Michael Best

A groundbreaking study that shows how countries can create innovative, production-based economies for the twenty-first centuryAchieving economic growth is one of today's key challenges. In this groundbreaking book, Michael Best argues that to understand how successful growth happens we need an economic framework that focuses on production, governance, and skills.This production-centric framework is the culmination of three simultaneous journeys. The first has been Best's visits to hundreds of factories worldwide, starting early as the son of a labor organizer and continuing through his work as an academic and industrial consultant. The second is a survey of two hundred years of economic thought from Babbage to Krugman, with stops along the way for Marx, Marshall, Young, Penrose, Richardson, Schumpeter, Kuznets, Abramovitz, Keynes, and Jacobs. The third is a tour of historical episodes of successful and failed transformations, focusing sharply on three core elements—the production system, business organization, and skill formation—and their interconnections.Best makes the case that government should create the institutional infrastructures needed to support these elements and their interconnections rather than subsidize individual enterprises. The power of Best's alternative framework is illustrated by case studies of transformative experiences previously regarded as economic "miracles": America's World War II industrial buildup, Germany's postwar recovery, Greater Boston's innovation system, Ireland's tech-sector boom, and the rise of the Asian Tigers and China.Accessible and engaging, How Growth Really Happens is required reading for anyone who wants to advance today’s crucial debates about industrial policy, climate change, globalization, technological change, and the future of work.

A groundbreaking study that shows how countries can create innovative, production-based economies for the twenty-first centuryAchieving economic growth is one of today's key challenges. In this groundbreaking book, Michael Best argues that to understand how successful growth happens we need an economic framework that focuses on production, governance, and skills.This production-centric framework is the culmination of three simultaneous journeys. The first has been Best's visits to hundreds of factories worldwide, starting early as the son of a labor organizer and continuing through his work as an academic and industrial consultant. The second is a survey of two hundred years of economic thought from Babbage to Krugman, with stops along the way for Marx, Marshall, Young, Penrose, Richardson, Schumpeter, Kuznets, Abramovitz, Keynes, and Jacobs. The third is a tour of historical episodes of successful and failed transformations, focusing sharply on three core elements—the production system, business organization, and skill formation—and their interconnections.Best makes the case that government should create the institutional infrastructures needed to support these elements and their interconnections rather than subsidize individual enterprises. The power of Best's alternative framework is illustrated by case studies of transformative experiences previously regarded as economic "miracles": America's World War II industrial buildup, Germany's postwar recovery, Greater Boston's innovation system, Ireland's tech-sector boom, and the rise of the Asian Tigers and China.Accessible and engaging, How Growth Really Happens is required reading for anyone who wants to advance today’s crucial debates about industrial policy, climate change, globalization, technological change, and the future of work.

This book addresses the sustained resurgence of American economy, and the firms, regions, and technologies that are driving this growth. Michael Best develops a new model of technology management and regional innovation based on the principle of systems integration. The principle of systems integration is manifest in the organizational capability of firms, individually and networked, to foster rapid technological change. Application of the principle of sysyems integration to business organization means integrating an ongoing technology management capability into a production system. The effect is a network or cluster of entrepreneurial firms in which design is decentralized within the enterprise and diffused amongst networked enterprises.It is a business model ideally suited to product-led strategies and technological innovation. The combination of entreprenurial firms and inter-firm networks is shown to foster a range of dynamic cluster processes which, in turn, underlie the growth of Silicon Valley and the unexpected resurgence of Boston's Route 128. The general character of the capabilities and innovation perspective is illustrated with applications to regions at different levels of industrial development. The implications for policy making are profound: technology management is a powerful lever for both fostering growth and shaping competitive advantage. Moreover, it offers a framework for addressing the challenge of ecologically sustainable growth. Complex product systems, such as energy, transportation, and health, are a consequence of past and present technology R&D choices and corresponding investements in technical education. Thus capability and skill development policies shape what is on offer in the marketplace.

This book addresses the sustained resurgence of American economy, and the firms, regions, and technologies that are driving this growth. Michael Best develops a new model of technology management and regional innovation based on the principle of systems integration. The principle of systems integration is manifest in the organizational capability of firms, individually and networked, to foster rapid technological change. Application of the principle of sysyems integration to business organization means integrating an ongoing technology management capability into a production system. The effect is a network or clusterof entrepreneurial firms in which design is decentralized within the enterprise and diffused anongst networked enterprises.It is a business model ideally suited to product-led strategies and technological innovation. The combination of entreprenurial firms and inter-firm networks is shown to foster a range of dynamic cluster processes which, in turn, underlie the growth of Silicon Valley and the unexpected resurgence of Boston's Route 128. The general character of the capabilities and innovation perspective is illustrated with applications to regions at different levels of industrial development. The implications for policy making are profound: technology management is a powerful lever for both fostering growth and shaping competitive advantage. Moreover, it offers a framework for addressing the challenge of ecologically sustainable growth. Complex product systems, such as energy, transportation, and health, are a consequence of past and present technology R&D choices and corresponding investements in technical education. Thus capability and skill development policies shape what is on offer in the marketplace.