Bovee/Thill, Business in Action 7/e Instructor’s Manual
Copyright ©2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-9
Some manufacturing jobs are at risk of being sent to other countries with lower
wages, dampening some employment growth. However, this risk may be reduced
by recent trends of “reshoring,” where previously outsourced personnel and
services are being brought back to the United States, and “domestic sourcing”
where firms move jobs to lower cost regions of the United States instead of to
other countries. (LO: 4, AACSB: Reflective thinking)
9-20. If you decide you want to work in a production-related job, what
additional classes should you consider taking before you graduate?
Students’ answers may vary but possible classes to consider may include both
engineering and business and management courses since applicants who have a
bachelor’s degree in industrial management or business administration should
have the best prospects (LO: 4, AACSB: Application of knowledge)
Improving Your Tech Insights: Nanotechnology
Think small. Really small. Think about manufacturing products a molecule or even a
single atom at a time. That’s the scale of nanotechnology, a rather vague term that
covers research and engineering done at nanoscale, or roughly 1/100,000 the width of
a human hair.
The potential uses of nanotechnology range from the practical – smart materials that
can change shape and heal themselves, more efficient energy generation and
transmission, superstrong and superlight materials for airplanes, better cosmetics,
smart medical implants, and ultrasmall computers – to somewhat wilder – food-
growing machines and microscopic robots that could travel through your body to
cure diseases and fix injuries. Like any new technology with lots of promise,
nanotechnology also suffers from lots of hype.)
Well over 1,000 nanotechnology-enabled products have hit the market in a number of
industries, from automotive materials to medicine to consumer products. Also,
although they’re slightly larger than the generally accepted scale of nanotechnology,
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are having a major impact in some
industries. These tiny machines (pumps, valves, and so on), some no bigger than a
grain of pollen, are used in the nozzles of ink-jet printers, air bag sensors, and
ultraprecise miniature laboratory devices.
Conduct research to identify a product currently on the market that uses
nanotechnology in some fashion. In an email message to your instructor,
describe the product, its target market, the role nanotechnology plays in the
product’s design, and any known safety concerns regarding the use of nanotech
in this or similar products.
Students’ answers will vary depending on the actual products they identify. (LO: 4,
AACSB: Application of knowledge)
Practice Your Skills