Producing Prosperity

Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

In "Producing Prosperity," Harvard Business School professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih show the disastrous consequences of years of poor sourcing decisions and underinvestment in manufacturing capabilities. They reveal how today's undervalued manufacturing operations often hold the seeds of tomorrow's innovative new products, arguing that companies must reinvest in new product and process development in the US industrial sector. Only by reviving this "industrial commons" can the world's largest economy build the expertise and manufacturing muscle to regain competitive advantage.

America needs a manufacturing renaissance – for restoring itself, and for the global economy as a whole. This will require major changes. Pisano and Shih show how company-level choices are key to the sustained success of industries and economies, and they provide business leaders with a framework for understanding the links between manufacturing and innovation that will enable them to make better outsourcing decisions. They also detail how government must change its support of basic and applied scientific research, and promote collaboration between business and academia. For executives, policymakers, academics, and innovators alike, "Producing Prosperity" provides the clearest and most compelling account yet of how the American economy lost its competitive edge – and how to get it back.

Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance
By Gary P. Pisano, Willy Shih; Source: Harvard Business Press Books; Publication date: October 16, 2012.