The proposed book is intended to provide a conceptual framework of ‘Organisational Flexibility and Competitiveness’ supported by research studies in various types of flexibilities exhibited by an organisation. The need for enterprise flexibility in an era of rapidly advancing technology, increasing competition, and globalization, is apparent. Flexibility can be thought of as an ability of the enterprise to quickly and efficiently respond to market changes and to bring new products and services quickly to the market place. Beyond this definition, a truly flexible enterprise should proactively change the market through its ability to create truly new and innovative products and services. The book applies the concept of flexibility to various functional areas: strategy and competitiveness, organization and HR management, information systems, finance and risk management, operations and supply chain management.

As countries around the world seek to enhance their economies while facing the challenges of climate change and income inequality, national competitiveness is an important marker of the related strengths and weaknesses that policymakers will need to address. Among the existing reports on national competitiveness and rankings, such as IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook and WEF Global Competitiveness Report, there are sizable discrepancies in the ranking order for the same countries. As a result, confusion arises as such an outcome creates difficulties for government officials when translating these findings into real-world policies.The reality is that these discrepancies are due to the differences in logic and analytical models used by IMD and WEF. Therefore, in recognizing such problems and limitations, The Competitiveness of Nations 2 presents the IPS model as a new approach. Building on from Michael Porter's diamond model, it demonstrates a robust set of methodologies as well as offers several key policy implications for economies around the world that wish to enhance their competitiveness.The analytical tools used in this book can be further utilized for other units of analysis such as industries and individual firms. As this book provides a series of sophisticated methodologies and specific guidelines for enhancing national competitiveness, both academics and practitioners can derive useful implications.This annual book series was launched in 2021 and has included timely topics and in-depth discussion on national competitiveness. The first edition dealt with the COVID-19 global pandemic and the US-China trade war as its key focus. For this second edition, the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issue has been selected given its growing impact on strategic decision-making at both firm and country levels for sustainable competitiveness. This edition explores the development of ESG in various regions including Asia (Japan, Korea, India), Europe (Russia), Latin America (Peru), and Africa (Sub-Saharan Africa). It addresses how firms can contribute to ESG, and what governments should do to incentivize or regulate firms' engagement in its practices.

In a modern world with rapidly growing international trade, countries compete less based on the availability of natural resources, geographical advantages, and lower labor costs and more on factors related to firms' ability to enter and compete in new markets. One such factor is the ability to demonstrate the quality and safety of goods and services expected by consumers and confirm compliance with international standards. To assure such compliance, a sound quality infrastructure (QI) ecosystem is essential. Jointly developed by the World Bank Group and the National Metrology Institute of Germany, this guide is designed to help development partners and governments analyze a country's quality infrastructure ecosystems and provide recommendations to design and implement reforms and enhance the capacity of their QI institutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic struck the global economy after a decade that featured a broad-based slowdown in productivity growth. Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies presents the first comprehensive analysis of the evolution and drivers of productivity growth, examines the effects of COVID-19 on productivity, and discusses a wide range of policies needed to rekindle productivity growth. The book also provides a far-reaching data set of multiple measures of productivity for up to 164 advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies, and it introduces a new sectoral database of productivity. The World Bank has created an extraordinary book on productivity, covering a large group of countries and using a wide variety of data sources. There is an emphasis on emerging and developing economies, whereas the prior literature has concentrated on developed economies. The book seeks to understand growth patterns and quantify the role of (among other things) the reallocation of factors, technological change, and the impact of natural disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is must-reading for specialists in emerging economies but also provides deep insights for anyone interested in economic growth and productivity. Martin Neil Baily Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution Former Chair, U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers This is an important book at a critical time. As the book notes, global productivity growth had already been slowing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and collapses with the pandemic. If we want an effective recovery, we have to understand what was driving these long-run trends. The book presents a novel global approach to examining the levels, growth rates, and drivers of productivity growth. For anyone wanting to understand or influence productivity growth, this is an essential read. Nicholas Bloom William D. Eberle Professor of Economics, Stanford University The COVID-19 pandemic hit a global economy that was already struggling with an adverse pre-existing condition—slow productivity growth. This extraordinarily valuable and timely book brings considerable new evidence that shows the broad-based, long-standing nature of the slowdown. It is comprehensive, with an exceptional focus on emerging market and developing economies. Importantly, it shows how severe disasters (of which COVID-19 is just the latest) typically harm productivity. There are no silver bullets, but the book suggests sensible strategies to improve growth prospects. John Fernald Schroders Chaired Professor of European Competitiveness and Reform and Professor of Economics, INSEAD