Aleda Roth (Clemson University)
Craig Giffi (Deloitte LLP)
Atanu Chaudhuri (IIM Lucknow)

Panel on Global Manufacturing Country Competitiveness: Insights from global CEOs

Our panel discussion will provide unique insights into the dynamics of 21st century, country-level manufacturing competitiveness from the perspectives of global CEOs. Today, global manufacturing spans a plethora of new ideas, products, and services - well beyond the sole production of goods, as in the 20th century. This post-industrial manufacturing ecosystem represents a complex and highly integrated, globalized value web. This web includes cutting-edge science and technology, innovation, talent, sustainable design, systems engineering, supply chain excellence and a wide range of smart services, as well as energy-efficient, sustainable and low-carbon manufacturing. Drawing upon the results of the first two biennial surveys, conducted as part of Global Competitiveness in Manufacturing Initiative, we report on how manufacturing CEOs view relative country competitiveness and the respective country drivers. We confirm that the global competitive landscape for manufacturing is undergoing a transformational shift that will reshape the drivers of economic growth, wealth creation, national prosperity, and national security. By contrasting aggregate-level, country level manufacturing capabilities and competencies, as well as government policies, we offer insights that contribute to a country’s manufacturing prowess.

We identify the capabilities and competencies that distinguish the most profitable manufacturers from the rest - and the ones the high performers will employ to sustain their future dominance.  We introduce a strategic classification of manufacturing capabilities and competencies that lead to high performance manufacturing, including:

• Qualifiers are capabilities and competencies where there is no difference between high performers and other companies.  Qualifiers are the ante for the competitive game.
  
  
• Breakaways are capabilities that show no significant differences between high performers and others currently, but which high performers plan to emphasize more in the future.
  
  
• Game Changers capabilities are those in which high performers stand apart from the pack today, and will continue to lead in the future.
  
  
• Challengers are competencies and capabilities in which high performers currently hold a strong lead, but where the other manufacturers will aim to catch up and close the gap by placing high importance in future.

Taking a deeper dive into the data, we offer a critical analysis of the performance of the manufacturing companies in US, Canada and China. Specifically, we identified the unique capabilities and competencies which differentiate the high performing manufacturing companies in USA and Canada from those in China - the ones in which US-Canadian manufacturers fare better than their Chinese counterparts and vice versa. Our research isolates the salient policy measures that have enabled companies in the US/Canada versus China to create competitive country advantages. We conclude by identifying future research questions related to the global competitiveness of countries and their manufacturing ecosystems.
 

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Aleda Roth
Clemson University

Dr. Aleda Roth is the Burlington Industries Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management at Clemson University. Dr. Roth is an internationally recognized empirical scholar in manufacturing and service operations strategy.

Roth came to Clemson in 2006 from Arizona State University, where she held the W.P. Carey Chair in Supply Chain Management. Previously, she was an Endowed Chair at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She co-authored the 2010 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index Report in conjunction with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness to report how more than 400 manufacturing CEOs worldwide view their industries and national competitiveness.