Competing In A Global Economy

"Impressive... This is an evidence-based bottom-up account of the realities of globalisation. It is more varied, more subtle, and more substantial than many of the popular works available on the subject." -- Financial Times Based on a five-year study by the MIT Industrial Performance Center, How We Compete goes into the trenches of over 500 international companies to discover which practices are succeeding in today’s global economy, which are failing –and why. There is a rising fear in America that no job is safe. In industry after industry, jobs seem to be moving to low-wage countries in Asia, Central America, and Eastern Europe. Production once handled entirely in U.S. factories is now broken into pieces and farmed out to locations around the world. To discover whether our current fears about globalization are justified, Suzanne Berger and a group of MIT researchers went to the front lines, visiting workplaces and factories around the world. They conducted interviews with managers at more than 500 companies, asking questions about which parts of the manufacturing process are carried out in their own plants and which are outsourced, who their biggest competitors are, and how they plan to grow their businesses. How We Compete presents their fascinating, and often surprising, conclusions. Berger and her team examined businesses where technology changes rapidly–such as electronics and software–as well as more traditional sectors, like the automobile industry, clothing, and textile industries. They compared the strategies and success of high-tech companies like Intel and Sony, who manufacture their products in their own plants, and Cisco and Dell, who rely primarily on outsourcing. They looked closely at textile and clothing to uncover why some companies, including the Gap and Liz Claiborne, choose to outsource production to foreign countries, while others, such as Zara and Benetton, base most operations at home. What emerged was far more complicated than the black-and-white picture presented by promoters and opponents of globalization. Contrary to popular belief, cheap labor is not the answer, and the world is not flat, as Thomas Friedman would have it. How We Compete shows that there are many different ways to win in the global economy, and that the avenues open to American companies are much wider than we ever imagined. SUZANNE BERGER is the Raphael Dorman and Helen Starbuck Professor of Political Science at MIT and director of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiative. She was a member of the MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity, whose report Made in America analyzed weaknesses and strengths in U.S. industry in the 1980s. She lives in Boston , Massachusetts.

Global patterns of production and trade in manufactures have changed tremendously over the past two decades. The growth of world trade has been accompanied by a rapid increase in the number of products, suppliers and buyers involved in international markets. At the same time, the means by which manufacturers compete and collaborate have been changing. The great challenges that these developments pose for policy makers and practitioners provide the basic motive for this comprehensive assessment of the underlying forces and determinants that are reshaping the world's industrial map. Based upon an empirical approach, the analysis is closely interwoven with key elements of economic theory. the Heckscher-Ohlin model provides the framework for most of the book's interpretation, but less formal models focusing on economies of scale, product differentiation and other aspects of imperfect competition also figure prominently. The extensive research with access to UNIDO's vast body of unpublished information and contributions from specialists, has resulted in a blend of theoretical and empirical material which yields new insights into the way firms and industries compete in international markets.

Global Strategy: Competing in the Connected Economy details how firms enter, compete and grow in foreign markets. Jain moves away from the traditional focus on developed countries and their multinational enterprises, instead focusing on both developed and emerging economies, as well as their interaction in an increasingly connected world. As the current global business environment is increasingly shaped—and connected—by faster technological developments, geopolitical forces, emerging economies, and new multinationals from those economies, this highly charged dynamic provides rich opportunity to revisit mainstream paradigms in globalization, innovation, and global strategy. The book rises to the challenge, exploring new competitive phenomena, new business models, and new strategies. Rich illustrations, real-world examples, and case data, provide students and executives with the insights necessary to connect, compete, and grow in a globalized business environment. This bold book succinctly covers strategy models and implementation for a range of global players, providing students of strategy and international business with a rich understanding of the contemporary business environment. For access to additional materials, including Powerpoint slides, a list of suggested cases, and sample syllabus, please contact Vinod Jain ([email protected]).

China's economic reforms over the past two decades have brought tremendous economic transformation, rapid growth, and closer integration into the global economy. Real income per capita has increased fivefold, raising millions of Chinese out of poverty. Despite these achievements, difficult reforms--involving the state-owned enterprises and the financial sector--must still be completed, and social pressures from rising unemployment and income inequalities need to be addressed. China's accession to the World Trade Organization will bring benefits but will also impose obligations on the economy, and could prove to be a watershed for the reform process. This book looks at the country's reform process, its past successes and future challenges.

A study of Canadian competitiveness, which has been declining. Includes Canada's business scorecard; doing business, manufacturing, and services in the global economy; strategies for Canada's international competitiveness; and recommendations for a competitive future. Graphs. Commissioned by Kodak Canada Inc.

Richard Vietor shows how governments set direction and create the climate for a nation's economic development and profitable private enterprise. Drawing on history, economic analysis, and interviews with executives and officials around the globe, he provides examinations of different government approaches to growth and development.