Sink or Schwinn

摘要

When Hal Sirkin was growing up in 1960s America, the bicycle that every regular American child wanted was a Schwinn. In 1993, Schwinn filed for bankruptcy. The firm had been overtaken by imported Chinese bicycles. In 2001, a company called Pacific Cycle bought the Schwinn brand out of bankruptcy. Pacific Cycle, now owned by a Canadian consumer-goods firm called Dorel Industries, says the secret of its success is "combining its powerful brand portfolio with low-cost Far East sourcing." Schwinn bicycles now line the aisles at Wal-Mart. Mr Sirkin is a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group who helps his customers do what Pacific Cycle has done to Schwinn: move production to East Asia, especially to China. Wal-Mart buys $15 billion-worth of Chinese-made goods every year. Obtaining goods and services from low-cost countries helps to build strong, growing companies, such as Dorel Industries, and healthy economies. But the Schwinn story also contains the opposite lesson: failing to buy in this way can seriously damage a company's health.