The Big shift: Measuring the forces of change

Deskripsi

During a steep recession, managers obsess over short-term performance goals such as cost cutting, sales, and market share growth. Meanwhile, economists chart data like GDP growth, unemployment levels, and balance-of-trade shifts to gauge the health of the overall business environment. The problem is, focusing only on traditional metrics often masks long-term forces of change that undercut normal sources of economic value. Normal may in fact be a thing of the past: Even when the economy heats up again, companies' returns will remain under pressure. To help managers in this decidedly challenging time, we present a framework for understanding three waves of transformation in the competitive landscape: foundations for major change; flows of resources, such as knowledge, that allow firms to enhance productivity; and the impacts of the foundations and flows on companies and the economy. Combined, those factors reflect what we call the Big Shift in the global business environment..Printed journal