As globalization creates the need for leaders who transcend national borders, this book provides an insider's view of what makes them special. This is the first book to present a framework for understanding this fast-growing and influential group and it provides tools for readers to discover their own inner competitive edge.

Technology and U.S. global competitiveness is a major concern today, and yet there is no study that surveys the key issues describing federal and state policies in the United States. What new technologies are likely to increase our national productivity and international competitiveness in the future? Editors Lambright and Rahm have gathered together a group of experts to provide varying perspectives and recommendations for students, scholars, experts, and policymakers to consider. The edited collection describes federal and state programs, institutions, and changing policy issues given the new world order of technology and competitiveness. Part I analyzes federal competitiveness policy, the decontrolling of technology transfer, the role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the emerging role of the Department of Defense in Technology Transfer. Part II covers turbulent state programs in the 1990s, state space technology programs, and basic research and development. Part III deals with recent theoretical and organizational approaches to U.S. technology policy, changing international relations and U.S.-Japanese competitiveness, and corporate culture in small high tech firms.

Central and Eastern European countries are entering the development race at a crucial juncture in EU enlargement and the wider phenomenon of globalization. In the face of hesitant and controversial EU policy, these countries need to engage sound development strategies. International production networks are expected to be decisive in helping them strengthen their competitiveness and establish knowledge based economies. Julie Pellegrin looks at whether and how production networks develop in Central and Eastern European countries and assesses their chances of catching up with the rest of Europe.

This study was motivated by an awareness of the ever-growing importance of technology on productivity and power in the information age. It examines the relationship among national security, economic competition, and technology. An underlying premise is that in an era of diminished military confrontation, economic and technological power are acquiring enhanced importance in national security considerations. Green believes that this is bound to promote closer coordination between government and private industry, but not without tensions. Using both a public policy and an economic focus, his work seeks to clarify the debate on high technology industrial policy and to address the policy question of whether and how government should respond to competitive assaults in strategic industries.

The key arguments and debates about globalization have raised searching questions about the significance of national and regional borders for the competitive strategies of individuals, firms and industries." Global Competitiveness and Innovation" seeks to address these issues by exploring four key topics: The status of economic agents in the emerging global economy; the limits of path dependence and the scope of agent action; the relationship between agents' decision-making and their environments; and agents' learning capacities in a world of information and knowledge creation.

The blackout of 2003 illuminated just how dependent America is on electricity. It was not just that some 50 million people in eight states and Ontario were cut off from their televisions, microwaves, ATMs, and email. Without the electrical juice to keep their sockets alive, factory managers were forced to close production lines, city managers shut down water deliveries, grocery store clerks watched their frozen inventory slowly melt away. Economists estimated that the blackout cost Americans $5 billion even as energy analysts were predicting that a similar blackout could happen again. The catastrophe forced us to marvel at the unusual ability of sub-microscopic particles to move like waves inside a wire and cause bulbs to glow. It highlighted the complex requirements for managing the massive generators, transformers, transmission lines, and switch boxes needed to tap and deliver flowing electrons. It encouraged us to recognize the profound impact of electricity on all aspects of commerce and culture. Such events as the blackout, the Enron debacle, and the California "brownouts" also reveal the cracks in a 100-year-old industry structure that have been building ever since Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and their contemporaries first managed to harness electricity and make it available to the masses, and tycoons, such as Sam Insull and George Norris, began to concentrate financial control and political influence. From Edison to Enron traces the controversial history of this $210 billion industry--the nation's largest--showcasing the key individuals, technological innovations, corporate machinations, and political battles that have been waged over its domination. Munson maintains thattoday's technological and regulatory infrastructure, as a function of its history, is a relic that has long outlived its usefulness; he points out that two-thirds of the fuel burned to generate electricity is lost, that Americans pay roughly $100 billion too much each year for heat and power, and that environmentally unfriendly generators are the nation's largest polluters. Meanwhile, innovations in technology and business models are being blocked by entrenched monopolies. Ultimately, Munson argues that current policies and practices, including those favored by the Bush Administration, are preventing entrepreneurs from producing more efficient, healthy, and sustainable power supplies. Moreover, he presents an agenda for business and policy reforms that will stimulate economic development in the United States and around the world.

This study synthesizes and summarizes the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence that suggest that competition works remarkably well to reduce costs and improve efficiency and innovation, even in an arena where competition has typically been ignored--government-financed services. The arguments and data marshaled here, drawn primarily from the American experience, portray the substantial benefits to consumers and taxpayers that can result from efforts to increase competition in commercial services previously operated as government monopolies.

Competition in Government-Financed Services will help fortify the efforts of competition advocates, both in the United States and in the emerging market economies of Eastern Europe and the developing world, to get on with the job of strengthening competition and opening their systems to market forces.

This book addresses the multi-facet competitiveness of firms in China from an angle of strategic management of technology and innovation. The Chinese vanguard companies have been excellent in identifying strategic position and appropriately making strategic decisions, and effectively making strategy in action.

Competition, Efficiency and Welfare contains a collection of papers in honor of Manfred Neumann. This collection was prepared as a tribute to a teacher and scholar, whose accomplishments have enriched various fields of economics. The magnitude of his interests is reflected in the breadth of topics covered in this volume: industrial economics, competition policy and related topics. However, if one unifying principle runs through Manfred Neumann's work, it is the belief in the power of competition. Born on May 16, 1933, Manfred Neumann studied economics at the University of Cologne. He graduated in 1960. In 1969 Manfred Neumann was appointed Professor of Economics at Nurnberg University. He was Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, President of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics (EARIE) and Chairman of Industrial Organization Study Group of the Verein fur Sozialpolitik. Most of his professional career has been spent at Nurnberg, where he has helped to make the Economic Institute one of the leading research centers in Industrial Organization. He has also been involved in various advisory activities. The volume contains 18 essays. The first twelve are grouped into four categories: Innovation and R&D (Part I), Cartels (Part II), Mergers and Merger Policy (Part III), and Methodological Issues in Industrial Organization (Part IV). These papers fall within the bounds of industrial economics, which has been Manfred Neumann's primary research interest throughout his career. Part V includes two papers on theories of international trade, which has been a recurring topic of interest for Manfred Neumann through the years. The last three papers look at broader policy and macroeconomic issues. Contributors to this volume include Karl Aiginger, David B. Audretsch, Paul A. Geroski, Stephen Martin and Dennis Mueller.

Michman and Mazze present five key variables that retailing executives in nine specialty businesses must understand and work with, to gain and sustain competitive advantage in their competitive environments. Innovation, target market segmentation, image development, physical store decor, and human resource managementf are identified and examined. Authors argue convincingly from research and practical experience that these fundamental considerations are crucial to achieving competitive dominance. With up-to-date analyses and extensive coverage of e-commerce and internet retailing as well, their book is essential for retailing executives.

Michman and Mazze find that successful specialty retailers are not all things to all customers, and do not try to be. They are, however, the first to apply new technologies. Authors analyze the development of specialty stores in the U.S. and tie their variables together in an epilogue. Along the way they make clear that by focusing on their five critical variables, we can understand how marketing successes come about and what causes blunders in the nine highly important store categories under their examination here. They point out that not all of their variables need be used concurrently. Some may be more critical than others, and this depends on environmental and competitive conditions. Backing it all up is meticulously developed evidence from their research and personal experience -- all of it presented readably and in a way that practitioners can understand and immediately apply.

Strategic Interaction and Markets explores the theoretical richness of economic contexts such as product differentiation, strategic barriers to entry, and imperfect information, where economic agents act strategically taking into account the impact of their behaviour on competitors' behaviour and prices. This non-ideal form of competition is the standard result when competition is amongst a small number of agents. Designed as an ancillary text for graduate students, this book is an accessible introduction to the applications of a complex area of mathematical economics.

Dr. Morris argues that through its Western mode of thought, a philosophy of separation, the U.S. is losing its edge in worldwide business competition. Separating is pluralistic, says Morris, while the Eastern mode of thought is unitary--it seeks to combine. Morris maintains that in business, the Eastern way of thinking is winning. He thus calls for U.S. corporations to combine their various functions and simplify them, to develop what he terms a common operating system that can successfully achieve market power, a way to block existing and potential competitors from access to targeted markets. It means adopting what for U.S. business is an entirely new way of thinking, and out of this develop a new approach to business strategy formulation. How this can be done, how the various functions of the organization can be linked into a non-linear, unitary structure, and why this must be done, is Dr. Morris's theme. A unique, innovative, ultimately pragmatic discussion for corporate executives throughout the organization, and new food for thought throughout academia.

"Market Power and Business Strategy" consists of seven modules, not chapters. Chapters, says Morris, imply a linear approach to learning and strategy. His book calls for a circular approach. Readers can begin the book anywhere, and will find after finishing it that the effect on their understanding is cumulative. Not only will they get a new way of considering individual functions within the organization, but they will also be struck by how these functions can be combined. The key is in the operating system. It's common to all functions, but because of the way Western thought has developed, the commonality has become hidden. Morris uncovers it by examining in detail the two ways of thinking, Western and Eastern, pluralistic and unitary, and compares them in the contexts of marketing, human resource, finance, and other resources that exist within organizations. In doing so, he focuses sharply on marketing, in the belief that marketing strategy cannot be formulated in a vacuum. It must be derived from all intra-organizational disciplines, just as they must build their own strategies with markets and marketing uppermost in mind. With examples from everyday business situations and a wrap-up module that proves his thinking is by no means Utopian, Morris will challenge many strongly held beliefs, to which he would respond: that's the best way to learn.

Business opportunity is defined as the deriving force that creates entrepreneurship, change and growth in both SMEs and multinational firms. Business networks provide opportunities and competitive advantage but they also impose constraints on firms. This volume connects opportunity detection with business networks to explore the impact of this combination on the competitive strategies of firms. It will be of use to researchers and PhD candidates working in the field of entrepreneurship, networks, and competitive strategies and advantages.

This text evaluates the validity of a key proposition of public choice theory: that competition is associated with superior performance by governmental organizations. Three forms of competition in local government are identified: competition between local authorities; competition between councils and private contractors; and competition between parties for political power. The extent and consequences of competition are assessed in both the UK and USA. The analysis is used to draw conclusions on the effects of competition and the validity of public choice theory.

While the Singaporean economy has experienced one of the highest rates of growth in the world over the past three decades, questions have recently been raised about the sustainability of the Singapore development model and its continued relevance in the global economy. This book is a compilation of specially written essays by a select group of leading international scholars. The authors analytically examine a number of related issues pertaining to national competitiveness, structural and macroeconomic concerns and policy options for the Singapore economy in order for it to sustain its economic viability in the global economy. Specifically, the volume aims to: * identify key trends and strategic issues that policymakers and businesses need to be aware of in a highly competitive and technologically sophisticated global economy * highlight what exactly it means to be 'competitive' in the new global economy * hypothesise how to position Singapore in the new global economy for it to remain a thriving and prosperous nation. As the title of the book suggests, while the focus is on Singapore, there are many lessons to be gleaned for other countries in Asia and elsewhere. Scholars of Asian studies, international economics, development economics, public policy and international business economics should find this book of great value, as should policymakers and other policy analysts.

Since 1984, relaxed federal guidelines have allowed the natural gas industry to become far more flexible and competitive. Once gas pipelines were given the option of open access, the barriers to markets and competition dissolved. The success of open access points to the emergence and evolution of a fluid and informationally rich network of regional markets that form today's single national market for natural gas. A broad range of specialists and academics in economics, regulatory economics and economic modeling, industrial organization, and energy and natural resources will find the implications of this work important reading.

This work considers the potential effects of competition in the natural gas pipeline industry. Contrary to published studies and government reports, this study concludes that federal regulation in the industry is no longer necessary to limit the market power of current pipeline suppliers. Rather, potential entry by nearby suppliers--a competitive factor largely ignored in most economic analyses--will promote competition in most major markets. The purpose of the work is two-fold: to quantify the competitive effect of potential market entry by natural gas suppliers; and to demonstrate that any industry analysis which fails to consider this competitive factor is likely to be in error.

This compilation and analysis of market-by-market data on current deliveries by pipeline, location of nearby deliveries, and location of nearby pipelines which make no deliveries will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and industry analysts concerned with competitive, antitrust, and regulatory issues.

This book criticizes the static marginalist equilibrium method of analysis of the individual firm.

The first edition of Spatial Divisions of Labour rapidly became a classic. It had enormous influence on thinking about uneven development, the nature of economic space, and the conceptualisation of place arguing for an approach embedding all these issues in a notion of spatialised social relations. This second edition includes a new first chapter and an extensive additional concluding essay addressing key issues in the debates and controversies which followed initial publication.

The electric power sector operates under an archaic regulatory system that is ill-equipped to oversee a competitive, restructured, regionally-organized industry. This book offers the first systematic discourse on regional aspects of regulatory reform, sharing topical perspectives from leading actors and regional case studies that show how the debate plays out on the ground. It frames the policy debate, applies economic and political theoretical lenses to federalism issues, and outlines options for regulatory reform, modes of cooperation, and an analytical basis for decisions. Most important, it provides a strategic road map for the industry over the coming decade. Contributors include current and former regulators at the State and Federal levels, senior utility executives, leading advocates, government policy makers and academics, including Michael Danielson, Michehl Gent, Kenneth Gordon, Kevin Kelly, Raymond Maliszewski, Richard O'Neill, Jackie Pfannensteil, Mary Sharpe Hayes, Charles Stalon, and many others.

European manufacturing industries are changing fast. Amid the pressures of globalisation, emerging markets and shifting geographical patterns of consumption and production, competition and collaboration need to be redefined. The book contains roadmaps for survival in the emerging global competitive arena by and for practitioners, as well as concrete examples and theoretical studies across industries. New forms of cooperation are analysed which combine intensive collaboration with high competition in networks of excellence among suppliers, manufacturers and customers. The success factors for such industrial networks are described in detail, as well as their benefits and potential risks. In a multidisciplinary approach, the book draws on parallels from other fields and disciplines in order to explore the many facets of competition and collaboration.  

In 'Competitiveness and Development', the author explains the confusion surrounding the concept of competitiveness in the context of developing countries; proposes policies for achieving competitiveness at a high level of development; examines its possibilities and constraints; and suggests policy changes necessary at the national and international levels. Shafaeddin illustrates how developed countries impose restrictive policies on developing countries through international financial institutions and the WTO, as well as regional and bilateral agreements, which limit their policy space for promoting dynamic comparative advantage in order to achieve competitiveness at a high level of development. Ultimately, such policies lock developing countries that are at early stages of development in specialization based on static comparative advantage and competitiveness at a low level of development.