As the twenty-first century begins, the world finds itself with a wide range of possible economic futures. Bankrupt Greece is buying costly submarines and fighter planes. This book intends to suggest several revisions in institutional structure, management techniques and rewards, and a drastic change in how hourly labor is compensated.

Ch. 1. An agenda for increasing productivity : an introduction -- ch. 2. Corporate tax modification proposals -- ch. 3. Productivity and the net present value calculation -- ch. 4. A managerial incentive strategy for increased productivity -- ch. 5. Economic income -- ch. 6. Flexible wages : a wage plan for increased productivity -- ch. 7. Industrial democracy -- ch. 8. Correcting one problem : introducing present value depreciation -- ch. 9. Using earnings per share and stock prices to measure managerial performance -- ch. 10. Ten management errors -- ch. 11. Costs of capital by division -- ch. 12. Mergers, acquisitions, and LBOs -- ch. 13. Little differences and big results -- ch. 14. Scientific Management -- ch. 15. Corporate strategies -- ch. 16. Achieving an improved competitive position

In this pathbreaking book, Michael E. Porter unravels the rules that govern competition and turns them into powerful analytical tools to help management interpret market signals and forecast the direction of industry development.

The globalized economy, dominated by the diffusion of innovation and social, political, and economic changes, allows people and knowledge to flow without knowing what lies ahead. As new economies emerge and technologies impose significant changes, the internationalization of markets and industries has made defining its delimitation more difficult. Competitive Drivers for Improving Future Business Performance is a conceptualized reference source that discusses the use of digital skills to manage change in volatile contexts and provides fundamental understanding of competitive advantage to guarantee superior performances. To assure this level of performance, a set of choices (drivers) must be created ensuring operational efficiency, innovative products, customer knowledge-base, and focused branding. Featuring research on topics such as consumer experience, strategic leadership, and flexible technologies, this book is ideally designed for managers, executives, entrepreneurs, academicians, consulting professionals, researchers, industry professionals, and students seeking coverage on how to improve competitive performance in an era of uncertainty.

DIVArgues that competitiveness is essential to the health of the U.S. economy and standard of living /div

Now beyond its eleventh printing and translated into twelve languages, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations has changed completely our conception of how prosperity is created and sustained in the modern global economy. Porter’s groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America. Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter’s “diamond,” a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of “clusters,” or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy. Even before publication of the book, Porter’s theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured.

Effective design and manufacturing, both of which are necessary to produce high-quality products, are closely related. However, effective design is a prerequisite for effective manufacturing. This new book explores the status of engineering design practice, education, and research in the United States and recommends ways to improve design to increase U.S. industry's competitiveness in world markets.