Jack Buffington

Local author Jack Buffington isn’t one to bandy about the latest globalization jargon at a cocktail party.

Expect 10 tight chapters of meaty, well-organized, well documented research framed by rigorous discussion in his new book, An Easy Out: Corporate America's Addiction to Outsourcing.

Wrap that with a closing chapter featuring an outline of practical, focused solutions and a conclusion urging readers to get involved as well as suggestions on where to start.

Buffington's overarching theme is that while achieving an increase in productivity within a large corporation is “very hard and often contentious work,” alternatives such as outsourcing and offshoring are often “easy outs” that have hurt – and will continue to hurt – U.S. corporations in the hypercompetitive global economy.

Buffington argues that the “escalation of global competitiveness has only begun in the last two years, and is more of a threat to our economic well being than we have ever faced in our history.” He challenges executives, workers, labor unions, academics, consulting firms, and politicians to consider alternatives – refreshingly calling for alternatives minus buzzwords – or risk losing the competitive edge with China and India.

American corporations can compete against prices set by China through “process improvements” and technological innovation, he argues, if the new definition of productivity in a hyper-competitive global economy is understood.

Buffington provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of outsourcing, including its history and the myths that surround it – for example that outsourcing is a recent phenomenon (it isn't), that outsourcing is done to people by companies, that outsourcing always results in lower costs, that politicians can't influence outsourcing, and that companies understanding outsourcing and make rational decisions.

Buffington, director of supply chain logistics for Molson Coors Brewing Company, has taught at the University of Denver, where he serves on the board of the MBA program. He is a lover of research, and his heart is in academia, but his writing is clean and accessible, and he makes engrossing a subject that a lesser writer could render lethally dull.

Buffington will speak on his book and the continuing controversy over outsourcing and offshoring, as well as answer questions from the audience, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, in Room A at Parker Library.

Buffington’s talk is part of Parker Library’s ongoing Social Science Series.

An Easy Out and others about globalization and labor are available at Parker Library or online at www.DouglasCountyLibraries.org

Jeanie Straub is a reference librarian at Parker Library.… (altro)