A controversy already

Already we have a controversy.

Still 14 days to go, and it seems that the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has drawn wrath and ire because the U.S. team's opening and closing ceremony uniforms were manufactured not in the U.S. but in China.

It's too late to change for the forthcoming Games, but CNN is reporting that the 2014 USA uniforms will be manufactured in the U.S.

While this is not the sort of controversy that I can put metrics around, it does illustrate how the tentacles of globalization continue to configue within-country decisions.

Globalization is here to stay, but we're only just starting to see the pendulum swing back in ways that weaken China's attractiveness as a manufacturer vs. the U.S. You may not have heard the term "backsourcing" yet, but it refers to the decision to return outsourced production back to the home country or, in some cases, to employee- rather than contractor-capabilities.

And it's already happening.

Driving the mini-trend
So far, it seems that two reasons are driving this back-to-home-country, mini-trend. 1) Wages in China are rising, which means that the profit margins aren't as attractive as they once were, and 2) China doesn't have the quality control that we do in the U.S., most notably for consumer and pet products so far.

Not that long ago, a filler/additive called melamine was responsible for pet and infant deaths because it was used during the manufacturing process. So, while we may not care all that much if our clothing comes apart at the seams sooner rather than later -- or doesn't wash very well, it does seem to matter when babies and pets die.

Based on the way organzational life seems to work, I really doubt that anyone outside designer Ralph Lauren's organization even gave that second thought to where the U.S. uniforms were being manufactured. But somebody somewhere figured it was worth ferreting out, so now it has surfaced.

 *****
As for yesterday's post about my plans to stay awake for 13 more hours during my first day in London, yes, I did manage to do it -- and despite almost getting run over by a bus, it was grand.

More later...