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QUESTION
Made In The.....?
Objective: to explore how familiar commodities or products are actually produced, exchanged and consumed.
Intro: We rarely give thought to the networks of people, places, and flows that make possible the incorporation of products into our daily routines. This exercise is designed to do precisely that; emphasizing the way in which people and places are connected even when the infrastructures and channels that enable those connections are often veiled or hidden from view. In this exercise we encourage you to trace back a product from its point of consumption, identifying the various channels and stages through which it travels.
First select a product that you use or consume on a regular basis such as a food item, a favorite article of clothing, or some other less obvious commodity that figures in your daily life, such as the electricity that powers your home, the water you drink or the fuel that powers the vehicle you drive. As best you can, determine and then map the product's source – either as a particular location or as a region or country. Using web-based and more traditional sources describe the place of origin, paying particular attention to the role that the product plays in the economy of that country or place. In the case of foodstuffs, garments or products like oil, you may well find that the commodity plays a highly significant role in the community.
Then trace the network of the product to you. A commodity can be tricky. While food and drink items may be labeled with a country or place of origin, the utilities that we use or the gasoline that we buy are generally anonymous in regard to their place of production. In part, this is because some products are composed of elements with diverse origins that are subsequently blended together via an infrastructure grid in the case of gas and electricity or a refinery in the case of gasoline. Even when food products or garments are labeled with their place of origin, the commodity and its components are likely to have passed through various places before reaching its ‘made in’ location. Despite these caveats, it should be possible to at least begin to reveal the geographies of the networks that make possible the production and movement of the product. And we should not forget that the consumption of a product rarely represents some terminal point in its journey – food products generate human waste, fuel combustion produces a variety of byproducts (some harmful, others benign), while whole commodities themselves are often recycled or re-used via second and subsequent cycles of sale, consumption, and use.
Now try to find out what you can about the conditions under which the commodity is produced. What kind of labor is involved in its production and how is that labor organized? Using the International Labor Office Bureau of Statistics website (www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/index.htm) you should be able to get a reasonable idea of the average wages in the occupation or industry of interest. How do these wages compare to the equivalent industry in your home country? Data on average wages provides insight into nature and conditions under which commodities are produced but this is clearly only one part of the puzzle. As best you can, try to determine the route that the commodity is likely to have traveled to reach its destination. Questions of transportation and distribution have become strangely marginalized within contemporary economic geography but they provide, along with finance, the grease that enables the grinding wheels of the economy to turn. Determine, if you can, the mode by which the product has reached its destination. In the case of tangible commodities then the principal transportation modes are simple – air, sea and land transport. But increasingly the product – a ringtone for example or a satellite TV program – is likely to have traveled along a virtual or digital highway moving from one electronic device to another.As you trace the life of the commodity then bear in mind that the association between product and company is often far more complicated than one of simply revealing the company name. Many industries – most classically garments and textiles – exhibit a pattern in which brand retailers sub-contract the production of clothing to nonbrand manufacturers and distributors. US companies such as Abercrombie and Fitch or Nike have few if any manufacturing facilities of their own. At their core, they are very largely brands rather than manufacturers.
Turn in a paper with the information above. This can be a short paper and could include a map or graphics if it helps for making the point.
| Subject |
Business |
Pages | 5 | Style | APA |
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Answer
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The “Coca- Cola Classic” Beverage
The “Coca- Cola Classic” beverage is one of the most popular beverages in America. Whereas it is now being consumed on a global scale, it is said to have first originated from Atlanta, Georgia. On May 8, 1886, Dr. John Pemberton created the Coca-Cola syrup and carried the new product to an establishment known as the Jacobs Pharmacy. At that point it was sampled and declared excellent and later on carbonated water was added to it, thus leading to the Coca-cola drink that is now enjoyed by billions all over the world (Pendergrast, 2013). Atlanta, Georgia is still the headquarters of Coca-Cola and it is in this region that the product is mainly manufactured and bottled (Pendergrast, 2013). Atlanta, Georgia has one of the leading economies in the country, ranking 10th. Coca-Cola has played a significant role in shaping consumer behavior and to this effect the economy of Atlanta, Georgia has positively been impacted.
The ingredients that are used to produce the coca-cola classic beverage include; carbonated water, sugar, caffeine, phosphoric acid, caramel color, and natural flavorings. Considering the availability of these products, they are all sourced locally.
When it comes to the question of the labor conditions under which the product is produced, it is important to note that the employees working therein are adequately compensated (Pendergrast, 2013). It is in fact noted that the company offers competitive compensation that would typically be expected from a world leader (Pendergrast, 2013). Growth opportunities are also provided to the employees so that they are able to transition from one position to another. According to a report presented by the International Labor Organization, Coca-Cola is one of the companies that provide social security to its employees (Tessier & Schwarzer, 2013). The wages provided are relatively similar to the ones provided in our state.
Coca-Cola Classic is primarily transported to its destination by air. Once it lands at the state airports, it is transported to other more specific locations through land transport.
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References
Pendergrast, M. (2013). For god, country, and coca-cola. Basic Books.
Tessier, L., & Schwarzer, H. (2013). The extension of social security and the social responsibility of multinational enterprises: an exploratory study (No. 480969). International Labour Organization.