Women: World-Class Managers for Global Competition

It is no secret that business faces an environment radically different from that of even a few years ago, the result of increasingly global competition. The Commerce Department estimated in 1984 that in U. S. domestic markets some 70% of firms faced "significant foreign competition," up from only 25% a decade previously. By 1987, the chairman of the Foreign Trade Council estimated the figure to be 80%. In 1984, U.S. exports to markets abroad accounted for 12.5% of the GNP; by comparison, Japan's 1984 exports were 16.5% of its GNP.1 Global competition is serious, it is pervasive, and it is here to stay. More stringent competition is an important result of this global economy. (See Exhibit 1.) Because markets are increasingly interconnected, "world-class standards" are quickly becoming the norm. New products developed in one market are soon visible in markets around the world, as initial producers use their advantage, forcing competitors to meet the challenge or lose market share. Product life-cycle has been reduced by 75%. Product development and worldwide marketing are becoming almost simultaneous. For example, recent developments in superconductivity, initially demonstrated in Zurich, were quickly replicated in The People's Republic of China, the United States, Japan, and in Europe. Similarly, U.S. automobile customers quickly learned to demand improved quality from U.S. automakers, once the Japanese autos had demonstrated it. Standards for price, performance, and quality have been permanently altered worldwide.