Question

• Where do you see the U.S. in 25 years?
• If you were in charge, what competitive strategy concepts are most relevant to our country?

Please answer in detail

Answer 1

1. A quarter century ago, America had a brand new income tax system and an emerging position as the world’s lone superpower. Whites dominated a political debate conducted on television, and baby boomers had just become 40-somethings.

A quarter-century from now, every one of those conditions will have vanished—with profound implications for the nation’s economy, diplomacy, politics and culture. Accompanying that shift would be a move away from taxing income that may only leave a surtax on the highest income earners. The idea would be to spark economic growth by spurring savings and investment, accelerate the worldwide push to curb carbon emissions and limit climate change, and in the process foster development of the renewable energy industry.

Economic growth will be critical to preserving America’s power and influence in the world. If the 20th century was known as The American Century, Asia could take pre-eminence in the 21st. Within two decades, forecasters predict, China may pass the U.S. to boast the world’s largest economic output.

That won’t necessarily displace the U.S. in other ways. And by deepening partnerships in manufacturing and energy with neighbors on its northern and southern borders, America can muscle up to compete with growth in Europe, Asia and Africa.

America’s shifting mosaic will look different geographically as well. If the 19th century saw America turn from an agrarian to an industrial nation, and the 20th saw the rise of suburbia, the 21st century will see cities and suburbs merge into giant metropolises.

Such shifts have aroused deep concerns, especially in rural areas worried about losing population, economic vitality and cultural traditions. But if the face of America changes, history suggests its character may not.

And baby boomers, who drove so many societal changes in their youth, will keep doing the same thing in their retirement over the next quarter century. They will dramatically swell the ranks of Social Security and Medicare, straining the government’s long-term solvency. But those strains will also help drive shifts in the pattern of health-care delivery and retirement living.

Increasingly, health care will be delivered by teams of providers that include physicians but also nurse practitioners. And it will be delivered in different places, such as retail pharmacies.

And at the same time, the cost and undesirability of nursing home care will spark a new home-care industry as an alternative.

2. A business environment that fosters national competitiveness pays dividends across the board. Whatever its stage of development, export strategies that support innovation and use of technology will help a country move forward.

• Competitive advantage can be created or, at the very least, raised significantly.
  
• The improvement of competitiveness within an economy should be a key element of national export strategy.

This means strategic initiatives should address competitiveness issues not only at the level of the individual product and service sector but at the national level as well. The competitive advantage of a nation is its capacity to entice firms (both local and foreign) to use the country as a platform from which to conduct business.

No matter at which stage of development a country is situated, sustained improvement in export performance depends on technology and innovation. US should keep investing more on technology, which will lead to the development of the nation, the country's competitive advantage lies in its ability to innovate and produce products and services at the frontier of global technology.

Strategy should focus on technological diffusion and on establishing an increasingly efficient national environment for innovation. The emphasis should be on supporting institutions and extending incentives that reinforce innovation within the business sector. Companies should be encouraged to compete on the basis of unique strategies. The development of service export capacities should be a priority objective.