1st Edition

The Right Place How National Competitiveness Makes or Breaks Companies

By Arturo Bris Copyright 2021
    492 Pages 53 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    492 Pages 53 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Right Place explains why firms succeed in one country and fail in another, irrespective of their inner drivers, and suggests potential initiatives that governments can take to help the private sector create jobs and, consequently, make their countries more prosperous.

    The competitiveness race is not unlike a cycling race. If you want to ride fast, you need three things: a good bike, to be in good shape, and a smooth and fast road. In a collaborative model, you might say the business is the bicycle, the business leader is the cyclist, and the road is the government and the external environment. The responsibility of a government is to design and build the best possible road. It turns out that when the road is good, good cyclists suddenly appear and want to race on it. In this book, competition and macroeconomics expert, Arturo Bris, provides the analysis of country competitive performance based on 30 years advising countries on this topic. The typical mistakes that countries make are revealed and the pillars necessary in building a competitive economy: economic performance as a necessary condition for prosperity; government efficiency, so the public sector can create the conditions for a productive economy; business efficiency, so companies can create jobs; and infrastructure, both tangible and intangible, so businesses and individuals can operate efficiently.

    With contemporary case studies throughout, the book provides an illuminating read for politicians, business leaders and students of macroeconomics.

    INTRODUCTION
    1. THE TAYBEH BREWING COMPANY
    2. FULL MOON BREWWORKS
    3. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
    4. THE EIGHT CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESS
    5. THE VALUE OF COLLABORATION
    6. THE IMPORTANCE OF GLOBAL FACTORS
    7. DEFINING A NEW MEASURE OF SUCCESS
    8. WHAT IT TAKES TO BE COMPETITIVE
    9. BUSINESS CONSULTANTS
    10. EDUCATION
    11. INFRASTRUCTURE
    12. THE PRIVATE SECTOR CREATES JOBS
    13. THE RULE OF LAW
    14. GOVERNMENT-INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS
    15. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, BUT ALSO SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
    16. BRANDING A NATION
    17. TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, EDUCATION, GENDER POLICIES, AND SUSTAINABILITY
    18. THIS BOOK IS FOR BOTH BUSINESS AND POLITICAL STAKEHOLDERS

    PART 1. THE DRIVERS OF BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS
    19. INTRODUCTION
    20. FOOTBALL: COACHES AND THE PERFORMANCE OF TEAMS
    21. THE DRIVERS OF PERFORMANCE
    22. THE IMPACT OF LEADERS ON PERFORMANCE
    23. WHAT DRIVES PERFORMANCE BEYOND LEADERS?
    24. GLOBAL EFFECTS
    25. NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS AND BUSINESS SUCCESS
    26. HOW THE NATIONAL CONTEXT MATTERS: TAIWAN AND GIANT BICYCLES
    27. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT: THE CASE OF RUSSIA

    PART 2. UNDERSTANDING COMPETITIVENESS
    28. INTRODUCTION
    29. WHAT IS COMPETITIVENESS
    30. LOOKING BACK TO HISTORY
    31. SETTING THE COMPETITIVENESS PATH
    32. HAPPINESS: AND THE SEARCH OF THE MODERN-DAY SHANGRI-LA
    33. CONCLUSION: WE MANAGE WHAT WE CAN MEASURE

    PART 3. WHAT IT TAKES TO HAVE A NATIONAL STRATEGY
    34. INTRODUCTION
    35. A GOOD STRATEGY
    36. THE IMPORTANCE OF NATIONAL CONSENSUS
    37. POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
    38. A LONG-TERM VIEW
    39. THE IMPORTANCE OF EXECUTION: DELIVERY UNITS
    40. AVOID CONSULTANTS!!!

    PART 4. THE PATH TO COMPETITIVENESS
    41. INTRODUCTION
    42. EDUCATION
    43. OPENNESS/TALENT ATTRACTION
    44. INFRASTRUCTURE
    45. RULE OF LAW
    46. CORRUPTION
    47. FINANCIAL SYSTEM AND STOCK MARKETS

    48. IT IS THE PRIVATE SECTOR THAT CREATES JOBS

    49. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
    50. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, BUT ALSO SMES
    51. BRANDING THE COUNTRY
    52. CONCLUSION

    PART 5. BEING COMPETITIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
    53. INTRODUCTION
    54. THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS
    55. COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
    56. GENDER BALANCE AND GROWTH
    57. SUSTAINABILITY: PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST
    58. PUBLIC POLICY TO RESOLVE MARKET FAILURES
    59. EDUCATION FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
    60. COMPETITIVENESS AND INCOME INEQUALITY
    61. HOW CAN DEMOCRACIES EXCEL

    CONCLUSION

    Biography

    Arturo Bris is professor of finance at IMD and the director of the world-renowned IMD World Competitiveness Center. He works with governments all over the world assessing, measuring, and managing the competitiveness of countries. He was previously an associate professor at the Yale School of Management and is a member of the advisory board of the Wealth Management Institute in Singapore and of the Strategic Board of Debiopharm. He regularly speaks at events and conferences in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. He has had articles published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and also in Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Straits Times, and Handelsblatt among many others.

    "Enormously ambitious, wide-ranging and filled with insights. A marvellous and impressive book that makes you re-think how and why businesses thrive (and fail)."
    Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford University, author of The Silk Roads

    "There is no silver bullet for competitiveness. Many books promise quick fixes, but the wisdom in this new book by Arturo Bris is taking an ecosystem approach. This is the holistic roadmap emerging markets need to catch the next waves of productivity and globalization."
    Dr. Parag Khanna, managing partner of FutureMap and author of Connectography

    "This book by Arturo Bris, brings together the insights of the IMD World Competitiveness Centre over thirty years, as well as his personal travel and research in the last six years in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America, to understand why corporations achieve success and perform the way they do. Bris covers a broad terrain, highlighting not just corporate strategies but largersocietal inputs such as education and government strategies which are crucial to competitiveness. A useful comparative blueprint for corporations and countries who wish to achieve the same success as the best in the world."
    Chan Heng Chee, Ambassador-at Large and Chair of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technology and Design.

    "Arturo Bris is the superstar of country competitiveness. Over the years we have enjoyed his annual reports and rankings on the competitiveness of nations around the globe. In this seminal book he shows us why it matters for business. A warm recommendation to anyone interested in decision-making beyond the state and survival strategies of companies."
    Alexander Stubb, Professor and Director at the European University Institute, Former Prime Minister of Finland