Introduction
Students will research the outsourcing of jobs in Australia to other countries. They will investigate the various groups that outsourcing affects and make a judgment about the future of the Australian economy.
Introduction
The Australian economy is one of the largest economies in the world, yet some people are worried about its future. One aspect that affects many Australians is the loss of jobs to other countries. This is called outsourcing. Outsourcing is rising as time goes on because companies find it cheaper to have people in other countries do the work that used to be done in Australia. How does this affect the future of the Australian economy? How does this affect the average Australian worker and young people just entering the job market?
Task
Task
A conference of policy makers and leaders will soon meet to discuss the future of the Australian economy. Your task is to prepare a briefing for this group in which you outline the impact of the outsourcing of jobs to other countries. You will work in pairs to prepare the briefing.
Your briefing should be in the form of a Powerpoint presentation that includes the following elements:
- A definition and explanation of outsourcing
- The pros and cons of outsourcing for Australians; include the viewpoints of at least two specific groups
- The pros and cons of outsourcing for one country outside of Australia; include the perspective of at least two specific groups
- Your recommendation for waht laws Australia should make regarding outsourcing
Your presentation should have at least twelve slides including a title slide, two slides for each of the elements above, and a reference slide.
You will present your presentation to the class in the next lesson.
Process
Process
Begin your investigation by looking at the following background materials that explain what outsourcing is. Use these resources to create your definition and explanation of outsourcing.
http://money.howstuffworks.com/outsourcing1.htm
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/outsourcing.html
Use the following links to articles, pictures and videos to gain an understanding of how outsourcing affects various groups.
Big Business:
Business week article on benefits of outsourcing
Business week article on how Bank of America benefits form outsourcing
Business Week article on law firm outsourcing
Labour Unions:
CNN article on harmful effects of outsourcing
Foreign Governments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYaZ57Bn4pQ
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-15/outsourcing-a-passage-out-of-india
Evaluation
Evaluation
This is how your work will be evaluated.
| Beginning 1 |
Developing 2 |
Qualified 3 |
Exemplary 4 |
Score |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power point with at least twelve slides |
Power point with zero to five slides. |
Power point with six to eight slides. | Power point with nine to eleven complete slides. | Power point with twelve complete slides. | |
| Definition of outsourcing provided | Description of outsourcing reflecting a beginning level of understanding. | Description of outsourcing reflecting development and movement toward mastery of understanding. | Description outsourcing reflecting mastery of understanding. | Description of outsourcing reflecting the highest level of understanding. | |
| Discussion of pros and cons of outsourcing for Australia |
Description of pros and cons of outsourcing for Australia reflecting a beginning level of performance, and perspectives of two groups not given. |
Description of pros and cons of outsourcing for Australia reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance, and perspective of only one group given. | Description of pros and cons of outsourcing for Australia reflecting mastery of performance, and perspectives or two groups given. | Description of pros and cons of outsourcing for Australia reflecting the highest level of performance, and perspectives of two groups given. | |
| Discussion of pros and cons of outsourcing for a country outside Australia. | Description of pros and cons of outsourcing for a country outside Australia reflecting a beginning level of performance, and perspectives of two groups not given. | Description of pros and cons of outsourcing for a Australia reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance, and perspective of only one group given. | Description of pros and cons of outsourcing for a country outside Australia reflecting mastery of performance, and perspectives or two groups given. | Description of pros and cons of outsourcing for Australia reflecting the highest level of performance, and perspectives of two groups given. | |
| Recommendation for Australian governmental laws on outsourcing | Recommendation for Australian governmental laws on outsourcing reflecting a beginning level of performance. | Recommendation for Australian governmental laws on outsourcing reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance. | Recommendation for Australian governmental laws on outsourcing reflecting mastery of performance. | Recommendation for Australian governmental laws on outsourcing reflecting the highest level of performance. | |
| Group worked well together and stayed on task. | Group did not divide responsibilities equally, and stayed on task less than 30% of the time. | Group divided responsibilities somewhat equally, and stayed on task 30% - 50% of the time. | Group divided responsibilities equally, and stayed on task 50% - 80% of the time. | Group divided responsibilities equally, and stayed on task 80% - 100% of the time. | |
Conclusion
Conclusion
You have learned that outsourcing is an important issue that has many facets, both positive and negative. It affects Australians of all ages, especially young people who must make careful decisions about what career paths will meet their needs and the needs of society in the twenty-first century.
Outsourcing is a piece of the larger puzzle of globalisation that characterises our rapidly changing world. To learn more about globalisation and the future of the global economy, you can access the following websites:
http://www.globalisationguide.com