Below you will find the scenario and instructions for your second major assignment, ‘The Employer.’ Please consider all of the readings you have been assigned (whether from The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker (especially Chapter 11), or from in-class articles), in addition to our discussions during class, as background. You may also conduct your own research, but if you do, please be sure to cite it (using APA format) in your presentation (on a separate slide.)The scenario: You are considering making an investment (that is, buying shares) in a US-based publicly-traded company. The company you’re considering, while once a significant provider of manufacturing jobs in the United States, now does nearly all of its manufacturing offshore (that is, overseas.) The country in which it does most of its manufacturing has weak labor laws pertaining to wages and workplace safety, and typically fails to enforce environmental regulations common in developed countries. However, the company is extremely profitable. Should you make the investment? Prepare a 5 to 7-minute-long presentation in which you consider the following: Do you, as an investor, have any obligation–legal, moral, or ethical–to consider how foreign workers are treated when making an investment decision? What is the impact on the American economy and on American communities when American companies relocate manufacturing to developing countries? Should companies consider the opinions of consumers when it comes to making decisions related to manufacturing? Why or why not?
