Global Competition in Capital Goods: An American Perspective

(Hardback)

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The capital goods industries - machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, transport equipment (except automobiles), and instruments and related equipment - provide more than one-third of total US exports. But in the past 20 years, these industries have displayed a continual weakening of their competitive position. In this study, Robert Eckley investigates this leading sector of the American economy and its competition for global markets by concentrating on case studies of 7 companies that represent the principal segments of the capital goods industries. The approach that Eckley takes is an empirical one, utilizing the experience of IBM, Boeing, General Electric, Eastman Kodak, Caterpillar, Cummins, and Cincinnati Milacron to illustrate the developments that have occurred in this sector of the world economy. The companies are all leaders within their industries, and also offer a representative variety of the products, processes, and labour organizations found in the capital goods industries. Following a detailed introduction, Eckley devotes one chapter to each of the 7 companies, seeking out commonalities within the larger capital goods sector and drawing conclusions about costs, markets, and organizational and managerial practices. A concluding chapter focuses on the keys to regaining American leadership: increasing capital investment, remedying educational deficiencies and improving business decisions.

Reviews

Eckley identifies and evaluates trends in the erosion of the competitive position of the US capital goods industry vis-a-vis the world market. The author's basic analytical tool consists of in-depth analyses of 7 leading US firms. These analyses are supplemented by detailed observations on 50 of the 7 firms' leading competitors, as well as by monitoring the activities of another 50 firms influencing capital goods industry behavior. The resulting work is a timely and thought-provoking examination of this important segment of US industry, accounting for about one quarter of total manufacturing activity and some one third of total exports. Eckley concludes with specific and pertinent recommendations for restoring the US competitive position. Because most of the author's analysis is based on secondary sources, much of the material included has already appeared in print. However, his clean, crisp style and his ability to identify basic issues make this a book worth reading. Recommended collateral reading: Working Papers, MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity (2 v., 1989); Robert H. Hayes, Steven C. Wheelwright, and Kim B. Clark, Dynamic Manufacturing, and Kenichi Ohmae, The Borderless World. Academic and public library collections.-Choice
"Eckley identifies and evaluates trends in the erosion of the competitive position of the US capital goods industry vis-a-vis the world market. The author's basic analytical tool consists of in-depth analyses of 7 leading US firms. These analyses are supplemented by detailed observations on 50 of the 7 firms' leading competitors, as well as by monitoring the activities of another 50 firms influencing capital goods industry behavior. The resulting work is a timely and thought-provoking examination of this important segment of US industry, accounting for about one quarter of total manufacturing activity and some one third of total exports. Eckley concludes with specific and pertinent recommendations for restoring the US competitive position. Because most of the author's analysis is based on secondary sources, much of the material included has already appeared in print. However, his clean, crisp style and his ability to identify basic issues make this a book worth reading. Recommended collateral reading: Working Papers, MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity (2 v., 1989); Robert H. Hayes, Steven C. Wheelwright, and Kim B. Clark, Dynamic Manufacturing, and Kenichi Ohmae, The Borderless World. Academic and public library collections."-Choice

Author Bio

OBERT S. ECKLEY is President Emeritus of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, and was manager of the Business Economics Department of Caterpillar, Inc. He has published articles in Business Horizons, The Brookings Review, Harvard Business Review, and The American Economic Review, among others.