Word: production
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...firms have taken as much of an image hit in the wake of the financial crisis as Goldman Sachs. Once seen as one of the best-run companies in America, in the past year more and more people have come to view Goldman's outsized profits as a product of backdoor dealings and market manipulation. AIG's former CEO Hank Greenberg recently blamed Goldman for bankrupting the insurance company. (Goldman, not surprisingly, does not concur with Greenberg's version of events.) Goldman received $12.9 billion when the government bailed out the insurer. Goldman has also been accused by critics...
Clearly, some rivals don't. Southwest Airlines has mocked the majors in a series of advertisements that point out its own free checked-baggage service. JetBlue did likewise in a recent ad, offering a faux travel product to non-JetBlue flyers, the Extrago Sherpa Shirt, which "can hold an entire trip's worth of necessities, including the $20 bill you'll save by not checking...
...Foreign luxury-car manufacturers, however, have vowed not to change their product and have faced unique challenges trying to get a foothold in the market. With few open roads to hit, but plenty of traffic jams to navigate, Indian consumers, unlike their Chinese counterparts, often opt for function over form. Those who want a stylish ride pay for it dearly: import duties of more than 100% essentially double the sticker price of all foreign cars. To get around that, BMW and Mercedes assemble some of their models locally, cutting the taxes in half. When BMW first arrived in India...
...well-known; its unveiling two years ago at the New Delhi Auto Expo by Indian automaker Tata captured the world's imagination and further focused attention on India's growing role in the global car market. To be successful in India, small-car manufacturers have had to tailor their product to Indian tastes and conditions. When General Motors launched a new small car called the Chevy Beat in New Delhi last week, the company "Indianized it," says Karl Slym, president and managing director of General Motors India. That meant toughening the car's suspension to deal with erratic road conditions...
...aging rapidly, 1 in 6 babies delivered in 2008 was born to a foreign-passport holder. La dolce vita is also becoming ever more dependent on immigrants and their labor. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that foreign workers account for 9% of Italy's annual gross domestic product. They pick the fruit in the country's orchards, staff its restaurants and workshops and look after its young and elderly. "If all the migrants just stopped working now, the Italian economic system would collapse," says IOM spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo. (See pictures of la dolce vita in Italy...