it is made). Think about how much 'Global Trading' activity was involved in producing and delivering your item. Consider how much you rely on the Global Supply Chain for the items you own, use and enjoy.
