Texts for retelling and discussion 1. Read the text, make sure you understand everything and retell it: When we think of business, we usually think of tangible products that we can see
and touch: computers on the desk or cars in the showroom. We may also think of primary
products like coal or agricultural goods. But manufacturing forms a diminishing part of
most advanced economies: only 17 per cent of the US economy, for example. Manufac-
turing is increasingly lean, with 'Japanese' techniques such as just-In-time(JIT) ordering
of components and total quality management (TQM) becoming widespread.
There is an unresolved argument about whether economies need manufacturing at
all to survive and flourish. In many people's minds, nevertheless, there is great regret
when a factory closes in a 'traditional' industry: there is something more 'real' about work
in a car plant than in a call centre. (The call centre may be selling intangible products
such as mortgages: more and more services are described in product terms.) But the car
plant may provide more work indirectly, for example at the component manufacturers
that supply it.
We define ourselves partly by the products we own and use, wherever they are
made. Economies in different parts of the world are at different stages of development in
the way products are bought and perceived. In newly industrialised countries, such as
some of those in Asia, more and more people are now able to afford consumer durables
like washing machines for the first time, and companies that sell these types of goods can
make large amounts of money. In the West, the market for televisions or washing ma-
chines is basically one of replacement. In a situation like this, design, brand and image
become more important. Previously prestigious products, like certain makes of luxury
car, become increasingly affordable, and manufacturers have to be careful to stay ahead
of the game to avoid their brands being perceived as 'ordinary'.
The cars, televisions and washing machines of the 1950s may have had more style,
but modern products are technically far better now than they were then. Consumers may
complain about designed-in obsolescence and unnecessary sophistication of products
with too many features that are never used, and manufacturers may have started to take
this into account, simplifying the ways they are used. Consumers are also able to obtain
and compare information about different products more and more easily. Consumerism is
a force that manufacturers increasingly have to reckon with.