Michael E Porter

Zero false modesty, and no apologies to Adam Smith from Michael Porter. The Harvard Business School guru's unself-consciously titled "The Competitive Advantage of Nations" may glitter with global analyses, but it really burns with ambition. No fewer than 10 countries and a dozen industries are spectroanalyzed through Porter's prism of competitiveness.

Zero false modesty, and no apologies to Adam Smith from Michael Porter. The Harvard Business School guru's unself-consciously titled "The Competitive Advantage of Nations" may glitter with global analyses, but it really burns with ambition. No fewer than 10 countries and a dozen industries are spectroanalyzed through Porter's prism of competitiveness.

Hoping to avoid another postage increase or heavy layoffs, some prominent business customers of the U.S. Postal Service are now working with the postal system's managers and workers to streamline service and enact efficiencies. The powerful Mailers Council--representing more than 21,000 companies that account for 75% of the total mail volume--hired Harvard University professor and noted consultant Michael E. Porter to investigate ways to overhaul the Postal Service and make it more competitive.

The Bush Administration on Monday unveiled its long-awaited proposal to loosen antitrust laws so that companies can more easily form joint manufacturing ventures. The proposal is part of the White House's effort to clear the way for U.S. companies to work together to compete against foreign firms. Several leading electronics firms, for example, have been trying to promote a U.S.

As a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard, Michael E. Porter studied the theory of industrial organization, a field traditionally concerned with explaining why there is less competition in some industries than in others, and with prescribing antitrust and regulatory policies to make these industries more competitive and reduce monopoly profits. But Porter had a different idea: He turned the subject inside out.

A re U.S. antitrust laws obsolete? There's a move in Congress to repeal parts of federal antitrust law that prohibit large companies from producing goods jointly. The idea is that by acting together--particularly in risky ventures such as computer chips--U.S. companies would better compete globally.

The criticism and discontent so evident in this election year is pushing rudely into corporate boardrooms. Just as populist Ross Perot barged onto the political scene to challenge the validity of the two-party system, an influential group of corporate-governance experts and shareholder activists is demanding a shake-up in corporate oversight that would retire the good-ole-boy network of passive, rubber-stamp directors in favor of committed and involved stewards of corporate affairs.

Henry T. Baines Sr. envisions opportunity in the inner city where others see failure. Over the last 20 years, Baines has built a $100-million chain of Stop Shop Save grocery stores in neighborhoods where the area's other major food markets feared to tread. Now, with the national economy booming and unemployment near record lows, Baines should be positioned to cash in. He's not. His best customers are riding the 1990s wave of prosperity clear out of the inner city to more affluent neighborhoods.

After decades of neglect, poor urban communities across the country are attracting unprecedented interest from retailers, developers and investors, and many say the current economic downturn is unlikely to reverse that trend. National chain stores are rising on blighted corners from Harlem to South-Central Los Angeles. Investment funds across the country are targeting entrepreneurs and real estate deals in poor areas.

Fred Beteta, 62, of Santa Monica is a retired aircraft-industry engineer. A Republican, he has served as a Santa Monica city trustee and as a board member of the Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District. In 1990, he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the 41st Assembly District seat. Paul Foote, 45, of Agoura Hills is a professor of accounting at Cal State Fullerton. A Republican, he was elected to the Republican Central Committee in Los Angeles County in June, 1990.