1
Manufacturing firms in the United States became vulnerable to outsourcing for several reasons. The biggest reason is most likely the fact that workers in other countries, particularly third world countries, will perform the same job for a much lower wage than workers in the United States. When these firms pay outsourced workers lower wages they are able to increase profits without making any other significant changes to the manufacturing process or the organizational structure. A good example of outsourcing is the production of clothes in other countries. If a clothing manufacturer is able to produce the same clothes for much lower labor costs in a country other than the United States they will be able to significantly increase their profits.
An example of service firms being outsourced is customer service representatives in other countries. Often times when a consumer calls a customer service line of an American company they will be speaking with a customer service representative in a country other than the United States. This is for the same reason as manufacturing being outsourced. If a firm can pay workers in another country lower wages they will have higher profits.
A way that could bring manufacturing back to the United States is for firms and companies to focus on producing a high quality product. It may be that if a firm holds its products to high standard, these standards will be unattainable when the manufacturing of that product is outsourced. The argument can be made that this would hurt profits but by producing goods in the United States the firm could create a large amount of goodwill with the American consumer. This goodwill could lead the consumer to choose that companies product over another’s.

2
A specific management practice that could help this cause would be the implementation of six sigma. Six sigma aims for 3.4 million defects per million. Holding their products to this high standard could possibly necessitate that a firm produce goods in the United States where they can have more control of production and quality.
This focus on quality may also create a need for higher skilled workers. Firms are more likely to find higher skilled workers in developed countries such as the United States. This need for high skilled workers would in turn cause manufacturing to be driven back to the United States where more of these workers are available.

3
Lean manufacturing can help a company gain an edge over competitors by making their production more efficient than their competitors. By implementing a program such as six sigma the firm is holding themselves to a very high standard. Their competitors may not hold themselves to such a high standard and this would give the company an edge. Also the implementation of this type of program will create a culture of efficiency and quality work within the organization which will help lead it into the future as a leader in its industry.
Another effect of having these high quality standards would be the creation and education of highly skilled workers. These workers will be more efficient and productive thereby giving the organization another advantage over its competitors. More skilled employees and an organizational culture of quality and efficiency would greatly enhance the firm’s ability to succeed into the future.

Sources
Antony, Jiju. "Pros and cons of Six Sigma: an academic perspective". http://web.archive.org/web/20080723015058/http://www.onesixsigma.com/node/7630. Retrieved August 5, 2010