Please answer the discussion questions MINICASE ARE YOU REALLY BUYING AMERICAN?
ID: 412146 • Letter: P
Question
Please answer the discussion questions
MINICASE ARE YOU REALLY BUYING AMERICAN? Consider the follawing scenario of a typical" American fam work, stopping for gas at the Shell station. At the grocery ily: The Osbornes, Jesse and Ann, live in the suburbs of store, she fills her cart with a variety of items, including Chicago Jesse is a manager at Trader Joe's specialty grocery Ragu spaghetti sauce, Hellmann's mayonnaise, Carnation store chain. Ann is an edvertising executive for Leo Burnett Instant Breakfast drink, a case of Arrowhead water, CoffeeMate nondairy coffee creamer, Chicken-of the-Sea Ann listens to the new Adam Lambert CD on her Alpine car stereo in her Jeep Cherakes while driving homa from canned tuna, Lipton tea, a hall-dozen cans of Slim-Fast. Dannon yogurt, and several packages of Stouffer's Lean dinners and some Hot Packats. For a treat. Groupe Danone of France produces Dannon yogurt she picks up some Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Toll House cook- es, and a Butterfinger candy bar. She also grabs several cans af Alpo for thair dog, Sassy, and a box of Friskies and a bag of Tidy Cat cat litter for their cat, Lily. She goes down the toilet- ries aisle for some Dove soap, Q-tips cotton swabs, Vaseline Samsung smartphones are made by South Korea's lip gloss, and Jergen's moisturizing lotion. Before fhng,Samsung- she calls Jesse on her Samsung smartphone to see whetherBertelsmann AG of Germany owns 53 percent of there is anything else he needs. Ho asks her to pick up some PowerBars for him to take to the gym during his lunchtime the remaining 47 percent. workouts next week. She also stops at the bookstore andSociete Bic of France produces Bic pens picks up the new John Grisham book published by Random House, signing the credit card slip with her Bic pen. Chicken-of the Sea tuna is made by Chicken of the Sea International, which is besed in Thailand. Japan's Kao owns Jergen's. Penquin Random House, and Pearson plc of the UK owns ·Japan's Bridgestone Corporation owns Firestone. BP of the United Kingdom owns BP gas stations. After leaving his office, Jesse stops at the BP gas station to fili his gas tank and checks the air pressure in his Firestone tires. He heads to the liquor store for a cese of Miller Genuine thSpiderman movies Sony Pictures Tolovision distrib- Draft beer and a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon. He walks next door to the sporting goods store to pick up someSABMiller plc of the United Kingdom produces Miller Columbia Pictures, owned by Sony of Japan, released utes Breaking Bad. Wilson racquetballs for his workouts next week. boer, Ann's favorite TV show, Breaking Bad, is just startinDavide Campari of Italy awns the Wild Turkay brand. comes in the door, so she pours hersalf a glass af Amer Group of Finland owns Wilsan Sporting Goods. and turns on their Philips high-. Baringer Winery of Napa, California, is owned by definition talevision while Jasse prepares dinner loads the latest Spiderman installment onto his computer and down- Australia's Treesury Wine Estates While this may sound like a very typical evening for many Philips televisions are sold by Philips of the Americans, foreign-owned firms praduced nearly every item the Osbornes purchased or consumed: Trader Joe's is owned by a family trust sot up by German businessman Theo Albrecht. This simple example reflects the impact of extensive for- eign investments in the United States, especially in recent years. Evan some of the bast-known "American products and . Leo Burnott Worldwide is ownod by Publicis of Franc brands are now produced by foraign firms Investments have also flowed outward from the United Sony Music of Japan produces and distributes Adam States. U.S. companies such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonald's, the Gap, Microsoft, and Levi's are found in Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, Singapore, and nearly Jeeps are a brand of vehicles made by Chrysler, which is every European nation. US. companies have also purchased Lambert's CDs . Japan's Alps Electric preduces Alpine car stereos. owned by ltaly's Fiat. a renge of foreign companies and brands. . The British-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell owns Questions Shell. 1. Should it mattar to consumers whether the c . Nestlé of Switzerland produces Alpo, Arrowhead, Butterfinger Carmation Instant Breakfast, CoffeeMate hat make their products are based in the consumers Friskies, Hot Pockets, PowerBar, Stouffer's Lean Cuisine, home country or not? Explain your rationale. Toll House, and Tidy Cat 2. Why has there been almost no negative backlash among Americans to the flood of foreign investment into their Unilever, a British-Dutch multinational, makes Slim-Fast, Dove soap, Hellmann's, Ragu. Q-tips, Lipton, Vaseline, and Ben & Jerry's. Sources: From company websites (Fabruary 20a.Explanation / Answer
Q1) It shouldn't matter to consumers whether the companies that make their products are based in their home country or not due to the below reasons -
1. The priority of consumers is to get a product that he is looking for with high quality and a relatively lower prices. As long as any company or its products satisfy these needs, consumers are willing to purchase the products irrespective of where they are manufactured.
2. Consumers get a wider range of choices with foreign companies and increased competition results in lowering of prices.
3. In most cases, consumers are unaware of the product or brand origin as they look for the value offered.
Q2) Foreign investment in the form of setting their offices and selling their products results in -
1. Increased choice of products with lowered prices
2. Increased employment from the new offices of the foreign firms
3. Decrease in monopoly of home companies
4. Increase in the country's economic growth