Case Study

Asia is becoming active in manufacturing and exporting of their products. China who is now involved in the global manufacturing market and she is beginning to establish and create the image as the World¶s manufacturer. Technology is also part of the expertise of Asia; Japan is now one of the most advanced countries in terms of machines and different infrastructures. Most of the products of China are now available in different parts of the globe in very low prices, almost half of the price of products from other countries. However the quality is another topic.

Example of this is the decline of the shoe industry in America in 1992. This is because of the North American Free Trade Area. Mexico, now, can offer cheaper shoe ware. Because of this, the production of shoes in America declined about 2 percent from 182 million pairs a year. Slippers declined by 4 percent to 32.6 million pairs; men¶s footwear by 3 percent to 42.2 million pairs; and women¶s footwear by 3 percent to 59.8 million pairs (Byron, 1992). Because of the low-cost shoe wear from Mexico, the shoe industry in America decline. This is just like the current situation of the Philippines. Because of cheap shoes from Korea and China, the shoe industry here began to decline. Most of the time, the consequence of low-cost products is low-quality, because most of the raw material used is of low-quality. Other examples are the textile and clothing industry, and if not because of the use of technology and marketing strategy, these two industries will never recover.