Ten or twenty years ago companies outsourced various activities to developing economies because of cost. Now the opposite is occurring. Companies (critically their customers, but increasingly their employees) are starting to question the high cost of low prices — specifically what are the social, ethical and environmental policies behind what they buy.

Having looked into these issues, many people don’t like what’s happening and they are starting to insist that things are made closer to home (in most cases at home) where they have more control. Hence the emergence of terms such as re-sourcing or industrial repatriation.

Examples? Steif, the German toy company, recently moved its production facilities away from China back to Germany because, in the words of Steif’s CEO, “Money isn’t everything.”

Prediction: Expect to see more companies (starting with companies operating in the luxury market or high-end segments) moving call centres, R&D facilities, design centres and then factories back home.

Links: Localism,provenance,authenticity,CSR, nationalism,de-globalisation.