Modeling U.S. Manufacturing Competitiveness

Abstract

Few issues are discussed as frequently by American politicians as jobs, and particularly the loss of jobs, ostensibly to cheaper labor markets. The underlying reasons why some firms depart American soil and others do not, however, are not completely understood. The purpose of this study is to propose a model for determining what successful manufacturers are doing to remain competitive and, consequently, not moving to other countries unnecessarily.

There is no extant model that effectively differentiates what successful manufacturers are doing compared with unsuccessful (i.e., job-cutting or factory-closing) ones. To develop this conceptual model, we have conducted interviews with manufacturers in our region (one of the poorest in the country and one that has lost over 10,000 manufacturing jobs and 52 of 141 manufacturing plants between 1993-2003). We have also completed an exploratory content analysis of the literature on this subject. From this analysis, we have developed a model that will be described here. The model consists of five primary differentiators: (1) the flow of vital information, (2) the human factor (leadership, teamwork, etc.), (3) issues of cost and efficiency, (4) integration of information technology, and (5) cooperative methodologies.