SHARED PERFORMANCE - THE PROACTIVE DIFFUSION OF COMPETITIVENESS AND INDUSTRIAL AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

This article extends the study of corporate restructuring to the issue of performance by integrating the performance of individual firms wit h the performance of an industrial system and local economy. We view t he spread of performance throughout the system as ''development,'' whi ch we define (in contrast to much of the industrial literature) in ter ms of both corporate and worker welfare. Reconceptualizing the concept of ''transfer,'' we broaden conventional ''technology transfer'' to ' 'competitiveness transfer,'' whereby the transfer of intangibles such as knowledge and learning capability as preeminent in a people-first s trategy of competitiveness enhancement. The study reconceptualizes fir m performance by introducing new criteria, namely a firm's intent to i mprove performance and diffusion capability, i.e., the process by whic h competitiveness is transferred or spread to other firms. The latter criterion reflects corporate strategy to achieve system-wide competiti veness. A case study of a foreign-owned manufacturing firm in the Unit ed States, given the fictitious name Spreadwell, empirically grounds c ompetitiveness transfer and diffusion capability. Spreadwell's relatio ns with its suppliers suggest new concepts for the analysis of corpora te diffusion, namely the roles of an effective system of human relatio ns and the proactive diffusion of problem-solving ability prior to tec hnology transfer. The paper documents the success of the Spreadwell-su pplier relationship, and the principals' motive's for entering into a partnership characterized both by risk and reward. Recognizing the hie rarchical character of the Spreadwell industrial system, the authors i dentify the diffusion of competitiveness at different scales to clarif y distinct implications for local development and policy.