America’s Challenge

Has the United States lost its competitive edge? Have decades of outsourcing and downsizing drained the nation of its ability to innovate and grow? And if so, what on earth can we do about it? This month HBR tackles these questions in the most comprehensive single-topic package we’ve ever assembled. Working with our colleagues at Harvard Business School, we have called on some of the world’s most original thinkers to explain the competitiveness challenge America faces and to help point the way forward. These articles aren’t meant to focus on the U.S. in isolation from the rest of the world. They’re not intended to be triumphalist or, for that matter, defeatist. Instead we hope to offer a clear-eyed look at what America is doing right, where it is coming up short, and what steps it can take to regain its competitive standing. We can think of no more important topic in this critical U.S. election year. While diverse in its range and viewpoints, our 14-piece package is animated by a core belief that American competitiveness is not just good for the United States. American innovations can fuel global growth, and a wealthy America will continue to buy from the rest of the world. Moreover, the lessons we learn about competition are applicable to industries and nations everywhere. Many of the ideas in this issue were first presented last November at an HBS symposium organized by professors Michael Porter and Jan Rivkin. The gathering attracted some of America’s leading CEOs—including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Virginia Rometty of IBM, and Michael Lynton of Sony Pictures Entertainment—and initiated what we hope will become a lively national debate on what it means to be competitive in the 21st century. What’s next? HBS will take the discussion on the road, with events in more than a dozen cities in the U.S. and overseas. HBR will continue to search for the best ideas on how to restart America’s growth engine. Do you have some thoughts? Please send them to us at letters@hbr.org. Adi Ignatius, Editor in Chief

America’s Challenge

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