The Competitive Advantage of Nations or The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business

The Competitive Advantage of Nations: With a New Introduction

Author: Michael E Porter

Now beyond its 11th 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 Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient.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 asMassachusetts, 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.

Publishers Weekly

Harvard economist Porter suggests that it is no accident that Japan leads in exporting electronics and computer-controlled machinery, Italy in fabrics and home furnishings, and the U.S. in software, medical equipment and movies. In each of the 10 countries that he and his international research team investigated, clusters of firms gained a global competitive edge by capitalizing on innovation, raising productivity, and drawing on unique elements of their country's history and character. Porter, who served on Reagan's Commission on Industrial Competitiveness, sees government's proper role as pusher and challenger, rather than as giver of subsidies to protect industries. Stressing renewed effort and competition as keys to gaining global advantage, he questions regulations that would limit competition and recommends enforcement of U.S. antitrust laws to end monopolistic mergers. This massive, impressive, salient tome is structured so that business executives, economists, policymakers and ordinary readers can turn to the sections most relevant to their needs. 50,000 first printing; first serial to Fortune. (May)

Library Journal

Building on his Competitive Strategy ( LJ 10/1/80) and Competitive Advantage ( LJ 3/1/86), which dealt with competition among companies, Porter here presents a new theory to explain global success. He identifies the fundamental determinants of national competitive advantage in an industry, shows how they work together as a system, and examines ``clustering,'' in which groups of successful firms and industries emerge in one country to gain leading positions in the world market. This important work, based upon research conducted in ten nations, provides important data for both companies and governments. Highly recommended for academic, corporate, and large public libraries.-- Leonard Grundt, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, N.Y.

Table of Contents:

	Introduction
	Preface
1	The Need for a New Paradigm	1
2	The Competitive Advantage of Firms in Global Industries	33
3	Determinants of National Competitive Advantage	69
4	The Dynamics of National Advantage	131
5	Four Studies in National Competitive Advantage	179
6	National Competitive Advantage in Services	239
7	Patterns of National Competitive Advantage: The Early Postwar Winners	277
8	Emerging Nations in the 1970s and 1980s	383
9	Shifting National Advantage	481
10	The Competitive Development of National Economies	543
11	Company Strategy	577
12	Government Policy	617
13	National Agendas	683
	Epilogue	735
App. A	Methodology for Preparing the Cluster Charts	739
App. B	Supplementary Data on National Trade Patterns	745
	Notes	773
	References	815
	Index	833
	About the Author	857

Book about: Applied Data Communications or Organizational Success through Effective Human Resources Management

The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business

Author: O Lee Reed

In 1963, the first edition of Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business, authored by Bob Corley, started a new course emphasizing the legal environment in which business is conducted. By focusing on the public nature of how government regulates business activities, rather than simply how businesses privately make transactions, a movement away from traditional Business Law began. Through it's previous 13 editions, Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business has been the leader in setting the standard for materials covered in an introduction to the legal and regulatory environment of business.