Description

Media and political attention on outsourcing from the U.S. keeps hitting a raw nerve of those who fear unwelcome wage and employment effects at home. The process of transnational production sharing encompasses a variety of dimensions, including the outsourcing of various components and business services in arms-length relations, the establishment of foreign subsidiaries to undertake activities such as assembly and marketing, the entry into long-term and possibly exclusive licensing agreements, and the establishment of joint ventures for production and marketing. The main objective of this project is to put together and analyze a unique and reliable data-set on "sourcing in and out" that will be valuable to the small and medium scale entrepreneurs of Milwaukee as well as academic researchers.

Tasks and Responsibilities

Each student will independently undertake a field-work with an aim to distinguish the "hypes" from the "facts" by documenting "in-sourcing" and "outsourcing" activities at a dis-aggregated (company) level based on surveys of the small and medium scale entrepreneurs (from the local community) with a successful record in conducting business overseas. Tasks and responsibilities include management, modeling, and analysis of a unique and reliable data-set (which will involve entering information in a database after interviewing representatives of small and medium scale entrepreneurs, from the local community, with a successful record in conducting business overseas) on "sourcing in and out" and analyzing the data to identify emerging patterns. Among deliverables, the student is expected to write a paper (short communication) and present a summary of findings at a poster session.

Desired Qualifications

Familiarity with reproducible data management, modeling, and analysis including use of an integrated statistical computing environment.