Final answer:
Operations management in the past mainly focused on internal production, emphasizing efficiency in creating identical products across all locations. Globalization led to outsourcing and offshoring as strategies for cost saving, shifting production globally and affecting the labor market.
Step-by-step explanation:
Up until the latter parts of the 20th century, operations management mainly focused on internal production. This approach revolved around improving efficiency and effectiveness in the production process, with a focus on mass-producing identical products. The drive was towards a mechanized work environment where consistency was key, and design often led to this concept of uniform production. However, with the advent of globalization, companies began to adopt outsourcing techniques both domestically and internationally, seeking cost savings through cheaper labor markets and outsourcing services such as customer support, accounting, and human resources, leading to the rise of global assembly lines and offshoring to countries with lower costs of living.
Globalization intensified this shift in the late 20th and early 21st centuries with trade agreements like NAFTA facilitating easier offshoring of production to places like Mexico, while services also began to be outsourced to other countries. This resulted in significant changes in the demand for workers in developed nations, as manufacturing jobs declined with the increase in service sector employment. Companies such as Apple exemplify this trend, with design work occurring in one country, manufacturing spread across several others, and support services being located elsewhere, like in India.