The Six Thinking Hats in a Conversation. Parallel Thinking.

1. A NEW
MODEL
To Use
CONVERSATIONBETWEENTWOCOLLEAGUES
Johnbeginsbysaying:“Todaytheonlywaytoproduceyourfirstrangeof
productsistoturntooffshoreproduction.Purelynationalproductionis
notprofitableduetothehighcosts.Totryitistolaunchyourbusinessinto
suicide.”
Claire:Iagreewithyouinsofaras,nowadays,manufacturinginChina,
IndiaorPakistanismuchcheaper.Itistruethatthesecountrieshavetaken
theleadinthemanufactureofcertainproductsandcanofferpricesthat
arehardtobeat...
...It is also true that offshoring has other advantages, tax advantages,
accesstoecosystemsofskillsortechnology.OPTIMISTICPERSPECTIVE.
..Obviouslyallsituationshavetheiradvantagesanddisadvantages,though.
From your point of view, what are the disadvantages of offshoring?
PESSIMISTICPERSPECTIVE

2. J:Ofcourse,thereisnoperfectsituation.Offshoringcanraisedifficultiesinthesupplychain.
Therecanbealackofdirectqualitycontrol.Culturaldifferences,materialqualityanda
neglect of Corporate Social Responsibility can come into play as well. PESSIMISTIC
PERSPECTIVE
C:Itotallyagreewithyou,thelackofdirectqualitycontroloccursquiteoften.Companieslikelyagree
withthesupplieronthelevelandcharacteristicsofqualitythattheyexpect,andsooftentheselevels
arethennotmet...PESSIMISTICPERSPECTIVE
...AstudyIreadrecently-bytheEEFManufacturers’OrganisationIbelieve-highlightedthatsome
companiesthatwereoffshoringinAsiancountrieshavenowstartedreshoringornearshoring;they’re
hopingtoimprovethequalityofproductsandcomponentsandthespeedofdelivery,amongstother
things.Doyouknowanythingaboutthisnewtrend?FACTUALPERSPECTIVE
J:Yes,IreadinTheGuardianthat40%ofthecompaniesthatreturnedtoEnglandhaveincreasedthe
returnoninvestmentasadirectresult.Somethinglikeonly3%wentbankrupt.FACTUALPERSPECTIVE

3. C:Frommypointofview,thisshifthomewardswouldnotonlyaidthegrowthofthelabor
marketbutalsothecreationofpotentialclients.Theincreaseinemploymentissynonymous
withgreaterpurchasingpower,andthereforeanincreaseinconsumption.Canyouseeany
otherbenefitsofreshoringornearshoring?OPTIMISTICPERSPECTIVE
J:Forme,ifcompanieshavetechnologythatmakesitpossibletoincreaseproductivity,saveon
transportsavingsandensurequalitycontrol,todosodomesticallywouldbemoreprofitableonthe
wholethanoffshoring.OPTIMISTIC
C:Whatcanyouthinkoftoovercomethoselimitations?CREATIVEPERSPECTIVE
J: Promote current technology, carry out research and development projects... Bring together
companies(companiesthatoffshoreandcompaniesthatproducein-country),governments,RD
institutes.Doingthiswouldsurelyhelpidentifythetechnologicalneedsformorelocalisedproduction,
andcouldleadtoprojectsthatsupportthisresearch.CREATIVEPERSPECTIVE
C:Alliancescouldalsobecreatedbetweencompaniesinthesamesectorstosetuptheseproduction
units,sharefacilitiesandjointlymaketheinvestmentprofitable...CREATIVEPERSPECTIVE

4. ...MyintuitiontellsmethattheworldisnowmovingtowardsReshoring.Whatdoesyour
instincttellyou?INTUITIVEPERSPECTIVE
J:Well,myinstinctnowseesitinamorepositivewaythanbefore.INTUITIVEPERSPECTIVE
...Thoughthere’splentymoreresearchtobedone,andmanypotentialsynergiestobe
identified between businesses and governments in order to make it widely feasible.
ORGANIZATIONALPERSPECTIVE
Whenopeninguptodifferentperspectives,eachparticipantgetsthefeelingofcontributingtheir
knowledge. The conversation grows in ideas, information and possibilities.The person using the
differentperspectiveswillcombinequestioningwiththeirowninput,leadingtheconversationinto
jointexploration.
Byusingparallelthinking,thetwopartiesareabletotapintoajointexplorationofthetopic.
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