Harvard Report Highlights Divergent Threats to Long-Term U.S. Competitiveness

Harvard School of Business released its 2013-2014 U.S. competitiveness report that unveils difficulties related to a lack of skills, employment opportunities, small business development, infrastructure and governmental effectiveness.  Highly skilled professionals, medium size businesses and large corporations have successfully weathered the effects of the recession but are leaving behind many in the skilled labor and middle class sectors of society. The results point to a divergence in society that may slow growth in the future and damage long-term American competitiveness. 

The education system is seen as not meeting current needs for the development of new skills to create a stronger workforce. Companies desire to develop stronger internal skills training but have not yet matched this need within their policies.  Collaborating employment needs with the education system will help in narrowing the gaps between employers and school decision-makers.

Two separate societies are developing where highly skilled and educated individuals are employable while those who have not achieved this level struggle to find higher paying jobs.  Collaborating with public education, experimenting with higher education, and encouraging in-house corporate training can make a difference in preparedness. 

Even though corporate profits have risen to higher levels there is a concern over transportation infrastructure. Current infrastructure is seen as slowing down progress and lacks a unified strategy to create stronger platforms for development.  The lower cost transactions of moving resources and information is needed to encourage opportunities for business development.

Small businesses have suffered during the recession and have not regained their initial positions. It is recommended that a stronger effort to develop and foster small business as an avenue of innovation and skill development is important for the long-term viability of the nation.  Small business is an important contributing sector to employment opportunities and national adaptability.

Executives are more optimistic in recent years but regularly search outside the U.S. for employees with the right skills. They could better develop their internal training and put pressure on the public education system to better prepare students. Government also needs to put aside their partisan differences and start developing proactive policies that take America into its next level of efficient and effective governance.  Without a stronger platform of infrastructure development many of the gains organizations have achieved will plateau as they run into larger policy constraints that hamper businesses opportunities to invest and grow.  

http://hbr.org/special-collections/insight/american-competitiveness

The Economic System as an Avenue of Needs Fulfillment

The economic system permeates our entire existence from cradle to grave. From our socialized beginning to our elder years we are constantly making choices that impact our social and financial positions in society. Our very first experiences in life help us internalize certain cultural traits that become the foundation for our viewpoints and our ability to compete on the market. Economic hubs and nations are collective traits of our economic values that maintain patterns across society. All systems start with very personal biological, sociological, and psychological choices we may not be fully aware of and make their way throughout society to determine the success or failure of a nation in the global market.

Our economic system starts in our biological, psychological, and sociological core. Neuroeconomics is a concept that tries to explain how we make subconscious choices to purchase products, trust one another, or engage in certain activities beyond the simple mathematical equations of present day economists. It is a deep process that connects to our biology but also takes into account our psychological and social needs.

Culture influences our viewpoint of the world and our ability to compete in it. As we internalize the values of our society and behavior we ultimately set upon an acceptable way of viewing the world and viewing ourselves within that world. This defines what behaviors are acceptable and what behaviors are not acceptable within society. Such behaviors become a vantage point of life and make their way in repeated form throughout our history.

On a conscious level we compare and contrast our limited resources to determine where we are most likely to compete. We use our limited experience and known skills to compare against the potential acceptance in our social networks to choose our occupational paths. Some will go to college and others will move into trade schools. Each offers opportunities to redefine ourselves and obtain needed skills to adequately fulfill these psychological, sociological, and biological needs.

If we were to add up all of the choices people make, and the culture vantage point  they use to make those choices, we will have the economic indicators for a state, city, or regional hub. Indicators will include the economic choices of education, occupation, expended effort, skill development, innovative ability, employment opportunities, social outlets, recreational pursuits, etc…(i.e. demographic trends) When certain economic similarities in choice, sociological behavior patterns, and psychological streams of conscious begin to define an area you have found the segmented borders of a hub and market.

Diversity of perspective that maintain shared goals can improve upon the abilities of participants within an economic hub. As all understanding is socially negotiated it is important to connect those with diverse opinions to each other to develop a more accurate understanding of the world, market, product, lifestyle, etc… When diversity, knowledge, and experience are used to enhance decision-making and find new and more accurate solutions to problems you have maximized human capital  development.  Maximization of human capital can be seen as the motivational  pressures and available pathways to achieving biological, sociological, and psychological fulfillment within a particular system.

Economics is the added sum of all of our choices and opportunities. Those nations with greater choices and opportunities have better economies than those without. Each economic system is based upon hundreds of thousands of choices that include education, occupation, purchasing behavior, social relationships, and recreational activities. Each choice made by members of an economic system is a result of how they see themselves within their environment and their internal subconscious pressures that result from their biological, psychological, and sociological needs. No one can escape the market as much as no one can escape their own needs. To improve the market means to improve the choices and the factors that lead to those choices. The greatest freedom in society is the lawful maximization of available opportunities to achieve fulfillment based upon one's own skills and abilities.