具體描述
內容簡介
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 Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient.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 as Massachusetts, 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. 作者簡介
Michael E. Porter, one of the world's leading authorities on competitive strategy and international competitiveness, is the C. Roland Christensen Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. In 1983, Professor Porter was appointed to President Reagan's Commission on Industrial Competitiveness, the initiative that triggered the competitiveness debate in America. He serves as an advisor to heads of state, governors, mayors, and CEOs throughout the world. The recipient of the Wells Prize in Economics, the Adam Smith Award, three McKinsey Awards, and honorary doctorates from the Stockholm School of Economics and six other universities, Porter is the author of fourteen books, among them Competitive Strategy, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, and Cases in Competitive Strategy, all published by The Free Press. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts. 精彩書評
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. 目錄
Contents
Introduction
Preface
The Need for a New Paradigm
Conflicting Explanations
Asking the Right Question
Classical Rationales for Industry Success
The Need for a New Paradigm
Toward a New Theory of National Competitive Advantage
The Study
A Broader Concept of Competitive Advantage
Foundations
The Competitive Advantage of Firms in Global Industries
Competitive Strategy
Competing Internationally
The Role of National Circumstances in Competitive
Success
Determinants of National Competitive Advantage
Determinants of National Advantage
Factor Conditions
Demand Conditions
Related and Supporting Industries
Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry
The Role of Chance
The Role of Government
The Determinants in Perspective
The Dynamics of National Advantage
Relationships Among the Determinants
The Determinants as a System
Clustering of Competitive Industries
The Role of Geographic Concentration
The Genesis and Evolution of a Competitive Industry
The Loss of National Advantage
The Diamond in Perspective
Industries
Four Studies in National Competitive Advantage
The German Printing Press Industry
The American Patient Monitoring Equipment Industry
The Italian Ceramic Tile Industry
The Japanese Robotics Industry
National Competitive Advantage in Services
The Growing Role of Services in National Economies
International Competition in Services
The Relationship Between Services and Manufacturing
National Competitive Advantage in Services
Case Studies in the Development of Competitive Service Industries
Nations
Patterns of National Competitive Advantage
The Early Postwar Winners
American Postwar Dominance
Stable Switzerland
Sweden's Choices
Renewing German Dynamism
Emerging Nations in the 1970s and 1980s
The Rise of Japan
Surging Italy
Emerging Korea
Shifting National Advantage
The Slide of Britain
Crosscurrents in America
Postwar Development in Perspective
The Competitive Development of National Economies
Economic Development
Stages of Competitive Development
The Stages and the Postwar Economies of Nations
Postwar Economic Progress in Perspective
Implications
Company Strategy
Competitive Advantage in International Competition
The Context for Competitive Advantage
Improving the National Competitive Environment
Where and How to Compete Tapping Selective Advantages in Other Nations
Locating the Home Base
The Role of Leadership
Government Policy
Premises of Government Policy Toward Industry
Government Policy and National Advantage
Government's Effect on Factor Conditions
Government's Effect on Demand Conditions
Government's Effect on Related and Supporting Industries
Government's Effect on Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry
Government Policy and the Stages of Competitive Development
Targeting
Government Policy in Developing Nations
The Role of Government
National Agendas
The Agenda for Korea
The Agenda for Italy
The Agenda for Sweden
The Agenda for Japan
The Agenda for Switzerland
The Agenda for Germany
The Agenda for Britain
The Agenda for the United States
National Agendas in Perspective
Epilogue
Methodology for Preparing the Cluster Charts
Appendix B
Notes
References
Index
About the Author 精彩書摘
Chapter 1
The Need for a New Paradigm
Why do some nations succeed and others fail in international competition? This question is perhaps the most frequently asked economic question of our times. Competitiveness has become one of the central preoccupations of government and industry in every nation. The United States is an obvious example, with its growing public debate about the apparently greater economic success of other trading nations. But intense debate about competitiveness is also taking place today in such "success story" nations as Japan and Korea. Socialist countries such as the Soviet Union and others in Eastern Europe and Asia are also asking this question as they fundamentally reappraise their economic systems.
Yet although the question is frequently asked, it is the wrong question if the aim is to best expose the underpinnings of economic prosperity for either firms or nations. We must focus instead on another, much narrower one. This is: why does a nation become the home base for successful international competitors in an industry? Or, to put it somewhat differently, why are firms based in a particular nation able to create and sustain competitive advantage against the world's best competitors in a particular field? And why is one nation often the home for so many of an industry's world leaders?
How can we explain why Germany is the home base for so many of the world's leading makers of printing presses, luxury cars, and chemicals? Why is tiny Switzerland the home base for international leaders in pharmaceuticals, chocolate, and trading? Why are leaders in heavy trucks and mining equipment based in Sweden? Why has America produced the preeminent international competitors in personal computers, software, credit cards, and movies? Why are Italian firms so strong in ceramic tiles, ski boots, packaging machinery, and factory automation equipment? What makes Japanese firms so dominant in consumer electronics, cameras, robotics, and facsimile machines?
The answers are obviously of central concern to firms that must compete in increasingly international markets. A firm must understand what it is about its home nation that is most crucial in determining its ability, or inability, to create and sustain competitive advantage in international terms. But the same question will prove to be a decisive one for national economic prosperity as well. As we will see, a nation's standard of living in the long term depends on its ability to attain a high and rising level of productivity in the industries in which its firms compete. This rests on the capacity of its firms to achieve improving quality or greater efficiency. The influence of the home nation on the pursuit of competitive advantage in particular fields is of central importance to the level and rate of productivity growth achievable.
But we lack a convincing explanation of the influence of the nation. The long-dominant paradigm for why nations succeed internationally in particular industries is showing signs of strain. There is an extensive history of theories to explain the patterns of nations' exports and imports, dating back to the work of Adam Smith and David Ricardo in the eighteenth century. It has become generally recognized, however, that these theories have grown inadequate to the task. Changes in the nature of international competition, among them the rise of the multinational corporation that not only exports but competes abroad via foreign subsidiaries, have weakened the traditional explanations for why and where a nation exports. While new rationales have been proposed, none is sufficient to explain why firms based in particular nations are able to compete successfully, through both exporting and foreign investment, in particular industries. Nor can they explain why a nation's firms are able to sustain their competitive positions over considerable periods of time.
Explaining the role played by a nation's economic environment, institutions, and policies in the competitive success of its finns in particular industries is the subject of this book. It seeks to isolate the competitive advantage of a nation, that is, the national attributes that foster competitive advantage in an industry. Drawing on my study of ten nations and the detailed histories of over one hundred industries, I will present in Part I a theory of the competitive advantage of nations in particular fields. In Part II, I will illustrate how the theory can be employed to explain the competitive success of particular nations in a number of individual industries. In Part III, I will use the theory to shed light on the overall patterns of industry success and failure in the economies of the nations we studied and how the patterns have been changing. This will serve as the basis for presenting a framework to explain how entire national economies advance in competitive terms. Finally, in Part IV, I will develop the implications of my theory for both company strategy and government policy, The book concludes with a chapter entitled "National Agendas," which illustrates how the theory can be used to identify some of the most important issues that will shape future economic progress in each of the nations I studied.
Before presenting my theory, however, I must explain why efforts to explain the competitiveness of an entire nation have been unconvincing, and why attempting to do so is tackling the wrong question. I must demonstrate that understanding the reasons for the ability of the nation's firms to create and sustain competitive advantage in particular industries is addressing the right question, not only for informing company strategy but also for achieving national economic goals. I must also describe why there is a growing consensus that the dominant paradigm used to date to explain international success in particular industries is inadequate, and why even recent efforts to modify it still do not address some of the most central questions. Finally, I will describe the study that was conducted so, that the reader will understand the factual foundations of what follows.
CONFLICTING EXPLANATIONS
There has been no shortage of explanations for why some nations are competitive and others are not. Yet these explanations are often conflicting, and there is no generally accepted theory. It is far from clear what the term "competitive" means when referring to a nation. This is a major part of the difficulty, as we will see. That there has been intense debate in many nations about whether they have a competitiveness problem in the first place is a sure sign that the subject is not completely understood.
Some see national competitiveness as a macroeconomic phenomenon, driven by such variables as exchange rates, interest rates, and government deficits. But nations have enjoyed rapidly rising living standards despite budget deficits (Japan, Italy, and Korea), appreciating currencies (Germany and Switzerland), and high interest rates (Italy and Korea).
Others argue that competitiveness is a function of cheap and abundant labor. Yet nations such as Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden have prospered despite high wages and long periods of labor shortage. Japan, with an economy supposedly built on cheap, abundant labor, has also experienced pressing labor shortages. Its firms have succeeded internationally in many industries only after automating away much of the labor content. The ability to compete despite paying high wages would seem to represent a far more desirable national target.
Another view is that competitiveness depends on possessing bountiful natural resources. Recently, however, the most successful trading nations, among them Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, and Korea, have been countries with limited natural resources that must import most raw materials. It is also interesting to note that within nations such as Korea, the United Kingdom, and Germany, it is the resource-poor regions that are prospering relative to the resource-rich ones.
More recently, many have argued that competitiveness is most strongly influenced by government policy. This view identifies targeting, protection, export promotion, and subsidies as the keys to international success. Evidence is drawn from the study of a few nations (notably Japan and Korea) and a few large, highly visible industries such as automobiles, steel, shipbuilding, and semiconductors. Yet such a decisive role for government policy in competitiveness is not confirmed by a broader survey of experience. Many observers would consider government policy toward industry in Italy, for example, to have been largely ineffectual in much of the postwar period, but Italy has seen a rise in world export share second only to Japan along with a rapidly rising standard of living.
Significant government policy intervention has occurred in only a subset of industries, and it is far from universally successful even in Japan and Korea. In Japan, for example, government's role in such important industries as facsimile, copiers, robotics, and advanced materials has been modest, and such frequently cited examples of successful Japanese policy as sewing machines, steel, and shipbuilding are now dated. Conversely, sustained targeting by Japan of industries such as aircraft (first targeted in 1971) and software (1978) has failed to yield meaningful international positions. Aggressive Korean targeting in large, important sectors such as chemicals and machinery has also failed to lead to significant market positions. Looking across nations, the industries in which government has been most heavily involved have, for the most part, been unsuccessful in international terms. Government is indeed an actor in international competition, but rarely does it have the starting role.
A final popular explanation for national competitiveness is differences in management practices, including labor-management relations. Japanese management has been particularly celebrated in the 1980s, just as American management was in the 1950s and 1960s. The problem with this explanation, however, is that different i... 前言/序言
《國傢競爭優勢》(The Competitive Advantage of Nations) (英文原版,精裝版)圖書簡介 《國傢競爭優勢》(The Competitive Advantage of Nations)是邁剋爾·波特(Michael E. Porter)於1990年首次齣版的開創性著作。本書深刻地改變瞭人們對國傢經濟實力和全球競爭格局的理解,提齣瞭一套革命性的分析框架——鑽石模型(Diamond Model),用以解釋為何某些國傢能夠在特定的産業中持續保持全球領先地位。 波特挑戰瞭傳統上側重於要素稟賦(如廉價勞動力或自然資源)的比較優勢理論,轉而強調在現代知識經濟中,動態的、由內生的競爭因素所驅動的優勢纔是決定國傢産業競爭力的關鍵。本書是一部跨越經濟學、戰略管理和國際貿易領域的裏程碑式作品,對於政策製定者、企業高管以及經濟學者都具有深遠的影響。 核心理論:鑽石模型(The Diamond Model) 本書的核心貢獻在於波特精心構建的“國傢競爭優勢鑽石模型”。該模型由四個相互關聯的要素構成,這些要素共同作用,形成瞭一個國傢在特定産業中取得和維持競爭優勢的環境基礎: 1. 要素條件(Factor Conditions): 波特強調,決定國傢競爭力的並非那些“普通”或“易於獲取”的要素(如非熟練勞動力或自然資源),而是那些“專業化”和“先進”的要素。這些先進要素包括高度專業化的技術人員、先進的基礎設施、世界級的大學和研究機構,以及高度專門化的知識體係。這些稀缺且難以模仿的要素,是産業升級和創新的起點。要素的“提升”和“集中”是國傢競爭力的關鍵所在。 2. 需求條件(Home-Market Demand Conditions): 國內市場的規模固然重要,但更關鍵的是國內需求的“性質”。如果國內買傢對産品和服務的標準要求極高、品味極其挑剔、或者對創新需求迫切,這會迫使本國企業在本土市場就必須不斷改進和創新,以滿足最苛刻的要求。這種在本土市場磨練齣的能力,使得本國企業在走嚮國際市場時,麵對外部競爭時具有天然的優勢。嚴苛的國內需求是創新的強大驅動力。 3. 相關及支持産業(Related and Supporting Industries): 一個國傢在一個産業中取得優勢,往往依賴於其他相關和支持産業的全球競爭力。例如,德國的機械製造業的成功,離不開其在精密加工、材料科學和專業設備製造等領域強大的供應商網絡。這些本地化的、具有競爭力的供應商網絡形成瞭一個生態係統,它們之間的緊密協作、信息共享和快速響應,降低瞭企業的運營成本,加快瞭技術擴散的速度,並促進瞭持續的創新活動。 4. 企業戰略、結構和同質競爭(Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry): 國傢內部企業所采取的戰略、組織結構以及它們之間的競爭激烈程度,是鑽石模型的驅動力。波特認為,激烈的本土競爭能夠迫使企業不斷追求卓越、降低成本、並進行根本性的創新,從而避免自滿。如果企業結構分散、管理層缺乏遠見,或者本土競爭不足,企業往往在國際市場上難以存活。成功的企業往往是在本土就經曆瞭“殘酷洗禮”的。 鑽石的相互作用與政府、機遇的作用 波特強調,這四個要素並非孤立存在,而是通過復雜的相互作用(Linkages)來強化彼此的優勢,形成一個正反饋循環。一個要素的提升會帶動其他要素的進步。 此外,本書還闡述瞭兩個重要的外部變量如何影響鑽石的形狀和強度: 政府的作用(The Role of Government): 政府不應直接創造競爭優勢,而是應該充當“催化劑”或“壓力源”。有效的政府行為在於投資於先進要素(教育、基礎設施),製定嚴格的環境和安全標準(影響需求條件),以及促進有利的競爭環境。政府的乾預必須是戰略性的,以提升本國企業的競爭基礎,而非提供不必要的補貼。 機遇的作用(The Role of Chance): 突發的、無法預測的外部事件(如戰爭、技術突破、主要經濟體的政策轉嚮等)可以重塑産業格局,為新的國傢競爭者提供進入市場的機會。這些機遇往往被那些在國內擁有強大競爭基礎(鑽石結構牢固)的國傢所抓住。 超越比較優勢:動態性與知識經濟 《國傢競爭優勢》的深遠意義在於它將目光從靜態的資源稟賦轉嚮瞭動態的、可創造的競爭優勢。波特論證瞭在知識密集型經濟中,可持續的競爭優勢不是靠“擁有”什麼,而是靠“創造”什麼。競爭優勢是內生的、需要持續投資和培育的。本書提供瞭一個全麵的框架,解釋瞭為何一些看似資源稟賦平平的國傢(如瑞士、丹麥),卻能在特定的高附加值産業中傲視群雄。 本書內容詳實,深入分析瞭諸如半導體、汽車製造、航空航天、金融服務等多個關鍵産業的案例,展示瞭鑽石模型在現實世界中的應用和解釋力。它為國傢經濟發展戰略提供瞭強有力的理論基礎,強調瞭提升本土創新生態係統和培育激烈本土競爭環境的重要性,而非單純依賴外部投資或貿易保護。