Sunday, November 25, 2007

Five for the Future - By the Council for Competitiveness

The Council for Competitiveness (www.compete.org) recently released a paper titled "Five for the Future"

The Council's Roadmap contains five imperatives:
1. Challenge the frontiers in science and technology
2. Renew access to secure and sustainable energy
3. Achieve advantage with creative and cutting-edge talent
4. Transform risk intelligence into resilience
5. Engage in the global economy

The document is an excellent read for anyone looking for a synthesis of the top business issues today.

Summary:

Creating Competitive Advantage:
Five for the Future is a Call to Action. In this hyper-competitive, rapidly changing environment, it is only prudent to glance in the rear view mirror from time to time.

But America needs more than rear view mirror policies. The United States needs a roadmap for success in the global economy—one that charts a strategic direction between complacency and panic. And the time to act is now, when the U.S. margin of leadership is strong.

Our success will, in large measure, be built on our ability to understand how the game has changed and respond with a new set of strategies and capabilities:

• Lead in research discoveries that promise to create whole new industries and markets
• Build on knowledge and technology fusions that have the capacity to transform products and services
• Provide every American with the tools to compete in the global economy
• Develop risk intelligence and resilience in an age of turbulence
• Extract value by being a first mover in addressing global challenges

This demands an environment that supports innovation in all its forms and anticipates the new dynamics that create competitive advantages for robust risk management and productivity-enhancing approaches to sustainability. It offers a framework for policy makers, presidential candidates, private sector decision makers and others to move forward decisively to secure America’s competitive future.