The health of American manufacturing has been a cause of real concern during the 1980s. Foreign competition, hostile takeovers, new technologies and a host of other factors have caused dramatic changes in this key sector of the American economy. Many ob servers of this process of change are singing the "rust belt blues," consigning U.S. manufacturing greatness to the history books. In April 1986, the Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University issued a study by its director, Dr. Murray L. Weidenbaum, which challenged this perception of American manu facturing's future. The report, entitled Learning to Compete, pointed to a variety of positive developments resulting from the ad versity faced by American firms in the first half of the decade: pro ducers had improved quality and productivity, reduced costs, and in creased emphasis on R&D. In November 1988, as a logical extension of this research, the Center held a conference on American Manufacturing in the 1990s. Focusing on American responses to the changing global competitive environment, this conference brought together the practical experi ence of business professionals and the more detached views of aca demic and media experts. In a day and a half of meetings, encompassing six separate ses sions, a luncheon address and an after-dinner debate, conference participants assembled an extensive profile on the state of U.S.

Introduction to Business covers the scope and sequence of most introductory business courses. The book provides detailed explanations in the context of core themes such as customer satisfaction, ethics, entrepreneurship, global business, and managing change. Introduction to Business includes hundreds of current business examples from a range of industries and geographic locations, which feature a variety of individuals. The outcome is a balanced approach to the theory and application of business concepts, with attention to the knowledge and skills necessary for student success in this course and beyond. This is an adaptation of Introduction to Business by OpenStax. You can access the textbook as pdf for free at openstax.org. Minor editorial changes were made to ensure a better ebook reading experience. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How America can rebuild its industrial landscape to sustain an innovative economy. America is the world leader in innovation, but many of the innovative ideas that are hatched in American start-ups, labs, and companies end up going abroad to reach commercial scale. Apple, the superstar of innovation, locates its production in China (yet still reaps most of its profits in the United States). When innovation does not find the capital, skills, and expertise it needs to come to market in the United States, what does it mean for economic growth and job creation? Inspired by the MIT Made in America project of the 1980s, Making in America brings experts from across MIT to focus on a critical problem for the country. MIT scientists, engineers, social scientists, and management experts visited more than 250 firms in the United States, Germany, and China. In companies across America—from big defense contractors to small machine shops and new technology start-ups—these experts tried to learn how we can rebuild the industrial landscape to sustain an innovative economy. At each stop, they asked this basic question: “When you have a new idea, how do you get it into the market?” They found gaping holes and missing pieces in the industrial ecosystem. Even in an Internet-connected world, proximity to innovation and users matters for industry. Making in America describes ways to strengthen this connection, including public-private collaborations, new government-initiated manufacturing innovation institutes, and industry/community college projects. If we can learn from these ongoing experiments in linking innovation to production, American manufacturing could have a renaissance.

Despite the passage of NAFTA and other recent free trade victories in the United States, former U.S. trade official Alfred Eckes warns that these developments have a dark side. Opening America's Market offers a bold critique of U.S. trade policies over the last sixty years, placing them within a historical perspective. Eckes reconsiders trade policy issues and events from Benjamin Franklin to Bill Clinton, attributing growing political unrest and economic insecurity in the 1990s to shortsighted policy decisions made in the generation after World War II. Eager to win the Cold War and promote the benefits of free trade, American officials generously opened the domestic market to imports but tolerated foreign discrimination against American goods. American consumers and corporations gained in the resulting global economy, but many low-skilled workers have become casualties. Eckes also challenges criticisms of the 'infamous' protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which allegedly worsened the Great Depression and provoked foreign retaliation. In trade history, he says, this episode was merely a mole hill, not a mountain.