ABSTRACT
The Right Place explains why firms succeed in one country and fail in another, irrespective of their inner drivers, and suggests potential initiatives that governments can take to help the private sector create jobs and, consequently, make their countries more prosperous.
The competitiveness race is not unlike a cycling race. If you want to ride fast, you need three things: a good bike, to be in good shape, and a smooth and fast road. In a collaborative model, you might say the business is the bicycle, the business leader is the cyclist, and the road is the government and the external environment. The responsibility of a government is to design and build the best possible road. It turns out that when the road is good, good cyclists suddenly appear and want to race on it. In this book, competition and macroeconomics expert, Arturo Bris, provides the analysis of country competitive performance based on 30 years advising countries on this topic. The typical mistakes that countries make are revealed and the pillars necessary in building a competitive economy: economic performance as a necessary condition for prosperity; government efficiency, so the public sector can create the conditions for a productive economy; business efficiency, so companies can create jobs; and infrastructure, both tangible and intangible, so businesses and individuals can operate efficiently.
With contemporary case studies throughout, the book provides an illuminating read for politicians, business leaders and students of macroeconomics.
INTRODUCTION 1. THE TAYBEH BREWING COMPANY 2. FULL MOON BREWWORKS 3. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 4. THE EIGHT CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESS 5. THE VALUE OF COLLABORATION 6. THE IMPORTANCE OF GLOBAL FACTORS
7. DEFINING A NEW MEASURE OF SUCCESS 8. WHAT IT TAKES TO BE COMPETITIVE
9. BUSINESS CONSULTANTS 10. EDUCATION 11. INFRASTRUCTURE 12. THE PRIVATE SECTOR CREATES JOBS 13. THE RULE OF LAW 14. GOVERNMENT-INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS 15. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, BUT ALSO SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES 16. BRANDING A NATION 17. TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, EDUCATION, GENDER POLICIES, AND SUSTAINABILITY 18. THIS BOOK IS FOR BOTH BUSINESS AND POLITICAL STAKEHOLDERS PART 1. THE DRIVERS OF BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS 19. INTRODUCTION 20. FOOTBALL: COACHES AND THE PERFORMANCE OF TEAMS 21. THE DRIVERS OF PERFORMANCE 22. THE IMPACT OF LEADERS ON PERFORMANCE 23. WHAT DRIVES PERFORMANCE BEYOND LEADERS? 24. GLOBAL EFFECTS 25. NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS AND BUSINESS SUCCESS 26. HOW THE NATIONAL CONTEXT MATTERS: TAIWAN AND GIANT BICYCLES 27. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT: THE CASE OF RUSSIA PART 2. UNDERSTANDING COMPETITIVENESS 28. INTRODUCTION
29. WHAT IS COMPETITIVENESS 30. LOOKING BACK TO HISTORY 31. SETTING THE COMPETITIVENESS PATH 32. HAPPINESS: AND THE SEARCH OF THE MODERN-DAY SHANGRI-LA 33. CONCLUSION: WE MANAGE WHAT WE CAN MEASURE PART 3. WHAT IT TAKES TO HAVE A NATIONAL STRATEGY 34. INTRODUCTION 35. A GOOD STRATEGY
36. THE IMPORTANCE OF NATIONAL CONSENSUS 37. POLITICAL LEADERSHIP 38. A LONG-TERM VIEW 39. THE IMPORTANCE OF EXECUTION: DELIVERY UNITS 40. AVOID CONSULTANTS!!! PART 4. THE PATH TO COMPETITIVENESS 41. INTRODUCTION 42. EDUCATION 43. OPENNESS/TALENT ATTRACTION 44. INFRASTRUCTURE 45. RULE OF LAW 46. CORRUPTION 47. FINANCIAL SYSTEM AND STOCK MARKETS 48. IT IS THE PRIVATE SECTOR THAT CREATES JOBS 49. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS 50. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, BUT ALSO SMES 51. BRANDING THE COUNTRY 52. CONCLUSION PART 5. BEING COMPETITIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY 53. INTRODUCTION 54. THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS 55. COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY 56. GENDER BALANCE AND GROWTH 57. SUSTAINABILITY: PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST 58. PUBLIC POLICY TO RESOLVE MARKET FAILURES 59. EDUCATION FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 60. COMPETITIVENESS AND INCOME INEQUALITY 61. HOW CAN DEMOCRACIES EXCEL CONCLUSION
