Advantages And Disadvantages of Offshore Outsourcing

Advantages And Disadvantages of Offshore Outsourcing The advantages and disadvantages of offshore outsourcing to the western countries (and workforce) and emerging-market countries(and workforce) is discussed based on the context of Western countries outsourcing a part of their business process to vendors primarily from developing countries like China, India, Indonesia, Philippines etc. ADVANTAGES OF OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING TO WESTERN COMPANIES AND WORKFORCE IN WESTERN COUNTRIES Offshore outsourcing benefits the outsourcer to have an edge over the other competitors in terms of cost reduction, increased productivity and profits by relegating some of its functions to other countries third part contractors and concentrating mainly on their core business (Bahrami 2009). The exploiting of geographical location advantages such as low cost (lower prices for input), availability and quality of resources, larger pool of skilled labours, transportation costs, trade restrictions creates a repositories of valuable rents thus enhancing productivity(Bahrami 2009; Bunyaratavej 2008; Gereffi 2005; Prola 2004). Wells Fargo VISA,a US based company uses contact centres of Mahindra-Satyam, India to make marketing calls to their potential customers in Seattle due to availability of inexpensive labour, abundance of educated English-speaking workforce and government incentives. Philips, Dell, Motorola are buying digital device designs completely from Asian developers. Both these examples are in consistency with the RBV (Resource based view) which suggests that the competitive edge for the firm is gained through maximization of the long-term profits by developing and exploiting resources (Javalgi 2009). The flexible labour laws and time zone difference in developing countries helps to speed up the business process by employees working round the clock in various shifts. The U.S companies like Dell, American Express and Eastman Kodak offer 24/7 customer care services by outsourcing such services to developing countries like India. According to Edwards (1998), cited in Bahrami (2009), by offloading a part of the repetitive business processes to the emerging market workforce, the skilled labour in the western labour pool gets an opportunity to be innovative and hone managerial techniques which helps in productive utilisation of resources thus leading to the profitability of the company. The workforce in western countries who would have lost their job to foreign vendors are trained and reallocated to an advanced level of working which in turn helps in developing new skills and techniques contributing to an improved set of domestic resources (Kedia and Mukherjee 2009). DISADVANTAGES OF OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING TO WESTERN COMPANIES AND WORKFORCE IN WESTERN COUNTRIES There is a misconception that offshore outsourcing to low wage countries reduce cost because of cheap labour. According to UNCTAD (2005),in some cases considering hidden costs like taxes, duties, management attention, communication and co-ordination expenses etc,the venture turns out to be expensive. The geographical distance and cultural differences act as a barrier for clients to monitor the quality of suppliers work. This can be resolved to an extent if a manager from the western company keeps visiting the vendor location in person (Khan et al. 2003; UNCTAD 2005). It has been recognised by Javalgi (2009) that the absence of global laws or enforcement about intellectual property rights and privacy laws acts as a major threat to the outsourcer companies. The confidential data of outsourcers are at risk in developing countries where these laws are not strictly enforced. When Taiwans BenQ was given a contract by Motorola for designing and manufacturing mobile phones, Ben Q violated the contract and created its own brand and Market in China for selling mobile phones (Bahrami 2009). As a measure to avoid such fraudulent cases Khan (2003) suggests joint venture between the outsourcer and overseas supplier as an option which binds the supplier to handle their customers data with utmost care as the supplier will also be a partner in this case. The loss of western country jobs to foreign providers might lead to negative publicity of the company. Examples about the accusation faced by the US companies like Dell, IBM, City Group for exporting jobs overseas leading to job losses in the USA (Hill 2007, cited in Bahrami 2005) demonstrates this issue. The unethical practices followed by suppliers will have an impact on the reputation of western companies. Nike and Adidas being criticized by the media because of their Indonesias supplier sweatshops poor workplace standards attracted negative publicity and thus reduced sales. To avoid such issues, companies are now taking precautionary measures like initiatives to improve existing poor conditions and also signing contract only with ethical suppliers. For companies involved in outsourcing their engineering and design technologies overseas, keeping abreast with current technological developments will be very difficult since the company will not be directly involved in the process which might lead to diminishing value of the firms competitive advantage, level of expertise and competencies (Kotabe1998, cited in Kotabe and Mudambi 2009).For example, General Electrics (US based company) heavy dependency on Samsung (South Korean Company) for manufacturing its Microwaves ultimately led to the success of Samsung in the same field(Javalgi 2009). Western companies management might benefit in terms of cost reduction by sub-contracting its work to an emerging market country firm, on the flip side it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on their own workforce due to replacement with the equally skilled lower wage overseas employees and also builds an intense competition as they will be competing with the global workforce (Shao and David 2007). The labour force sustainability in any economy is inter-dependent. If technologists for IT activities are outsourced, even the Human resource personnel and other support jobs become redundant in the home country (Shao and David 2007). During 2003 400,000 US jobs have already gone offshore (Ford 2003).This job shift impacts all sectors of western workforce. Also the older western workers failing to acquire new skills or failing to search for alternate jobs would leave the workforce and become a financial burden to the society (Bahrami 2009). ADVANTAGES OF OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING TO EMERGING MARKET COMPANIES AND WORKFORCE IN EMERGING MARKET COUNTRIES New business opportunities available to emerging market companies puts them in limelight and aids in global recognition by being a part of global commodity chain which would attract more clients and hence enhance its reputation. For example, Tata consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro are the top three India based information service companies which have carved their niche in the global market mainly by serving US clients. The services offered by emerging market companies are expected to be of high standards to match requirements of western companies and to rope in new customers. Hence quality and capability standards of the labour pool (i.e. language, computer skills etc.) will be improved not just to match the requirements but also to attract Multi-national companies from other countries. The stimulation of growth and starting of local vendors due to new company establishments would increase the infrastructure, availability of human resource jobs and also the job opportunities and wages thus improving standards of living in developing countries (Farrel et al. 2006). DISADVANTAGES OF OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING TO EMERGING MARKET COMPANIES AND WORKFORCE IN EMERGING MARKET COUNTRIES Emerging market companies heavily relying on offshore clients for their survival will have its profitability entwined with the western economic and political stability and hence will be affected when there is fluctuation in foreign currency rates or any political instability (Birou and Fawcett 1993; Huchzermeier and Cohen 1996; Cho and Kang 2001; Kouvelis 1999; Chopra and Sodhi 2004, cited in Canbolat et al. 2008). For example, credit-crunch during 2008 had an adverse effect on all the globally spread companies dependent on the US market. The strong market players might overexploit their offshore suppliers through their high bargaining power. Wal-Mart, the US retailer, approximately subcontracts 6000 global suppliers and 80% are from China which imposes strong buyer power on its china suppliers by setting price for some of the products they buy (PBS-Frontline- Is_Walmart_Good_for_America.mpg). The cultural and linguistic barriers might pose as a problem to communicate and co-ordinate effectively for both the western companies and the developing world companies. The cream of the workforce will be lured and employed to work for the benefit of the companies of developing countries which would lead to enclaved development and international brain drain'(Kobrin 1999) thus widening the economic gap in the society. The offshore outsourcing business is a dynamic and highly competitive strategy. India, which once had the highest number of contact centre jobs, is recently being out paced by Philippines.The Philippines now leads India in call-centre jobs, employing 350,000 compared with Indias 330,000 (Yun and Chu 2011).Replacement of the low wage outsourced vendors due to automation also poses as a threat to emerging market workforce (UNCTAD 2005). The effect of polarization, dualism and geographical isolation would lead to unequal distribution of wealth amongst the developing countys workforce (Kobrin 1999). Like anti-globalists argue, offshore outsourcing (contributor to the process of globalization) benefits only to those developing countries with a comparative advantage to thrive economically and the others remain neglected. This is the same with respect to the workforce in fewer cities of a country enjoying the limelight and the others being left out. Bangalore and other metropolitan cities in case of India and Shangai in China which are the hotbed for offshore outsourcers enjoy top class services and amenities while the majority of the rural workforce of India and China still faces issues like unemployment and poverty. CONCLUSION Offshore outsourcing can be a win-win situation for both western and emerging market countries if a balance between capitalizing the benefits and adopting measures to counteract the drawback is achieved. The international divisions of labour on a global scale which is the result of the capitalist-world system(Gereffi 2009) can lead to what Amable(2000, p.656), cited in(Gereffi 2009) describes as institutional complementarily i.e. Multilateral reinforcement mechanism between institutional arrangements the existence of western companies facilitating the existence of the vendors in developing countries and vice versa.

Organisation Structure Essay

The structure is totally centralized. The strategic leader makes all key decisions and most communication is done by one on one conversations. It is particularly useful for new (entrepreneurial) business as it enables the founder to control growth and development. They are usually based on traditional domination or charismatic domination in the sense of Max Weber’s tripartite classification of authority. [edit] Bureaucratic structures Weber (1948, p. 214) gives the analogy that â€Å"the fully developed bureaucratic mechanism compares with other organizations exactly as does the machine compare with the non-mechanical modes of production. Precision, speed, unambiguity, †¦ strict subordination, reduction of friction and of material and personal costs- these are raised to the optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration. †[5] Bureaucratic structures have a certain degree of standardization. They are better suited for more complex or larger scale organizations. They usually adopt a tall structure. Then tension between bureaucratic structures and non-bureaucratic is echoed in Burns and Stalker[6] distinction between mechanistic and organic structures. It is not the entire thing about bureaucratic structure. It is very much complex and useful for hierarchical structures organization, mostly in tall organizations. [edit] Post-bureaucratic The term of post bureaucratic is used in two senses in the organizational literature: one generic and one much more specific [7]. In the generic sense the term post bureaucratic is often used to describe a range of ideas developed since the 1980s that specifically contrast themselves with Weber’s ideal type bureaucracy. This may include total quality management, culture management and matrix management, amongst others. None of these however has left behind the core tenets of Bureaucracy. Hierarchies still exist, authority is still Weber’s rational, legal type, and the organization is still rule bound. Heckscher, arguing along these lines, describes them as cleaned up bureaucracies [8], rather than a fundamental shift away from bureaucracy. Gideon Kunda, in his classic study of culture management at ‘Tech’ argued that ‘the essence of bureaucratic control – the formalisation, codification and enforcement of rules and regulations – does not change in principle†¦.. it shifts focus from organizational structure to the organization’s culture’. Another smaller group of theorists have developed the theory of the Post-Bureaucratic Organization. [8], provide a detailed discussion which attempts to describe an organization that is fundamentally not bureaucratic. Charles Heckscher has developed an ideal type, the post-bureaucratic organization, in which decisions are based on dialogue and consensus rather than authority and command, the organization is a network rather than a hierarchy, open at the boundaries (in direct contrast to culture management); there is an emphasis on meta-decision making rules rather than decision making rules. This sort of horizontal decision making by consensus model is often used in housing cooperatives, other cooperatives and when running a non-profit or community organization. It is used in order to encourage participation and help to empower people who normally experience oppression in groups. Still other theorists are developing a resurgence of interest in complexity theory and organizations, and have focused on how simple structures can be used to engender organizational adaptations.

Natural food and drink industry Essay

Executive Summary The all natural food and drink industry is relatively new, it has emerged as part of the clean label trend and is seen as an alternative to the organic products or products labeled as â€Å"free-from†. The global all natural food and drink market has shown a steady growth during the last few years and is expected to grow due to rising demands for healthy, nutritional, natural foods and drinks without chemicals and artificial ingredients. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 35% annually, Indian non-carbonated drink market is likely to touch Rs. 54,000 crore by 2015 from the current level of Rs. 22,000 crore including fruit drinks, nectars and juices etc. Our company J-GAPS started in 2014 thereby tapping this potential in the Indian market had come up with a natural flavored drink segment in terms of coconut water with Kewra and Mint with the product named SIPCO in order to revive freshness. This could be seen as great opportunity in Maharashtra near the Konkan region where the natural source of tender coconut could be fully utilized to provide healthy natural beverage to people. The financial assistance is catered by coconut development board in terms of 50% cost of production. The vision of our company is to provide a natural drink to the consumer so as to improve their health in a fast paced lifestyle. Identifying the gap in this market through market analysis especially in terms of coconut water wherein there are hardly tetra packs available in order to make it convenient for people to have the nutritional drink without carrying the hard husk. The main drivers of introducing such a natural beverage includes rising consumer concerns regarding artificial ingredients, artificially introduced hormones and genetically modified products, and their awareness of the long term health benefits of natural food and good nutrition thereby having a lifestyle of health and sustainability (LOHAS). We therefore see ahead a great potential in this market as GEN – Y would be the most prominent segment to be tapped in order to sustain in the market and thereby expand our presence in India. 1. Current Marketing Situation 1.1 Industry overview The Indian packaged tender coconut water is still an industry in its development phase. There exist a very few players in this market. J-GAPS  aims to position its product in the general market where exist players like Pepsi, Coca cola, Parle agro foods etc. who are major players in the soft drink segment. The emerging trend among consumers to go for healthy and natural food products will drive this industry. Coconut water is a fruit juice with many unique features and a major one is a low calorie content .This makes it a very attractive prospect for weight management positioned juices. 1.2 Company description J-GAPS will primarily engage in extracting, processing and adding flavors to tender coconut water which is then ready to be delivered to stores. It is a privately held firm will be located in Ratnagiri in the state of Maharashtra .We have identified a location which is closer to the coconut farms. J-GAPS sources the tender coconut for its requirements from its own farms and also additionally from other farmers directly. Our processing unit has a capacity of processing liters water annually. 1.3 Market analysis- Tender flavored coconut water is recommended for people of all ages. With the consumers turning health conscious and preferring natural products, we believe that our product has a strong market both in domestic circles and in countries abroad. Our main target customer is the young generations who have a fancy for energy drinks. We also target sport persons with our special energy pack. We want to make our drink available for homes, offices, hospitals, sports persons, marriages, other occasions, hotels and restaurants. The recent studies showing the impact of aerated drinks on health has turned customer to ignore such artificially produced drinks and go for natural food drinks. The rising population will require larger amount of food drinks. Our product will be a natural thirst quencher with added flavor of Kewra essence in it which will be beneficial during the long summer months. 1.4 Major Segmentation Approach 1.5 PESTLE Analysis The Pestle Analysis identifies the political, economic, social, technological, legal and ecological influences on an organization. Political factors Various political factors affect the fruit juice industry. With the change of government the policies regulating the industry might change. As the taxation policy keeps changing, it has a significant effect on fruit juice industry. The government plans of encouraging foreign direct investments would affect our industry highly as organized fruit juice industry has only 3 % share as of now in the market but with FDIs it could increase significantly by coming of bigger players. Economic factors Our company would rely on trucks to move our raw materials to the processing plant and distribute our finished product so, fuel is also an important subject, so the company is subject to the fuel price fluctuation, and to possible fuel crisis. Since, ours is an agro based industry so we would be exposed to the risks of high prices due to crop failure, non-availability of raw material because of pest attack etc. Other economic factors affecting fruit juice industry are often linked to variability in real growth, inflation, interest rates, governmental actions and other factors. Factors like money supply, energy availability and cost, business cycles, etc. would also affect our company. Socio-cultural factors We are more than a billion strong nations and the youngest country as well. We are also home to the great Indian middle class. The major growth drivers in fruit juice market are increase in health consciousness among consumers, increase in disposable incomes and more sophisticated cocktail culture. There is more money circulating in the economy. With life becoming more hectic and tiring, consumer preferences are witnessing a visible shift towards healthy foods. Even the younger generation has started shifting from fizz to fresh and healthy. As people are becoming more and more educated, they are taking the healthy route. Technological factors Fruit juices have become big business throughout much of the developed and developing world with the increasing health conscious proportion of population. In this ever growing industry technology plays a major role in maintaining the quality and cost efficiency to generate higher profits.  Better technology can increase the shelf life of our product. Technology refers to both production process as well as machinery. Legal factors Processed fruit juices are regulated under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations as a food product and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act. The Food and Drugs Act creates identity standards, provides a basis for labelling requirements and establishes the safety parameters for soft drinks. As food safety requirements become more advanced across the beverage industry, tracking and traceability capabilities are a prerequisite. Ecological factors One environmental issue that food processing companies face is waste remaining from packaging. However, the problem often lies in feasibility of collection, separation and purification of the consumers’ disposed bottles or drinks packets. Environmental issues have gained importance because of regulatory requirements. It is not possible to sell a new packaging material without covering all the environmental issues. The reduction of materials in packing cartons can potentially provide both financial and environmental benefits. . We propose to provide our product in tetra packs so that lesser damage is done to the environment in comparison to PET bottles. 2. Product review 2.1 Product features In India coconut water has always been considered as a health drink to refresh the body due to its nutritional value. Tender Coconut Water is considered the healthiest & best sports drink in the world, because it contains vitamins. It is very refreshing and rich in sugar, electrolytes and minerals – available in the natural form in most sterile conditions. It is a natural isotonic drink where the electrolyte levels are similar to those found in the human body. The water of fresh green coconuts is actually fat free. Our company keeping this factor in mind has come up with two natural flavored drink containing 1. Kewra essence which has a floral fragrance thereby providing a cooling effect in the drink. 2. Mint flavor to provide freshness and energizing flavor to the drink Chota Anna would have two variants in terms of Kewra drink and Mint drink. Kewra drink Mint drink Coconut water Coconut water Kewra essence Mint sugar honey Farm Fresh Tender Coconut are selected (50% capacity extracted) and the rest purchased from the Ratnagiri Association Coconut supplier and Natural Tender Coconut Water is squeezed out, untouched by hand and put through a special process in order to add the natural flavors of Kewra essence and Mint. The product is packed in food-grade Bottles/ Cans, which keeps it fresh for 9/18 months. The taste is natural and hence good.

Spence v. Washington (1974)

Should the government be able to prevent people from attaching symbols, words, or pictures to American flags in public? That was the question before the Supreme Court in Spence v. Washington, a case where a college student was prosecuted for publicly displaying an American flag to which he had attached large peace symbols. The Court found that Spence had a constitutional right to use the American flag to communicate his intended message, even if the government disagreed with him. Fast Facts: Spence v. Washington Case Argued: January 9, 1974Decision Issued:  June 25, 1974Petitioner: Harold Omond SpenceRespondent: State of WashingtonKey Question: Was a Washington State law criminalizing the display of a modified American flag in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments?Majority Decision: Justices Douglas, Stewart, Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun, and PowellDissenting: Justices Burger, White, and RehnquistRuling: The right to modify the flag was an expression of freedom of speech, and as applied, the Washington State statute was in violation of the First Amendment.   Spence v. Washington: Background In Seattle, Washington, a college student named Spence hung an American flag outside the window of his private apartment — upside down and with peace symbols attached to both sides. He was protesting violent acts by the American government, for example in Cambodia and the fatal shootings of college students at Kent State University. He wanted to associate the flag more closely with peace than war: I felt there had been so much killing and that this was not what America stood for. I felt that the flag stood for America and I wanted people to know that I thought America stood for peace. Three police officers saw the flag, entered the apartment with Spence’s permission, seized the flag, and arrested him. Although Washington state had a law banning desecration of the American flag, Spence was charged under a law banning â€Å"improper use† of the American flag, denying people the right to: Place or cause to be placed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing or advertisement of any nature upon any flag, standard, color, ensign or shield of the United States or of this state ... orExpose to public view any such flag, standard, color, ensign or shield upon which shall have been printed, painted or otherwise produced, or to which shall have been attached, appended, affixed or annexed any such word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing or advertisement... Spence was convicted after the judge told the jury that merely displaying the flag with an attached peace symbol was sufficient grounds for conviction. He was fined $75 and sentenced to 10 days in jail (suspended). The Washington Court of Appeals reversed this, declaring that the law overbroad. The Washington Supreme Court reinstated the conviction and Spence appealed to the Supreme Court. Spence v. Washington: Decision In an unsigned, per curiam decision, the Supreme Court said the Washington law â€Å"impermissibly infringed a form of protected expression.† Several factors were cited: the flag was private property, it was displayed on private property, the display did not risk any breach of peace, and finally even the state admitted that Spence was â€Å"engaged in a form of communication.† As to whether the state has an interest in preserving the flag as â€Å"an unalloyed symbol of our country,† the decision states: Presumably, this interest might be seen as an effort to prevent the appropriation of a revered national symbol by an individual, interest group, or enterprise where there was a risk that association of the symbol with a particular product or viewpoint might be taken erroneously as evidence of governmental endorsement. Alternatively, it might be argued that the interest asserted by the state court is based on the uniquely universal character of the national flag as a symbol.For the great majority of us, the flag is a symbol of patriotism, of pride in the history of our country, and of the service, sacrifice, and valor of the millions of Americans who in peace and war have joined together to build and to defend a Nation in which self-government and personal liberty endure. It evidences both the unity and diversity which are America. For others, the flag carries in varying degrees a different message. â€Å"A person gets from a symbol the meaning he puts into it, and what is one manâ⠂¬â„¢s comfort and inspiration is another’s jest and scorn.† None of this mattered, though. Even accepting a state interest here, the law was still unconstitutional because Spence was using the flag to express ideas which viewers would be able to understand. Given the protected character of his expression and in light of the fact that no interest the State may have in preserving the physical integrity of a privately owned flag was significantly impaired on these facts, the conviction must be invalidated. There was no risk that people would think the government was endorsing Spence’s message and the flag carries so many different meanings to people that the state cannot proscribe the use of the flag to express certain political views. Spence v. Washington: Significance This decision avoided dealing with whether people have a right to display flags they have permanently altered to make a statement. Spence’s alteration was deliberately temporary, and the justices appear to have thought this relevant. However, at least a free speech right to at least temporarily â€Å"deface† the American flag was established. The Supreme Court’s decision in Spence v. Washington was not unanimous. Three justices — Burger, Rehnquist, and White — disagreed with the majority’s conclusion that individuals have a free speech right to alter, even temporarily, an American flag in order to communicate some message. They agreed that Spence was indeed engaged in communicating a message, but they disagreed that Spence should be allowed to alter the flag to do so. Writing a dissent joined by Justice White, Justice Rehnquist stated: The true nature of the State’s interest in this case is not only one of preserving â€Å"the physical integrity of the flag,† but also one of preserving the flag as â€Å"an important symbol of nationhood and unity.† ... It is the character, not the cloth, of the flag which the State seeks to protect. [...]The fact that the State has a valid interest in preserving the character of the flag does not mean, of course, that it can employ all conceivable means to enforce it. It certainly could not require all citizens to own the flag or compel citizens to salute one. ... It presumably cannot punish criticism of the flag, or the principles for which it stands, any more than it could punish criticism of this country’s policies or ideas. But the statute in this case demands no such allegiance.Its operation does not depend upon whether the flag is used for communicative or noncommunicative purposes; upon whether a particular message is deemed commercial or politica l; upon whether the use of the flag is respectful or contemptuous; or upon whether any particular segment of the State’s citizenry might applaud or oppose the intended message. It simply withdraws a unique national symbol from the roster of materials that may be used as a background for communications. [emphasis added] It should be noted that Rehnquist and Burger dissented from the Court’s decision in Smith v. Goguen for substantially the same reasons. In that case, a teenager was convicted for wearing a small American flag on the seat of his pants. Although White voted with the majority, in that case, he attached a concurring opinion where he stated that he would not â€Å"find it beyond congressional power, or that of state legislatures, to forbid attaching to or putting on the flag any words, symbols, or advertisements.† Just two months after the Smith case was argued, this one appeared before the court — though that case was decided first. As was true with the Smith v. Goguen case, the dissent here simply misses the point. Even if we accept Rehnquist’s assertion that the state has an interest in preserving the flag as â€Å"an important symbol of nationhood and unity,† this does not automatically entail that the state the authority to fulfill this interest by prohibiting people from treating a privately own flag as they see fit or by criminalizing certain uses of the flag to communicate political messages. There is a missing step here — or more likely several missing steps — which Rehnquist, White, Burger and other supporters of bans on flag â€Å"desecration† never manage to include in their arguments. It’s likely that Rehnquist recognized this. He acknowledges, after all, that there are limits to what the state may do in pursuit of this interest and cites several examples of extreme government behavior which would cross the line for him. But where, exactly, is that line and why does he draw it in the place he does? Upon what basis does he allow some things but not others? Rehnquist never says and, for this reason, the effectiveness of his dissent completely fails. One more important thing should be noted about Rehnquist’s dissent: he makes it explicit that criminalizing the certain uses of the flag to communicate messages must apply to respectful as well as contemptuous messages. Thus, the words â€Å"America is Great† would be just as prohibited as the words â€Å"America Sucks.† Rehnquist is at least consistent here, and that’s good — but how many supporters of bans on flag desecration would accept this particular consequence of their position? Rehnquist’s dissent suggests very strongly that if the government has the authority to criminalize burning an American flag, it can criminalize waving an American flag as well.