As we have seen, there exist many ways to study global marketing. Today, we view how the United States leads global competitiveness. Yes, despite rough spots, the U.S. again leads.
First, click on these prior posts:
- What Countries Lead in Electric Vehicle Chargers
- United States Leads in Tourism Spending
- How Global Consumers Feel About Their Finances
- Most and Least Expensive Cities Worldwide
Global Competitiveness in 2018
In its 2018 report on global competitiveness, the World Economic Forum (WEF) “features the new Global Competitiveness Index 4.0. And this report assesses the competitiveness landscape of 140 economies. Thereby, it provides unique insight into the drivers of economic growth in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Discover the 2018 edition’s rankings, key findings, your economy’s scorecard, and much more.”
As the WEF’s Klaus Shaub notes:
“With the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), humanity entered a new phase. The 4IR became the lived reality for millions around the world. And it created new opportunities for business, government, and individuals. But, it also threatens a new polarization within and between economies and societies. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the global financial crisis. As we know, that led to social and economic consequences unmatched in recent generations. Combined with growing inequality and geopolitical flashpoints, this fuelled citizens’ concerns about globalization. And it polarized the political debate. Although global economic growth has recently been robust, it remains fragile.”
“Twelve pillars of competitiveness. In the index, 98 indicators exist. As derived from a combination of data from international organizations and World Economic Forum surveys. We organized the factors into 12 pillars in the GCI 4.0. Because they reflect the extent and complexity of the drivers of productivity. As well as the competitiveness of ecosystem. The 12: Institutions. Infrastructure. ICT adoption. Macroeconomic stability. Health. Skills. Product market. Labor market. Financial system. Market size. Business dynamism. And Innovation capability.”
To access the full 2018 report, click the image below.
United States Leads Global Competitiveness in 2018
In the WEF 2015 report, the United States ranked third globally. And it trailed Switzerland and Singapore.
For the 2018 WEF report, the United States ranked first. As shown in the following chart:
“The United States is the closest economy to the frontier, the ideal state. And that is where a country would obtain the perfect score on every component of the index. With a competitiveness score of 85.6, the U.S. remains 14 points away from the frontier mark of 100. As a result, even the top-ranked economy among the 140 can still improve. Next come Singapore (83.5) and Germany (82.8). Switzerland (82.6) lands at 4th place. Followed by Japan (82.5), Netherlands (82.4), and Hong Kong SAR (82.3). The United Kingdom (82.0), Sweden (81.7) and Denmark (80.6) round out the top ten.”
In the following chart, we see where the U.S. rates on various factors. To learn much more, click the image.
I find this research really interesting. As business and our economy becoming increasingly globalized, the competition between countries increases in parallel. Seeing China and the U.S. back-to-back doesn’t surprise me, and I believe that this will continue to occur. I found the Health portion of the report rather interesting. I would never think to include this dimension in the competitive pillars, but I do see how this could have an impact on the labor and product markets. As we evolve further with this globally driven economy, it will be interesting to see which countries rise and fall closer and farther to the distance to the frontier. I only expect the level of competition to increase with time.
Globalization is a phenomenon which has evidently made the world a smaller place as we are all more connected than ever before to everyone. Technology and social media are both two of the driving forces connecting areas around the world as it is so easy and convenient to do so. Living in a globalized world means there must be lots of research done by marketers and media relations practitioners in order to create the most beneficial and action driven campaign. This brings in a new dimension of needing to understand the countries and their customs and standards when trying to reach their platforms and target audience. It is not surprising the United States is one of the leading global competitors from the sheer size of our country land and population wise, as well as how necessary it is to use social media platforms and advancing technology to interact with other countries. We use these for almost each market industry within our everyday lives, and some of which we might not even realize through how many steps are involved in the transportation process.