What Business Should Do to Restore U.S. Competitiveness

Business leaders should not simply accept the business environment as a given, set by government. They can—and should—enhance the commons in ways that boost their own long-run profits.
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Special Report: Restoring U.S. Competitiveness

Some of the world’s most original thinkers explain the competitiveness challenge America faces and point the way forward.

Choosing the United States

Over the last four decades companies have dispersed more and more of their activities across the globe. Data and analysis from Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin suggest that the U.S. is losing out on location decisions at an alarming rate, even for high value adding activities such as R&D that it should be able to attract.

The Looming Challenge to U.S. Competitiveness

Professors Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin frame the HBS project on U.S. competitiveness by defining "competitiveness," assessing the state of U.S. competitiveness, and pinpointing dynamics that threaten America's competitiveness.
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Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul: Building on a Diversified Base (Abridged)

By: William W. George
Starting in 2003, the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region lagged the rest of the U.S. in job creation. Alarmed business and civic leaders coalesced around the Itasca Project, which set in motion a series of actions by groups of CEOs and politicians aimed at reversing these trends by creating jobs in all sectors of the economy.
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Prosperity at Risk

As part of the U.S. Competitiveness Project, Harvard Business School asked its alumni to complete an in-depth survey on U.S. competitiveness.
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The Big 3 Roar Back

By: William W. George
By 2008, Detroit's "Big 3"—Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Chrysler—were teetering, and two required federal government assistance to stay afloat. Within three years, remarkably, the Big 3 had turned around by improving competitiveness in quality, design, and cost, as well as through strong, decisive leadership on multiple fronts and improved union relations.
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Envision Charlotte: Building an Energy Cluster (Abridged)

By: William W. George
In 2006, Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, began to lay the groundwork to establish Charlotte as the "new energy hub of America." The Envision Charlotte initiative builds on the Charlotte region's economic development "energy capital USA" initiative.