Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Nike And Their Costs

Mr Welker, would it be enough to an Extended Essay to determine the amount of profit Nike makes? As in, percentage wise?
Naturally, I would have to explain the reasons why its possible. This would represent the theory part of the essay.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Nike And Their Shoes

Well, we all know that Nike is notorious for its ability to externalize their costs, thus maximizing their profits.
How much does a shoe from Nike actually cost to produce? Is that cost at all reflected in the final price? Could Nike feasibly produce their shoes in the West without experiencing losses?
Interesting questions... but do they merit an Extended Essay?

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Much Learned From Mr. Lerner

After Mr. Learner's visit, I've decided that my extended essay has to be much less conceptual, and much less dependent on 'dubious sources'. Therefore I'd like to throw a few other ideas on the table.
Doing an extended essay on the externalities caused by large corporations is definitly a viable option seeing as I have many contacts within with Nike in Holland. The European headquarters is in my home town, so many of my school mates were Nike-children.
In any case, it appears we are back to the brainstorming...

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Getting Serious About The Extended Essay

In order to proceed productively with my Extended Essay, I must formulate a point I would like to illustrate. From this the Thesis Statement can be derived, and eventually, my entire essay.

In previous posts, situations were always looked at with an eye which had detail to values. They were talking about the value of money, the value of craftsmanship, the value of entrepreneurial ability. However, these are concepts which cannot be easily graphed in an essay. Therefore, the situation calls for something a little more real-life.
In an attempt to focus my essay on the concepts which interest me, and at the same time be able to collect real data, and make graphs, I believe I have found a topic which incorporates the two.
I would like to propose a few potential titles title of my Extended Essay as;
1."Corporations & The Destruction Of Entrepreneurial Ability"
2."The Internet: The Entrepreneur's Last Refuge"
3."Making Chairs In China: Copycat or Craftsmanship?"

1. This would be based around the movie we saw in class, where corporations are shown in a light that reflects the way they foster repetitive, mechanical work. The sole goal is profits, and this destroys the creativeness of the worker. Schumacher talked about this in his book "Small is Beautiful," arguing that businesses should be smaller to do exactly the opposite of corporations: cultivate creative thinking.

2. The internet has quickly become one of the most important tools of our age. in this essay, it would be stated that corporations, which rule much of today's business world, do not allow for much entrepreneurship, other than by a small elite of people. On the internet, these barriers do not exist, as thousands of people work together to come up with collectively written programs (NeoOffice) and encyclopedias (Wikipedia). A good source for this would be an article Time wrote about the path of innovation (which I will need to find later, although I think it is this one).

3. As mentioned, with the Italian town that would make chairs, they have lost business to China. However, what about the people they lost the jobs to? Are they utilizing skill and passion to create quality goods, or are they just copying what the Italians and other Europeans have done for centuries in hope that consumers buy the product? Good source would be the workers themselves, as Mr. Welker pointed out in class; I could go to the antique store with a Chinese-speaking friend and interview the people who actually make the chairs. Also, Time wrote an article on a related topic, called "The Idea-Stealing Factory"