How U.S. Businesses are Navigating Regulatory Changes

Please be aware that the areas of competitiveness shown in Figure 1 are calculated as a percentage of respondents to the HBS 2019 U.S. survey. Survey on Competitiveness with predominantly positive views, excluding the portion with negative views. Exclusions are made for respondents who answered "Don't know" in the calculations. The American economy has fallen behind in recent decades, with fiscal deficits reaching concerning levels. Additionally, our infrastructure is in dire need of repair, and outdated immigration policies are discouraging talented individuals from coming to the U.S., which is negatively impacting our workforce. Research conducted by Harvard Business School's U.S. Competitiveness Project, a comprehensive study based on surveys of their alumni, has uncovered a concerning trend of declining economic competitiveness. Almost half of the HBS alumni surveyed anticipate a further decline in U.S. competitiveness. Business leaders have expressed concerns about the declining effectiveness of our political system, the quality of U.S. health care, and the state of K-12 education, among other issues.

A Declining U.S. Business Environment

Throughout the history of our nation, the democracy and political system of America have been sources of strength, providing opportunities for the majority of citizens to pursue the so-called American Dream. In the past, American businesses have thrived in a highly competitive business environment, benefiting from top-notch public schools, prestigious universities, technological prowess, and numerous other advantages. The outcome was increased economic mobility and expanded opportunities for citizens. Nevertheless, there is an increasing demand for businesses to enhance employee opportunities and wages, as many individuals are experiencing significant economic strain. These pressures emerged in the 1970s, as our two main political parties shifted towards extreme partisanship and prioritized special interest ideology over practical, consensus-based policy solutions [The Politics Industry, 2020]. The lack of effective political leadership has had a significant impact on the business sector, as illustrated in Figure 1. Issues like the decline of public education compared to other countries, outdated physical infrastructure, inadequate workforce skills, a flawed skilled immigration policy, expensive healthcare with insufficient insurance, and other pressing social challenges have had a negative impact on businesses and have contributed to the decline of U.S. competitiveness.

With the decline of social policy

it has become crucial for business leaders to take a stand and address how they can enhance communities, create opportunities for citizens, offer training and support for individuals and families, and ultimately improve the quality of life in communities. Business has traditionally not prioritized these areas. Instead, many businesses actively sought government support for industry or company special interests, which often involved advocating for reduced regulation. Instead of advocating for government action on crucial infrastructure investments, businesses influenced Congress to implement tax cuts that primarily benefit corporations and higher income individuals. This has resulted in a rise in inequality and a larger deficit. Instead of addressing climate change, the Trump White House focused on reducing emissions standards for cars and opposing new renewable energy sources. This approach faced strong opposition from citizens and automakers alike. This kind of behavior has only made the public lose even more trust in businesses. Today, businesses are recognizing the importance of re-evaluating their competitive strategies and actively collaborating with the government to tackle the pressing social issues that significantly impact both business and citizens' economic prospects.Undermining the Progress of American Society, Our deeply divided political system has not only failed to deliver effective economic policy, but has also undermined social policy in the United States. There is now compelling and concrete data available that demonstrates that the Although the United States still possesses strengths in management quality, entrepreneurship, and universities, there is also a noticeable decline in skilled labor (refer to Figure 1).

The United States is falling behind in terms of social progress when compared to nearly every other advanced nation (refer to Figure 2).

The Social Progress Index, published annually since 2013, uses various indicators to compare social progress in the United States with 162 other countries. Despite the high quality of life enjoyed by U.S. citizens, the declining social progress is a significant setback for one of the world's wealthiest nations. This study aims to expand the computational models of organizational learning to include the learning that occurs within and between organizations, specifically focusing on the learning from partners in a firm's supply chain. IT has become a crucial tool in organizational learning and knowledge management. Therefore, we have developed IT-enabled learning mechanisms to enhance learning at both the individual and organizational levels. This study focuses on four different types of IT-facilitated learning mechanisms: internal Electronic Communication Networks (ECN), external ECN, Company Knowledge Repositories and Portals (CompKRP), and Supply Chain Knowledge Repositories and Portals (SCKRP). These IT-enabled learning mechanisms are supported by extensive research and practitioner literature (Kane and Alavi 2007; Parise and Sasson 2002; Peli and Booteboom 1997; Scott 2000).Information and communication technologies (ICT) are commonly used in ECNs, including e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, and social networks. These ICTs enable people to connect and share knowledge with each other. Knowledge Repositories and Portals (KRP) are information systems utilized by organizations to store and distribute organizational knowledge. Table 4-2 presents the literature and real-world examples that support the identification of the four types of IT-facilitated learning tools in supply chains.