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A Recovery Squandered

In 2019, HBS faculty members of the U.S. Competitiveness Project conducted the sixth survey on U.S. competitiveness. This report—built on the latest survey findings and eight years of prior research on the competitiveness of the United States—highlights a disturbing pattern: structural failures in the U.S. political system continue to prevent meaningful progress on actions needed to improve U.S. competitiveness. Despite a decade of steady economic growth, the trajectory of the nation’s competitiveness remains disappointing.
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Problems Unsolved & A Nation Divided

By: Michael E. Porter, Jan W. Rivkin, and Mihir A. Desai, with Manjari Raman
The 2016 HBS report on the State of U.S. Competitiveness provides a comprehensive analysis of five years of research from the U.S. Competitiveness Project along with the findings of the 2016 HBS survey on U.S. competitiveness. This survey was administered to HBS alumni worldwide, HBS students, and members of the U.S. general public in May—June 2016.

Video: The Challenge of Shared Prosperity

Professor Michael E. Porter and Professor Jan W. Rivkin discuss the findings of Harvard Business School’s 2015 Alumni Survey on U.S. Competitiveness, The Challenge of Shared Prosperity. Alumni are optmistic about the ability of U.S. firms to compete globally, but they doubt that firms will be able to lift the living standards of the average American.

Prospects for Shared Prosperity: Findings from the 2015 Alumni Survey on U.S. Competitiveness

America’s leading companies are thriving, but the prosperity they are producing is not being shared broadly among U.S. citizens. Jan W. Rivkin presents results of HBS's 2015 Alumni Survey on U.S. Competitiveness.
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Business Aligning for Students: The Promise of Collective Impact

This report calls on business leaders to take stock of their efforts to improve pre-K-12 education and commit to an innovative approach called “Collective Impact,” a community endeavor that addresses fundamental weaknesses in the U.S. education ecosystem.
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Growth & Shared Prosperity

By: Karen G. Mills with contributions from Joseph B. Fuller and Jan W. Rivkin
In June 2015, nearly 75 experienced leaders from across business, government, labor, academia, and media gathered at Harvard Business School to discuss a topic of increasing concern in America: How can our nation continue to remain competitive while also providing a path to prosperity for more citizens? This report highlights the group’s deliberations and summarizes the HBS research that was presented during the convening.
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The Challenge of Shared Prosperity

The 2015 HBS survey on U.S. competitiveness reveals that business leaders are concerned about the economy’s ability to generate shared prosperity. America’s business environment is improving, but alumni doubt that firms in the U.S. will be able to improve living standards for the average American. Alumni see issues like inequality, middle-class stagnation, and economic immobility, as social as well as business challenges.

An Economy Doing Half Its Job

Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin discuss the findings of Harvard Business School’s 2013–14 Alumni Survey on U.S. Competitiveness. Their report, "An Economy Doing Half Its Job," focuses on a troubling divergence in the American economy: large and midsize firms have rallied strongly from the Great Recession, and highly skilled individuals are prospering, while middle- and working-class citizens are struggling, as are small businesses.

Partners With Purpose

By: Allen S. Grossman, Ann Lombard, and Jan W. Rivkin
Superintendents find new, deeper ways to work with business beyond a financial gift.
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An Economy Doing Half Its Job

Re: Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin, with contributions from Joseph B. Fuller, Allen S. Grossman, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, and Kevin W. Sharer
This report presents the findings of HBS' 2013–14 survey on U.S. competitiveness. It highlights a troubling divergence in the U.S. economy: large and midsize firms are prospering, but middle- and working-class citizens and small businesses are struggling.

Transforming America's Schools: How Business Leaders Can Help

How can business leaders best partner with educators to transform America's schools?
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The Brink of Renewal: A Business Leader’s Guide to Progress in America’s Schools

This report focuses on the current state of U.S. PK-12 education. It highlights the converging trends that make this a special, promising moment in education reform.
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A Long, Bumpy and Unfinished Road: Education Reform in Memphis, Tennessee

By: Allen S. Grossman, J. Puckett, and Nithya Vaduganathan
Pitt Hyde, a Memphis business leader and the founder of the Hyde Family Foundation, works to ensure the success of the merger between the Memphis City School district and the Shelby County School system.
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Southwire and 12 For Life: Scaling Up?

Re: Jan W. Rivkin and Ryan Lee
Southwire, a leading maker of cable based in rural Georgia, has partnered with the local school system to staff a factory with at-risk high school students.
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Lasting Impact: A Business Leader’s Playbook for Supporting America’s Schools

This booklet provides a practical approach for business leaders seeking to understand the complex issues involved in transforming PK-12 education.
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Partial Credit: How America’s School Superintendents See Business as a Partner

This report presents the findings of the first-ever national survey of school superintendents on U.S. competitiveness and the role of business in improving education outcomes in the U.S., including specific actions that business leaders can take to support transformative change.
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StriveTogether: Reinventing the Local Education Ecosystem

By: Allen S. Grossman, Ann Lombard, and Noah Fisher
StriveTogether is building a network of communities that use Collective Impact as a way for the business community and other stakeholders to collaborate to improve public education in a locale.
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Competitiveness at a Crossroads

Second in the series of U.S. Competitiveness surveys, Harvard Business School gleaned responses from nearly 7,000 alumni and more than 1,000 members of the general public.
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What Washington Must Do Now: An Eight-Point Plan to Restore American Competitiveness

Policy steps for the president and Congress to follow in order to make American companies more competitive and their employees more prosperous.

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.