Read the pages andmake a brief summary of them with your own words, please. Mention important parts. Also, you will put your comments and ideas about the topic. please don't write item by item
Extracted text: Basking in their prosperity, U.S. manufacturers were slow to catch on that the game had changed from mass produc- tion with acceptable levels of waste to quality production with things done right the first time every time to provide superior value for customers. The old game was best cost. The new game had become best cost and best quality. When foreign companies-through a combination of better train- ing, better technology, and better management-began to eat away at markets, U.S. rather than quality as the issue, began sending work offshore to hold down labor costs. By the time U.S. companies learned that quality and value were key to success in the global mar- ketplace, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Korea had made major inroads into global markets previously dominated by U.S. manufacturers (e.g., steel, automobiles, computers, and consumer electronics). In a relatively short period the United States went from the world's leading lender and exporter to the world's biggest debtor, with a huge balance- of-trade deficit. By 1980, the United States was consuming more than it produced and the trend continues to this day. companies, ,mistakenly seeing cost their productivity by making the individual worker more ef- ficient. Most new entrants into the workforce during the 1970s and 1980s were people who had not worked previously, primar- ily women. This influx of new workers helped the United States maintain its traditionally high level of productivity. However, by the 1990s, the gains that could be made by increasing the number of people in the workforce had been made. From 2010 to the foreseeable future, the number of people in the prime working-years age groups in the United States will be on the decline. As the size of the workforce continues the downward trend that began in the early 1990s, the only way to improve productivity will be to do what other industrialized countries have done-concentrate COMPETITIVENESS AND THE U.S. ECONOMY time, The United States came out of World War II as the only major industrialized nation with its manufacturing sector completely intact. A well-oiled manufacturing sector and the availability of abundant raw materials helped the United States become the world leader in the production and export of durable goods. This resulted in a period of unparalleled prosperity and one of the highest standards of living ever experienced by any country. While the United States was enjoying its position as the world's preeminent economic superpower, the other industrialized nations of the world, particularly Japan and Germany, were busy rebuilding their manufacturing sectors. As Japanese and German manufacturers rebuilt, two things became apparent to them: Impact of Competitiveness on Quality of Life A nation's ability to compete in the global marketplace has a direct bearing on the quality of life of its citizens. Because the ability to compete translates into the ability to do a better job of producing quality goods, it is critical that nations and individual organizations systems, and resources in a coordinated way on continually improving both quality and competitiveness. The United States began the first decade of the new cen- tury poised on the precipice of a growing gap between the haves and the have-nots. While Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and Great Britain have taken steps to link economics, education, and labor market policy in ways that promote competitiveness, the United States is still de- bating the need for an industrial policy and struggling to re- verse the decline of its public schools. During the 1980s, the United States improved productiv- ity by putting more people to work. Other countries improved improving the efficiency of individual workers. In other words, businesses in the United States will need to get more them focus their policies, work out of fewer workers. As some businesses have already learned, the best way to do this is to adopt the total quality philosophy. Figure 2.2 contains several vignettes relating to the quality of life in the United States. This figure presents either a bleak picture of bad times to come or an unprecedented national challenge. To meet the challenge, companies in the United States will have to produce world-class value, which will re- quire a commitment to superior quality, cost, and service. 1. To succeed, they would have to compete globally. 2. To compete globally, they would have to produce goods of world-class quality, which meant producing better goods but at reasonable, competitive prices. QUALITY TIP The United States and the Global Marketplace Companies in the United States have had to learn the hard way that the key to winning in the global marketplace is consistently providing superior value for customers. Superior value consists of superior quality, cost. and service. By the time this realiza- tion set in, the U.S. companies in such sectors as automobiles and consumer electronics had lost substantial market share to their competitors in Japan, Korea, and such emerging industrial nations as China and Indonesia. The companies, regardless of their country of origin, that will survive and thrive in the global marketplace are those that can (1) achieve consistent peak performance from people, processes, suppliers, management systems, and all other factors that can affect their ability to de- liver superior value and (2) continually improve what passes for peak performance.