lundi 29 octobre 2012

3 Keys To Compete In Today's Economy, From Former IBM Chief



 Speaking at The Economist’s Buttonwood Gathering in New York City today, former IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano shared what he sees as the three keys for anyone – be it cities, countries or companies – to compete in an integrated global economy. In a period of growing interconnectivity, it becomes increasingly important for entities to distinguish themselves in order to find growth.
“The developing world has reached the end of the easy path to rising GDP. Simply put, growth markets have plucked the low-hanging fruit of global integration Act I,” said Palmisano. “Just as all emerging markets are being hit at once by the middle income trap, so the developed world finds itself needing to address huge structural overhangs with urgency. Postponement is not a serious option.”

HANOVER, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 28:  Samuel Palmis...
Sam Palmisano

So how can you compete? For Palmisano, it boils down to three major points. From his speech today:
1. Have some unique value. You have to do something better than others. That’s how free trade and comparative advantage work. Cities and countries have to address this basic question: ‘What is your differentiating value proposition?’ Economies that succeed will have clarity on that point – beyond natural resources. In a truly globally-integrated economy, investment, work and people flow like never before. What will cause them to flow to you?
2. Simultaneously invest in the future and improve your competitive muscle tone. You can’t cost cut your way to competitiveness. You can’t transform a multinational like IBM if you are focused only on cost cutting…You have to have greater flexibility in how you operate. You have to have smarter labor, smarter trade regulations. All these systems need to be revamped if you’re going to be competitive, either as a city, country or company, in this integrated economic world.
3. Remember that there’s an ‘and’ in ‘R and D.’ When we talk about R&D, we sometimes conflate the two. They’re different. The history of my industry, information technology, has been driven by truly breakthrough ideas. They came from deep research – Bell Labs, Xerox Park, IBM Research, Stanford, M.I.T., institutions like Lawrence Livermore, just to name a few – the great modern age of industrial scientific research was built by institutions that pushed the boundaries of knowledge and stuck to it in good times and bad. It takes institutional patience to pursue fundamental research.
Its payoff doesn’t usually come in a quarter or a year or an election cycle. It comes sometimes in decades if it ever comes at all. And sometimes the benefits are from derivative works different from the core work you started with at the beginning. IBM and many universities are convinced that fundamental research will become more important than ever.
When you hear people claim that all the basic science has been done and that IP has become a commodity, don’t believe them. They’re looking at the past. It’s just the opposite. We’re seeing innovation more out of the back office, more new gadgets and games than we have in the past. It’s the interaction of all of these things that are going to change our planet and our industries and how our society is actually run.

By: Chris Barth

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