gE Blog Series: Competitiveness Part 1 - Competition through Collaboration

Government, business, and academic leaders are coming together this week from throughout the Western Hemisphere to discuss the pursuit of competitiveness and innovation in the Americas. These distinguished representatives will discuss trends, ideas, and best methods that have been utilized to stimulate economic activity in the region. The Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF) is being held in Atlanta, Georgia and will be hosted by United States Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. This week’s blog series will dig deeper into the goals of this conference as well as analyzing the state of competitiveness in businesses around the world. 

CIBER programs including the Michigan State University Center for International Business Education & Research will represent academia’s pursuit of competitiveness initiatives at the forum. Thirty-three CIBER programs across the United States were created by Congress to promote international understanding and competitiveness. While the ACF is merely one annual event for most other attendees, its purpose is an everyday focus of the CIBERs and their business faculty.

Competitiveness can exist in a wide variety of forms, but in the international business arena it refers specifically to the ability of firms to develop more valuable goods and/or services than international rivals. During these challenging economic times, it is essential that firms must foster innovative ideas and products in order to stay ahead of their competition.

The Business Insider predicts that at least 10 major brands will disappear in 2011 and file for bankruptcy. Many of these firms were recently thought of as stable and successful businesses, but their inability to keep up with the pace of innovation has caused them to fall out of profitability due to the existing economic climate. Businesses around the world should heed these examples as a sign that they must stay on their toes and continue to make smart business decisions if they want to exist for years down the road.

Stay tuned all week as we provide you with more relevant information regarding competitiveness as it relates to the current state of international business.