May 24 , 2006

THE CASE FOR BUILDING TT'S COMPETITIVENESS
Dr. Brian E. Harry, Management Consultant

The current business climate in Trinidad and Tobago does not predispose the country to distinctive performance and competitiveness. Investors have found difficult issues in our legal and governance systems, our quality competitiveness, our human resource readiness and the quality of our management and leadership capabilities. With the imminence of CSME and possibly FTAA we are compelled to propel our society forward and provide higher quality products and services in large enough numbers to be able to provide the living standards desired by our population. With TT’s perceived leadership role in the CSME we are on the hook as a nation and as a people, because the eyes are on us to perform. Our competitiveness is therefore ‘all about performance’ – at the individual level, community level and national levels.

Defining Competitiveness and Competitive Societies

Any definition of competitiveness must include the ability of a country to successfully and sustainably sell its products in global markets while creating an environment where living standards and quality of life for its citizens continually improve.

Such attempts at a definition would suggest that a country must create and sustain an environment that produces these high quality products and services and one where the benefits of generated wealth redound to the betterment of every citizen. Competitiveness then depends on many factors that share a complex yet simple nexus of relationships.

The definition also begs some important questions, for example, ‘can a country that is truly competitive display a high degree of inequity and economic injustice?’ The question seems rhetorical. Our desired competitive society must feel a certain way to its citizens. In such an equitable and just society the citizens experience the benefits of good, modern health care, a relevant education system that turns out individuals prepared for the competitive world economy and relevant to the needs of our society, a national infrastructure that enables business productivity, protects our environment and communities and takes good care of their young and old nurturing healthy, happy families.

What Creates Competitiveness

Several factors are necessary and important contributors to a nation’s competitiveness – natural resources, economic and political stability, the legal framework and government policies. By themselves these are however not sufficient and beyond these foundational elements, the real key is in the ability of firms to seize the opportunities presented by the macroeconomic conditions. The prosperity so created is what must be appropriately distributed across the population. Managers therefore invest significant shareholder value in turning natural resources into competitive, saleable products by adding value through the productive process. This requires tremendous focus on developing human capabilities and on innovation. As Michael Porter writes, "... a nation's competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade". Companies additionally add value through the way in which they cooperate and coordinate their activities and infrastructure to derive maximum economies of operation. In so doing they further drive the competitive fervor and build local human capability.

As such, it is important that our shareholders and managers see their responsibility to generate intergenerational equity and shape a bigger, brighter future for our next generations. This will only result from sustained high performance and effective investment decisions for infrastructure, human capital and the undertaking of legal and regulatory reform.

The Way Forward

The way forward will require the combined will and commitment of our leaders and every Trinbagonian citizen. We must at some stage soon recognise that leadership is not simply and only the purview of those in power or those who are at the top of the corporate hierarchy. Leadership capabilities at every level within our society are what our country needs to propel the charge to greater competitiveness. However, we must and we fail at our country’s peril, if we do not improve the national infrastructure, improve the way we coach, mentor and develop our human resources, the way and the speed that we transform our legal and judicial system and begin to live the real ‘principles of fairness’.

In our current economic standing we are blessed with the resources and the tremendous opportunities to effect significant change. We must and we can. Not only does the next generation depend on our success and sound investments, but the region also is looking to us with open hearts and with high expectations of a brighter future. In the end, managers must come to the realization that leadership is all about delivering distinctive performance, through the human capital entrusted to their stewardship.