Sustainability Management Academics & Sage's Journal "Organization & Environment"

Getting to grips with Environmental Impact is by Nature, (with a capital N) a truely millenium challenge this is the place to post. (Note in passing the incredible foresight of the MacMillan brothers when they created in 1860 their now famous Science Journal Nature-Timeline)

As the 2nd issue in 2013 of Sage's Journal Organization & Environment has just arrived in my mail in box, I will share the freely available content with my regular management blog readers at "This-Above-All."

Here is the Editorial address of this years 2nd issue addressing Academics in these fields
Sustainability Management Academics

The "Public Debt Issue_Who is in debt & to Whom? plus questions of probity concerning elected members of the French Assembly(Deputés) or Senate(Senateurs)

For my bilingual readers here is a video link to the enquiry reported by Elise Lucet of France's F2-Antenne 2  public television.

Subject: Tax Evasion or Tax Optimisation or more to be more specific MINIMISATION
NB. Of course the CFO's-Chief Financial Officer's job is to maximise financial leverage and ensure money is well spent within the company, but there is something called "good will", apparently long forgotten. The public must question what this entails and what the company owes the public (customers) and the country (reputation, renown..) eg. the private assets of Greece outlay the Greek public debt!)      

Summary: In 2008 a computer expert at HSBC bank in Geneva, Hervé Falciani, left the bank with a long  list of clients world wide notably those who are strongly suspected of Tax Fraud. The list was in the form of three hard discs, at current data storage performance, that's a lot of data.

Mr Falciani is accused of stealing this data by the Switzerland Justice Department, he apparently has been menaced by death and placed under police protection.

The TV enquiry is also looks at companies implanted in France which are seen to be pushing the limits between Tax Optimisation and Fraud.

Such an enquiry is particularly timely since all Europeans, and certainly in France, are under increasing pressure to "make efforts" to bring our Economies into Equilibrium.

As in all well managed affairs, private business or public affairs the example must come from the top, the "so called leaders".

LEADERSHIP IN QUESTION and I do not intend to do any French President Bashing

Today good leadership is more and more questionable. In spite of the encouraging start to french president F. Hollands reduction in salary -30% (NB. N.Sarkosy increased his presidential salary by something like 140% "I won the battle and take the spoils"? There are of course other factors to be looked into in order to determine the salaried and perks of all elected representatives in total transparence in order to have the clout to change what must be changed)

Even more flagrant is the still apparently excessive and shady treatment attributed-co-opted in the boardrooms of  directors of CAC 40 (40 top companies and their top brass, and collaborators, many of whom may hide behind their financial directors or quality assurance directors in the case of accusation of "fraudulent" behaviour.

This blog author wrote and published in particular:

TWO CASE STUDIES

Two examples of companies present in France were highlighted:
Amazon & BAT British & American Tobacco
Of course pillar of "EU ism" Luxembourg is a main player in this "fraud- tax minimisation"
Amazon have unfair advantage over the small librarian-bookseller.
Having seen this TV programme I shall take Amazon's publicity from my blogs.
BAT is another kettle of fish - Tobacco smoking is proven to be  responsible for a greatly  increased probability of lung cancer, arterial damage and heart failure risk. What motivated me to blog and add my voice to echo this TV enquiry was the present of 3 elected members wined and dinned by BAT
 (one cannot say at BAT's expense since we know where the bribe money comes from, ie the poor cigarette addict.)
while France is actively engaged in increasing tax on cigarettes in order to encourage people to stop smoking (my comment or help finance the cost of cancer care and if possible cure).
M. André Santini, longtime deputy and senator, with a very strong personality (some may say "grande geule" and certainly a fat tummy).and very out spoken in favour of freedom to smoke (even knowing that manufactures do all they can to increase addiction) M. Patrick Balkany, Maire of Levallois-Perret the commune the most  indebted in France and a third person whose name will most certainly figure in the video.
(Bribery if not openly discussed is possible just around the corner).

SUMMARY
Tax Evasion or Tax Optimisation or more to be more specific MINIMISATION
NB. Of course the CFO's job is to maximise financial leverage and ensure money is well spent within the company, but there is something called "good will", apparently long forgotten. The public must question what this entails and what the company owes the public (customers) and the country (reputation, renown..) eg. the private assets of Greece outlay the Greek public debt!)    

INTOLERABLE

PS. Now that I have echoed the deserved slating the national players there are other "Top Dogs" who cry for efforts to be made, the public is now asking our EU representatives and the Salaried EU. Commission what financial effort has or is being enforced as a signal that the EU is playing its leadership role properly, yes properly.
  

Le scandale de l'évasion fiscale : révélations sur les milliards qui nous manquent (in French)

Jack Welch gives us "The Biggest Dirty Little Secret in Business_In one word, it is Candor

"If you’re thinking this secret is “outsized bonuses,” “bureaucracy” or “poor strategy,” guess again. While these issues may have merit in their own right, we believe that the absence of candor is the single largest roadblock keeping companies from being effective."

Perhaps this may also, or even more so, apply to politicians?

[Jack Welch is the ex-CEO of GE (General Electric Corp.) and a mythical figure in corporate life.

MORE...? Check the link to Linkedin below.

The Biggest Dirty Little Secret in Business | LinkedIn

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE_Special Update April 2013

The Highly respected Journal Nature updates its Climate Change series in this months April 2013 edition.

The following themes are dealt with with the usual Nature professionalism.
I trust your library gives you access to these important and overwhelmingly troubling themes. Please take the time to read at least the table of contents for future reference and eventual action. Wish I could give you more.

Editorials

Top

• Mitigating circumstances

  There are many barriers that must be overcome if South Africa is to control its greenhouse-gas emissions.

• Climate consensus

  People's acceptance of global warming can be influenced by many filters.

Commentary

Top

• Limits to adaptation

  An actor-centered, risk-based approach to defining limits to social adaptation provides a useful analytic framing for identifying and anticipating these limits and informing debates over society's responses to climate change.
  • Kirstin Dow,
  • Frans Berkhout,
  • Benjamin L. Preston,
  • Richard J. T. Klein,
  • Guy Midgley &
  • + et al.

Market Watch

Top

• Power player

  South Africa is trying to make its economy greener. But it must work hard to stay on target and tread a fine diplomatic line, writes Anna Petherick.

Research Highlights

Top

• Soil biogeochemistry: Soil microbes find shelter

   

• Water resources: Depleting aquifers

   

• Sea-Ice extent: Arctic marine access

   

• Atmospheric science: Short-term impacts

   

• Policy: Caribbean renewable energy

News and Views

Top

• Expert judgement assessment: Quantifying uncertainty on thin ice

  The contribution of ice sheets to sea-level rise still has large uncertainties that are yet to be quantified.
  • R. M. Cooke
  See also: Article by J. L. Bamber et al.

• Psychology: Seeing is believing

  Or do we see something, because we believe it? Evidence suggests that personal experience is more likely to influence Americans with no strong beliefs about climate change than those with firm beliefs.
  • Elke U. Weber
  See also: Letter by Teresa A. Myers et al.

Perspective

Top

• Global insights into water resources, climate change and governance

  The high levels of water extraction from the Colorado, Murray, Orange and Yellow rivers are shown to be the main cause of reduced flows in these systems. Changes in governance are urgently required to preserve the health of these rivers, especially in light of the present and future impacts of climate change.
  • R. Quentin Grafton,
  • Jamie Pittock,
  • Richard Davis,
  • John Williams,
  • Guobin Fu,
  • + et al.

Review

Top

• Ground water and climate change

  Groundwater is of crucial importance for water and food security and for sustaining ecosystems. This Review assesses the likely impacts of climate change on groundwater and groundwater-driven feedbacks to the climate system.
  • Richard G. Taylor,
  • Bridget Scanlon,
  • Petra Döll,
  • Matt Rodell,
  • Rens van Beek,
  • + et al.

Letters

Top

• Changing social contracts in climate-change adaptation

  A survey conducted in England and Ireland after a major flooding event shows that perceptions of individual responsibility for protection depend on the specific social and policy context. Perception of future risk, in the case of people directly affected by the flooding, also depends on the context. Expectations about the state’s responsibility for climate protection are critical in promoting longer-term adaptation to the changing climate.
  • W. Neil Adger,
  • Tara Quinn,
  • Irene Lorenzoni,
  • Conor Murphy &
  • John Sweeney

• Your opinion on climate change might not be as common as you think

  Political and media debate on the existence and causes of climate change often rests on claims about what most citizens really think. New research demonstrates that people overestimate how common their own opinion is, and when they do they are less likely to change their view. People also overestimate how many reject the existence of climate change.
  • Z. Leviston,
  • I. Walker &
  • S. Morwinski

• Stock dynamics and emission pathways of the global aluminium cycle

  The long-term demand for materials and the opportunities for scrap recycling depend on the stock dynamics of the products in use. In the case of aluminium, research shows that new technologies in primary production can reduce emissions while the aluminium stocks grow, but beyond stock saturation the largest reduction potential shifts to scrap recycling.
  • Gang Liu,
  • Colton E. Bangs &
  • Daniel B. Müller

• The relationship between personal experience and belief in the reality of global warming

  Research in America finds that observable climate impacts increase people’s certainty about global warming and that prior certainty shapes people’s perceptions of the impacts. The first process happens frequently among people less engaged in the issue of climate change whereas the second process is typical of people already convinced about it.
  • Teresa A. Myers,
  • Edward W. Maibach,
  • Connie Roser-Renouf,
  • Karen Akerlof &
  • Anthony A. Leiserowitz
  See also: News and Views by Elke U. Weber

• Patterns in household-level engagement with climate change in Indonesia

  Understanding public engagement with climate change in developing countries is critical for the success of local adaptation strategies. A study in Indonesia shows that nearly one-third of the population has observed and perceived risks of climate change—contrary to previous research suggesting low levels of awareness—but has not taken action to address it.
  • Erin L. Bohensky,
  • Alex Smajgl &
  • Tom Brewer

• Global perceptions of local temperature change

  Research based on a survey across 89 countries demonstrates that individuals who live in places with rising average temperatures are more likely than others to perceive local warming. The study also suggests that personal experience of the impacts of climate change may shift public opinion about the reality of global warming.
  • Peter D. Howe,
  • Ezra M. Markowitz,
  • Tien Ming Lee,
  • Chia-Ying Ko &
  • Anthony Leiserowitz

• Assessment of the first consensus prediction on climate change

  In 1990 the First Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was produced. It contained a prediction of the global-mean-temperature trend for 1990–2030 which, halfway through that period, appears accurate. This is remarkable in hindsight, considering a number of important external forcings were not included. This study concludes the greenhouse-gas-induced warming is largely overwhelming the other forcings.
  • David J. Frame &
  • Dáithí A. Stone

• Spectral biases in tree-ring climate proxies

  Seamless quantification of past and present climate variability is needed to understand the Earth’s climate well enough to make accurate predictions for the future. This study addresses whether tree-ring-dominated proxy data properly represent the frequency spectrum of true climate variability. The results challenge the validity of detection and attribution investigations based on these data.
  • Jörg Franke,
  • David Frank,
  • Christoph C. Raible,
  • Jan Esper &
  • Stefan Brönnimann

• Management of trade-offs in geoengineering through optimal choice of non-uniform radiative forcing

  This study looks at solar radiation management and how the benefits will vary between regions. Using a general circulation model, the trade-offs between optimizing latitudinal and seasonal distribution of reduced solar radiation are investigated.
  • Douglas G. MacMartin,
  • David W. Keith,
  • Ben Kravitz &
  • Ken Caldeira

• Robustness and uncertainties in the new CMIP5 climate model projections

  Updated models are being used for the new assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This study compares projections from the latest models with those from earlier versions. The spread of results has not changed significantly, and some of the spread will always remain due to the internal variability of the climate system. As models improve, they are able to represent more processes in greater detail, allowing for greater confidence in their projections, in spite of model spread.
  • Reto Knutti &
  • Jan Sedláček

• Evidence of the dependence of groundwater resources on extreme rainfall in East Africa

  Recharge sustains groundwater resources that are depended on globally for drinking water and irrigated agriculture. A newly compiled 55-year record of groundwater-level observations in an aquifer in central Tanzania reveals the highly episodic occurrence of recharge resulting from anomalously intense seasonal rainfall. Model projections show a shift towards more intense monthly rainfall, which favours groundwater recharge, suggesting it may be a viable adaptation water source in the future.
  • Richard G. Taylor,
  • Martin C. Todd,
  • Lister Kongola,
  • Louise Maurice,
  • Emmanuel Nahozya,
  • + et al.

• Response of snow-dependent hydrologic extremes to continued global warming

  Snow accumulation is critical for water availability in the Northern Hemisphere. Model projections show a shift towards low snow years, with areas of western North America, northeastern Europe and the Greater Himalayas showing the strongest decline. Many snow-dependent regions are likely to experience increasing stress from low snow years if global warming exceeds 2° above the pre-industrial baseline.
  • Noah S. Diffenbaugh,
  • Martin Scherer &
  • Moetasim Ashfaq

• The impact of global land-cover change on the terrestrial water cycle

  Human impacts on the terrestrial water cycle have the potential to influence hazards such as flooding and drought, so understanding the extent of our influence is an important research goal. A study utilizing estimates of evapotranspiration for different types of land cover and a database of changes in use now shows that the extent of land-cover change caused by people is already an important factor affecting the terrestrial water cycle.
  • Shannon M. Sterling,
  • Agnès Ducharne &
  • Jan Polcher

• Catchment productivity controls CO₂ emissions from lakes

  Most lakes are net sources of CO₂; conventionally the CO₂ in lake waters is attributed to in-lake oxidation of terrestrially-produced dissolved organic carbon. Now research indicates that CO₂ in lakes may be delivered directly via inflowing streams. These findings suggest that future CO₂ emissions from lakes will be strongly related to productivity in the lake catchment.
  • Stephen C. Maberly,
  • Philip A. Barker,
  • Andy W. Stott &
  • Mitzi M. De Ville

• The temperature response of soil microbial efficiency and its feedback to climate

  Soils are the largest repository of organic carbon in the terrestrial biosphere. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the factors controlling the efficiency with which microbial communities utilize carbon, and its effect on soil–atmosphere CO₂ exchange. Now research using long-term experimental plots suggests that climate warming could alter the decay dynamics of more stable organic-matter compounds with implications for carbon storage in soils and ultimately climate warming.
  • Serita D. Frey,
  • Juhwan Lee,
  • Jerry M. Melillo &
  • Johan Six

Articles

Top

• The pivotal role of perceived scientific consensus in acceptance of science

  Public concern about anthropogenic global warming has been declining despite the scientific consensus on the issue. It is still unknown whether experts’ consensus determines people’s beliefs, and it is not clear if public perception of consensus overrides worldviews known to foster rejection of anthropogenic climate change. New research shows that information about scientific consensus increases acceptance of anthropogenic global warming and neutralizes the effect of worldviews.
  • Stephan Lewandowsky,
  • Gilles E. Gignac &
  • Samuel Vaughan

• 2020 emissions levels required to limit warming to below 2 °C

  A relatively wide range of emissions in 2020 could keep open the option of limiting long-term temperature increase to below 2 °C; however, a shortfall in critical technologies would narrow that range or eliminate it altogether. Reduced emissions in 2020 would hedge against this uncertainty.
  • Joeri Rogelj,
  • David L. McCollum,
  • Brian C. O’Neill &
  • Keywan Riahi

• Comparing the effectiveness of monetary versus moral motives in environmental campaigning

  Environmental campaigns often promote energy conservation by appealing to economic rather than environmental concerns, assuming self-interest drives people’s behaviour. New research discredits such conventional wisdom and shows that, at least in some cases, it is more effective to call on people’s interest in protecting the biosphere to encourage behavioural changes.
  • J. W. Bolderdijk,
  • L. Steg,
  • E. S. Geller,
  • P. K. Lehman &
  • T. Postmes

• Changes in South Pacific rainfall bands in a warming climate

  The South Pacific Convergence Zone is the largest rainband in the Southern Hemisphere, and its response to global warming is still undetermined. In this study a hierarchy of climate models show that the uncertainty in rainfall projections in the South Pacific Convergence Zone is the result of two competing mechanisms.
  • Matthew J. Widlansky,
  • Axel Timmermann,
  • Karl Stein,
  • Shayne McGregor,
  • Niklas Schneider,
  • + et al.

• An expert judgement assessment of future sea level rise from the ice sheets

  This study uses a formalized pooling of expert views on uncertainties in the future contributions of melting ice sheets to sea-level rise, using a structured elicitation approach. The median estimate obtained is substantially larger than that found by previous studies. Expert opinion is shown to be both very uncertain and undecided on the key issue of whether recent ice-sheet behaviour is a long-term trend or due to natural variability.
  • J. L. Bamber &
  • W. P. Aspinall
  See also: News and Views by R. M. Cooke

MORE THEMES TO WORK ON_The Global Risks That Most Worry World Economic Forum Experts

The following themes, fifty no less, were first brought to our attention via Scientific American posted on the leading professional contact platform Linkedin

An executive summary and full report is freely available on the WEF-World Economic Forum's web site-reports.

There is certainly much food for thought and more for action in this lengthy, in-depth report, well documented  graphically.

eg. Urgent: Likelihood of occurence 

CHANGE

Executives,Managers_ Until 30 April_ Free access to most-read Psychology articles from Academic Publisher Sage

We executives, managers and consultants are always motivated (mostly) in getting your company, colleagues and employees up to top form. 

The following generous free offer to gen-up on the many psychological, aspects and pitfalls in achieving objectives in personal and company performance such as sucessful leadership, human relations,pit falls to avoid and generally taking the word "mostly" out of the equation is a good start to hitting such targets. So please do not hesitate in joining me in reading Sage's Psychology Articles.

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2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index from Deloitte, 16 November 2012

Although the Index title, 

"2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index: 

CEOs see emerging nations surge 

as U.S., Germany and Japan face changing game"

is hardly a SCOOP, the press-release-summary is a quick way to pick up the essentials obtained from an in-depth analysis of survey responses from more than 550 chief executive officers (CEOs) and senior leaders at manufacturing companies around the world.

One factor which I strongly believe to be under played by Gov. Admin and CEOs is the necessity to push Global Warming GW-CC issue to the top of the agenda. following the special report from NEW SCIENTIST SPECIAL EDITION ON CLIMATE-5YEARS ON! cf quote from NS"Five years ago, we were warned that the climate change outlook was bad. In this week's cover feature, read the seven reasons why it's even worse that we thought.  and their plea for a strong commited US lead

Obama should fulfil his 2008 climate promises 

since 

                                                                    "Extreme events caused by warming are happening much sooner than we though they would. It's time for Obama to act"

The more courageous will read the full report but I have seen more readable materials. But for a starter I recommend the summary below:

"Talent continues to be key driver of manufacturing competitiveness

Washington D.C., 16 November 2012 — Over the next five years, 20th-century manufacturing stalwarts like the United States, Germany and Japan will be challenged to maintain their competitive edge to emerging nations such as China, India and Brazil, according to the 2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s (DTTL) Global Manufacturing Industry group and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness.

The report confirms that the landscape for competitive manufacturing is in the midst of a massive power shift – based on an in-depth analysis of survey responses from more than 550 chief executive officers (CEOs) and senior leaders at manufacturing companies around the world.

The 2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index once again ranks China as the most competitive manufacturing nation in the world both today, and five years from now. Germany and the United States round out the top three competitive manufacturing nations, but, according to the survey, both fall five years from now, with Germany ranking fourth and the United States ranking fifth, only slightly ahead of the Republic of Korea. The two other developed nations currently in the top 10 are also expected to be less competitive in five years: Canada slides from seventh to eighth place and Japan drops out of the top 10 entirely, falling to 12th place.

Further, the Index finds that Germany’s slide in competitiveness holds true for several other European nations, including the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland and the Czech Republic, which are all expected to experience a dramatic decrease in their ability to compete. Poland, for example, drops from 14th to 18th place on the Index, while the United Kingdom drops from 15th to 19th place.

“America and Europe have continued to watch emerging markets mature and become formidable competitors over the past decade,” said Craig Giffi, vice chairman, Deloitte United States (Deloitte LLP) and consumer and industrial products industry leader, who co-authored the report and led the research-team

Giffi points out that in five years key emerging nations are expected to vault forward in the Index: Brazil jumps from its current eight place slot to third place and India jumps from fourth to second place. China remains firmly in first place.

“While the Americas region will continue to show significant manufacturing prowess – with the United States, Brazil, Canada and Mexico all in the top 15 most competitive nations five years from now – many advantages are tilting toward Asia, which will have 10 of the top 15 most competitive nations within the decade,” Giffi said.

“Frontier markets in Asia such as Vietnam and Indonesia are on the rise,” comments Tim Hanley, DTTL Global Leader, Manufacturing. “The global CEO survey results echo the view that while China and India are still prominent in discussions, manufacturers are turning their focus to these frontier markets for growth to capture both the growing local consumer demand and to serve as strategic manufacturing hubs in the global value chain.”

Deborah L. Wince-Smith, president and CEO of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, views the perceived decline of America and developed nations as an alarming trend requiring immediate action.

“We need to better understand the highly complex forces driving the future of manufacturing and many of the structural changes reshaping the global economy. Emerging nations are growing fast and strong. Wise policies and practices could unleash American strengths, turbo-charge our manufacturing engines, and raise technology commercialization to new heights, driving U.S. economic growth and job creation,” she said.

Talent leads the way
The report found that access to talented workers is the top indicator of a country’s competitiveness – followed by a country’s trade, financial and tax system, and then the cost of labor and materials.

“Nothing was more important to CEOs than the quality, availability and productivity of a nation’s workforce to help them drive their innovation agendas,” said Giffi. “Enhancing and growing an effective talent base remains core to competitiveness among the traditional manufacturing leaders – and increasingly among emerging market challengers as well.”

The report reveals several schisms in competitiveness between established manufacturing players and their emerging counterparts, most notably:

• 1. Traditional manufacturing stalwarts are perceived to have an advantage with respect to talent-driven innovation. More than 85 percent of global executives “strongly agree” or “agree” that the availability of quality skilled talent needed for advanced manufacturing in the United States, Germany and Japan makes those nations highly competitive – while just 58 percent say the same about China and 40 percent say it about India.
• 2. Established manufacturing nations scored far better than emerging manufacturing nations when it came to local economic, trade, financial and tax systems. More than seven in 10 global business leaders “strongly agree” or “agree” that Germany and the United States have an extreme competitiveness advantage based on this criterion, but only 43 percent say the same about India.
• 3. Superior healthcare systems will likely give established manufacturing nations a distinct advantage over emerging players, thanks to their access to quality care and regulatory policies for public health. More than seven in 10 business leaders believe that the healthcare systems in the United States, Germany and Japan make them extremely competitive, but no more than three in 10 say that about China, India and Brazil.
• 4. When looking at labour costs and availability, stalwart manufacturing nations find themselves squarely on the defensive. Almost nine in 10 global executive believe China and India are extremely competitive with respect to the local cost and availability of labor, but fewer than four in 10 believe the same about the United States, Germany and Japan.
• 5. The newest of the emerging superpowers have a long way to go when it comes to supplier networks. Five in 10 executives or fewer “strongly agree” or “agree” that India and Brazil are extremely competitive relative to their supply networks, compared to the eight in 10 or more who say the same thing about the United States, Germany and Japan.
• 6. Emerging manufacturing nations will likely struggle to be competitive in regards to their legal systems. Fewer than four in 10 global business leaders “strongly agree” or “agree” that China, India and Brazil are extremely competitive relative to their legal systems, compared to the more than eight in 10 who feel that way about the United States, Germany and Japan.
• 7. Newer manufacturing players face an uphill battle when it comes to physical infrastructure competitiveness. Fewer than a quarter of business executives “strongly agree” or “agree” that India’s infrastructure makes it extremely competitive, but almost nine in 10 say the United States, Germany and Japan have a strong infrastructure advantage.

“The emerging superpowers in manufacturing will focus on building the advanced manufacturing capabilities and economic and political infrastructures that drive rapid growth and high value jobs for their citizens, forcing 20th century manufacturing powerhouses to fend off the growing strength of more focused global competitors,” Giffi said.

Still, Giffi points out that:
 “manufacturing still matters a great deal for the economic prosperity of 20th century powerhouses – and these nations continue to have enough going for them to stay in the game and even thrive.”

The 2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index full report LINK

About the Study

The 2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index is an initiative led by The U.S. Council on Competitiveness and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited designed to determine how CEOs view the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in different countries around the world. A global CEO survey, which generated responses from 552 CEOs and senior executives, offers perspectives on the most important factors that drive manufacturing industry competitiveness. The global survey results also helped to create a unique Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index ranking the relative manufacturing industry competiveness of countries and reflect how executives perceive this may change over the next five years. The in-depth study seeks to define excellence in manufacturing and draw out the implications for manufacturers in terms of the competencies required to develop and sustain an edge in a new competitive landscape. Participants were also asked to provide their views of the global economic conditions and government actions that can bolster competitiveness in the manufacturing industry. To learn more, visit Global Competitiveness.

About the U.S. Council on Competitiveness

The Council on Competitiveness is a leadership organization comprised of CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders committed to ensuring that the United States remains the world leader. The Council has one goal: to strengthen America’s competitive advantage by acting as a catalyst for innovative public policy solutions. For more information, please visit . U.S. Council on Competitiveness 

DTTL Global Manufacturing Industry group

The DTTL Global Manufacturing Industry group is comprised of around 2,000 member firm partners and over 13,000 industry professionals in over 45 countries. The group’s deep industry knowledge, service line experience, and thought leadership allows them to solve complex business issues with member firm clients in every corner of the globe. Deloitte member firms attract, develop, and retain the very best professionals and instill a set of shared values centered on integrity, value to clients, and commitment to each other and strength from diversity. Deloitte member firms provide professional services to 80 percent of the manufacturing industry companies on the Fortune Global 500®. For more information about the Global Manufacturing Industry group, please visit  www.deloitte.com/manufacturing."