Assessment Brief

Geography
Application
Location, location, location!
“Location, location, location” is a hallmark of
the real estate industry, but have you ever thought about how that motto
pertains to the situation of other industries? If you were going to start a new
business that required specific types of people, talents, and resources, how
would you decide where the best place would be? In today’s technological era, the
location of a new plant relies on many important factors to ensure success and
return on investment. In this week’s Application Assignment, you will become
one of those executives researching a new location and consider how the local
geography could make or break your business.
Questions about this assignment? Post them in the Contact
the Instructor area on the left navigation bar. That way, everyone in the class
will see, and benefit from, the instructor’s response.
To prepare for this Application:
Review pages 129-134, 138-139 in The World Today: Concepts
and Regions in Geography. Authors: de Blij, Muller & Nijman (2013).
Consider the changing industrial and economical geography of
North America, and how manufacturing and urbanization affects the surrounding
economy.
Reflect on what factors a CEO would consider when deciding
on where to situate a new plant.
The assignment:
Compose a 2-page essay in which you answer the following
from the perspective of a chief executive of a successful young company that
manufactures software for the newest, high-speed computers:
Where would you locate your company in North America and
why?
What factors are priorities that you will consider when
deciding where you will locate your factory, such as educational resources,
skilled labor workforce, proximity to other important locations, communication
systems, connection to global networking, geographical risks, recreational
opportunities, etc.
Create a “short list” of three possible sites in
North America and present the factors that justify why each is a desirable
location.
Choose one location from your “short list” in
which your decision is built upon the most impor­tant locational variables for
your plant and its highly-skilled workforce. Explain why you consider this
location to be the best, and what results you expect from locating your plant
there.