Forum
- ResearchWhite Paper on U.S. Government Debt and Competitiveness
Professor Emeritus Robert S. Kaplan and former Comptroller General David M. Walker identify the gap between what the government measures today as its debt and what it should be measuring, as well as discuss how these mounting obligations affect our country's current and future economic competitiveness.
- ResearchA Better Way to Tax U.S. Businesses
The U.S. corporate tax code is broken. High rates and perverse incentives drive capital away from the corporate sector and toward other uses and countries. Professor Mihir A. Desai believes a handful of changes could fix all that.
- InsightHBS U.S. Competitiveness Project View From The Field: Philadelphia Fashion Incubator Supports Innovation and Entrepreneurship
To boost U.S. competitiveness, one area recommended by The Harvard Business School U.S. Competitiveness Project is for companies to support innovation and entrepreneurship. Macy's is one example, by having an incubator to support startups relevant to its supply chain, writes Chitra Nawbatt.
- InsightThe U.S. Competitiveness Project—View From The Field
Harvard Business School alumna Chitra Nawbatt provides a "view from the field" as the School continues its U.S. Competitiveness Project.
- ForumAmerica's Prosperity Depends on Outwitting Our Broken Political System
Nearly every member of Congress has blocked steps that would help their constituents prosper. The answer? Sol Erdman and Lawrence Susskind discuss advocacy plans for the Center for Collaborative Democracy.
- ForumA Billion-Dollar Profit Idea for Apple That Puts Americans to Work
Daniel Cunningham has a billion-dollar idea for Apple: Start building the iPhone intended for American markets in the United States. The result? A billion dollars in additional profit for the company.
- InsightU.S. Competitiveness Project Deems Entrepreneurship Essential; HBS Alumni Angels of NY Responds With Innovative Program
Where will the next generation of great entrepreneurs come from? David Teten, a Partner with ff Venture Capital, showcases the Venture Capital Access Program, a pilot venture providing women and minority entrepreneurs with access to venture capital.
- InsightThe Influence of Harvard Business School
Upon graduation, many of these students would like to work in America, but have to leave the country when their student visa expires. They become business leaders in their home country or elsewhere, instead of building American companies and helping our competitiveness.
- InsightWhy is improving U.S. competitiveness important to the rest of the world?
Interviews conducted with alumni and business leaders at the March 5, 2012 U.S. Competitiveness: Paths Forward event in New York City.
- InsightWhat is the state of U.S. competitiveness today?
Interviews conducted with alumni and business leaders at the March 5, 2012 U.S. Competitiveness: Paths Forward event in New York City.
- InsightWhat are the strengths and weaknesses that affect America's competitiveness?
Interviews conducted with alumni and business leaders at the March 5, 2012 U.S. Competitiveness: Paths Forward event in New York City.
- InsightU.S. Competitiveness Project—A Need for Systems Thinking
The current state of U.S. competitiveness is not the problem, but rather, a symptom of a larger systemic one, says Andrew McKeon, founder of business-climate.com. Fixing U.S. competitiveness will require a systems perspective much broader and more holistic than American management has practiced in the last 40 years.
- ConversationHow has the U.S. political system affected your business recently?
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- ConversationIs entrepreneurial thinking critical to business success?
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- ConversationHow should our energy policy be shaped to help U.S. companies be more competitive in the global marketplace?
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- InsightImproving the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Focusing on incremental ways to encourage entrepreneurship in the United States will help create jobs and great returns for investors fortunate enough to invest in the next generation of world class companies, writes David Teten.
- ConversationTell us your ideas on how to improve entrepreneurship in the U.S.
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- ConversationWhat is one thing businesses could do to improve our nation's trajectory?
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- ResearchThe 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.
- ResearchFixing What's Wrong with U.S. Politics
In thinking about the competitiveness of a nation, analysts commonly focus on economic factors, such as exports, unit labor costs, and fiscal policy, among others. “Politics” is not typically high on the list, if it appears at all, observes Professor David Moss.
- ResearchReviving Entrepreneurship
Professors Josh Lerner and William A. Sahlman explore the role of entrepreneurial ventures in addressing pressing problems like energy, the environment, healthcare, and education, while also driving productivity and domestic job growth in the U.S..
- ForumShattering the Myths About U.S. Trade Policy
The United States economy has to grow faster than its long-run potential to absorb its high levels of unemployment, argue Robert Z. Lawrence and Lawrence Edwards.
- ResearchHow to Make Finance Work
Professors Robin Greenwood and David Scharfstein make recommendations in three important domains in which the U.S. financial system has underperformed: financial stability, housing finance, and investment costs.
- ResearchMacroeconomic Policy and U.S. Competitiveness
Across the political spectrum, there is consensus that the United States faces challenges to its competitiveness. Current U.S. fiscal policy is, unfortunately, part of the problem rather than the solution, according to Professors Richard H.K. Vietor and Matthew C. Weinzierl.
- ResearchChoosing 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.
- ResearchA Jobs Compact for America's Future
It’s generally understood that the United States can’t be competitive—and won’t be able to support high, and rising, living standards—without a well trained, well paid, and continuously improving workforce that can compete with the best that other countries have to offer. Yet, at all levels of the economy, we behave as if we don’t believe this, opines Thomas A. Kochan.
- ResearchThe Incentive Bubble
The last three decades have seen American capitalism transformed by a simple idea—that the evaluation and compensation of managers and investors should be outsourced to financial markets, says Professor Mihir A. Desai.
- ResearchDoes America Really Need Manufacturing?
Manufacturing matters to a nation’s economic prosperity, not because it is an important source of jobs (it currently represents only about 10% of US employment) but because manufacturing competence is often an integral part of innovation. By Professors Gary P. Pisano and Willy C. Shih.
- ResearchEnriching the Ecosystem
Innovation, the classic basis for U.S. success in world markets, rests on foundational institutions, such as research centers, incubators for entrepreneurs, and skills training vehicles, that provide fertile soil in which to seed, grow, and renew enterprises, writes Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter.
- ResearchGreen Rules to Drive Innovation
Daniel C. Esty and Steve Charnovitz argue that a commitment to sustainability and strong environmental results will likely enhance national as well as company-scale competitiveness.
- ResearchRethinking School
The United States must recognize that our long-term growth depends on dramatically increasing the quality of our K-12 public education system, according to Stacey Childress.
Media
George Sees `Tradeoff' in Surveillance, Security
18 Jun 2013 - Bloomberg
Harvard Business School Professor Bill George speaks on Bloomberg about NSA surveillance, the vetting of contractors for intel outsourcing, and the role the auto industry can play in renewing U.S. Competitiveness.
Immigration reform can prove U.S. strength and security
17 Jun 2013 - Washington Post
After much misguided hand-wringing about "American decline," Congress has a chance to do something to strengthen the United States at home and abroad.
Teaching Note Released for 'Making of a World Water Hub'
17 Jun 2013 - Harvard Business Review Publishing
A new case teaching note by Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone discusses teaching points behind the 2012 case, "Milwaukee: Making of a World Water Hub (A) and (B) - (B9)."