For hundreds of years, American businesses led the way in producing new goods and services that were bought around the world. Consumers worldwide eagerly purchased exciting new products that were invented and made in the United States. Factories hummed with activity, workers from other countries arrived by the thousands to find jobs, and people spent their wages buying the goods that the firms produced. Many leaders from foreign countries also arrived to find out how American businesses were managed.
Over the last 25 years, however, the situation slowly changed. Other countries became industrialized after learning how to invent and produce new products for their consumers. Americans gradually began to purchase these foreign products. Foreign firms also learned how to use efficient methods for making goods. To satisfy the growing number of American buyers, foreign manufacturers concentrated on satisfying the American demand for higher-quality products with greater varieties and at lower prices.
American business leaders soon realized that other countries were producing goods and services at breakneck speed. It was time for change, a time to challenge foreign competitors, and a time to rely on America’s abundant human talent to meet the challenge of global competition. Global competition is the ability of profit-making organizations to compete with other businesses in other countries. Let’s look at what is happening to help America compete in a global economy.