Global Product
Project
Brief
Description: The Global
Product Project is a short research essay and presentation of a product of your
choosing. The project will be scored using a 120-point scale. 100 points will
come from the individual essay and 20 points from the presentation. This is a
big part of your grade from a very short essay. Make sure you put the necessary
time and effort into it!
Requirements:
1.
Read
the Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. This book is the basis
for the entire project.
2.
Choose
a topic. You will pick one product to be the focus of your research. Hint: Make sure that the product you choose
is global in both production and sale. This will enable you to address “The
Topics to Cover” listed below easily and thoroughly. The vast majority of
products will work, but you can ask me if you are unsure about your choice. Note:
You cannot use a t-shirt or any textiles (clothing, shoes, masks, rugs,
tapestries, etc.).
3.
CAUTION: Do not
choose a company. Choose a product. If you decide to choose Coca-Cola drink,
make sure to distinguish the product from the company itself.
4.
Write
a short research essay (800-1000 words)
addressing the “Topics to Cover” listed below. Please use MLA format and
include proper in-text citations and a work’s cited page.
5.
Turn
in your research paper by Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 11:59 pm central time.
Please submit your paper as a Word or
PDF document via Blackboard.
Topics
to Cover: Your
essay should address the 5 bolded topics below. Each of these topics is covered
in our course material and in The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy.
Accordingly, you should use these materials as a guide for discussing each of
these topics.
1.
Globalization (12
points)
Describe the globalization of your
product. Be sure to include:
a.
Globalization
in the supply chain
Identify two of the major inputs that go
into the making of your selected product and primary countries from which the
inputs are sourced (6 pts)
b.
Globalization
in production
Identify two of the primary countries in
which the product is produced or assembled (selected
countries must be different from the ones selected in 1a.) (3 pts)
c.
Globalization
in sales
Identify two of the primary countries in
which the product is sold (selected
countries must be different from the ones selected in 1b.) (3 pts)
Hint: The T-Shirt,
as an example, is made from cotton which is produced in India, the United
States, etc. T-shirts are produced in China, Bangladesh, Vietnam etc. T-shirts
are sold all over the world, major importers are Germany, France, etc.)
2.
Institutions (18
points)
A.
Economic
i.
Discuss
an economic reason why the inputs selected in 1(a) are sourced from the
countries discussed in 1(a). What economic indicators are used to support your
answer? (4 pts)
ii.
Discuss
an economic reason why the product is assembled in the countries discussed in
1(b) What economic indicators are used to support your answer? (4 pts)
iii.
Discuss
an economic reason why the product is sold the countries discussed in 1(c).
What economic indicators are used to support your answer? (4 pts)
B.
Culture or Political
or Legal
i.
Discuss
another reason, besides the economic reason, why the inputs selected in 1(a)
are sourced from the countries discussed in 1(a) – the reason may be cultural,
political, or legal (be sure to indicate
whether the reason you give is a cultural, economic, political or legal one).
(2 pts)
ii.
Discuss
another reason, besides the economic reason, why the product is assembled in
the countries discussed in 1(b) – the reason may be cultural, economic,
political, or legal (be sure to indicate
whether the reason you give is a cultural, economic, political or legal one).
(2 pts)
iii.
Discuss
another reason, besides the economic reason, why the product is sold the
countries discussed in 1(c) – the reason may be cultural, economic, political,
or legal (be sure to indicate whether the
reason you give is a cultural, political or legal one). (2 pts)
3.
Trade Policy (21
points)
a.
Select
one country from your answer to 1(b) and
i.
Discuss
a bilateral trade agreement the country has with one of the countries you
selected in 1(a).
As an example: for
a t-shirt I would discuss a bilateral trade agreement between China (the
importing country) and India (the exporting country). (4 pts)
ii.
How
does the bilateral trade agreement affect the production of your product? (2
pts)
iii.
Discuss
a multilateral trade agreement the selected country belongs to and how the
agreement affects the production of the product. (3 pts)
b.
Select
one country from your answer to 1(c) and
i.
Discuss
a bilateral trade agreement the country has with one of the countries you
selected in 1(b).
As an example: for
a t-shirt I would discuss a bilateral trade agreement between United States
(the importing country) and China (the exporting country). (4 pts)
ii.
How
does the bilateral trade agreement affect the sale of in your product? (2 pts)
iii.
Discuss
a multilateral trade agreement the selected country belongs to and how the
agreement affects the production of the product. (3 pts)
c.
Discuss
how trade barriers (tariffs, quotas, etc.) imposed by the selected country in
3(b) can affect the sale of the product. on countries that produce the product.
Real examples will help you earn higher points. (3 pts)
4.
Innovation of the
Production Process (12 points)
a.
Discuss
a major innovation that has affected the production of your product. I am looking for a technological advancement
that occurred in the production process of the selected product. For example,
in the Travels of a T-Shirt book such innovations would include the invention
of cotton pickers and cotton plant improvements (6 points)
b.
Discuss
how
i.
production
was conducted both before the innovation (3 points)
ii.
production
was conducted after the innovation (3 points)
Hint: Focus on
major innovations in the production of the product. If you choose coke, the introduction of
different types of coke (Diet, cherry, vanilla, etc.) is not acceptable as
innovation of the production process.
5.
Ethical Issues (12
points)
a.
Choose
the most prominent business ethical issue surrounding your product. Make sure
you provide evidence that it is indeed an ethical issue for the company. One
way of doing that is to find a lawsuit against the company relating to the
ethical issue. (5 pts)
b.
Explain
why it is an ethical issue (3 pts)
c.
Describe
how producers of the product have attempted to address the ethical concern (4 pts)
Optional
Materials:
1.
Listen
to Planet Money podcasts. These are not a substitute for the book, but they
might inspire you when trying to come up with ideas: https://www.npr.org/series/248799434/planet-moneys-t-shirt-project
2.
Read
the short essay “I, Pencil.” To get you thinking about a simple product other
than a t-shirt, this classic essay might help you. It’s also a great example of
creative writing: https://fee.org/resources/i-pencil/
3.
Watch
the video “How I Built a Toaster.” A toaster is slightly more complex than a
t-shirt or pencil. And it’s really hard to make one. One guy tried: https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_thwaites_how_i_built_a_toaster_from_scratch
Grading
Criteria:
1.
The essay will be scored using a scale of 100
points. The point breakdown is as follows:
75 points are based on the “Topics to
Cover.” Provided
that you address each of the 5 topics, I will score each of
them on the following scale:
·
Excellent
= Full points. Your response to the prompt is specific to your product,
coherent in the context of the class, mostly supported by evidence/citations
where appropriate, and mostly organized and written in a professional manner.
·
Average
= 2/3 of the full points. Your response to the prompt is only sometimes
specific to your product, sometimes coherent in the context of the class,
sometimes supported by evidence/citations
where appropriate, and lacks some
organization.
·
Poor
= 1/3 of the full points. Your response to the prompt is not specific to your
product, it is incoherent in the context of the class, is not supported by
evidence/citations where appropriate, and is disorganized and written
unprofessionally.
15 points are based on sources and
citations. You
are being asked to write about factual information and should therefore support
your claims with evidence. You should use a minimum
of 5 different sources (one for each topic
to cover). There is no maximum. These sources must be
credible, which means you should avoid
Wikipedia, blogs, and other similar works. Class materials (notes, textbooks,
etc.) will not count towards your sources. You should adhere to MLA guidelines
when citing sources and include both in-text and end-of-text citations. Points
will be awarded based on 1) the number of sources used (a minimum of 5), 2)
providing correct in-text citations and 3) providing a proper work cited page
(end-of-text citations).
10 points based on the word count. Your essay should
be 800-1000 words. This word count
does not include your works cited page. Points will be deducted for essays that
are too short or too long.
Automatic Deductions – You will receive
an automatic deduction of 15 points if you write about one of the forbidden
topics or fail to address a required topic.
2.
The presentation
(5 minutes)
will be graded as using a scale of 20 points. A full 20 points will be awarded
for a presentation that demonstrates clear understanding of the project and
addresses the 5 topics (Globalization, Institutions, Trade Policy, Innovation
and Ethical Issues). Basically, each topic is worthy 4 points. Partial points
will be awarded depending on the number of topics included in the presentation
Plagiarism: Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
Plagiarized papers will earn 0 for this project. Furthermore, this violation of academic
integrity will be reported to the University and will remain on your official
record, which may affect your future graduate school or employment
opportunities.
