Global corporate competition: Who's winning,who's losing,and the R&D factor as one reason why

This study summarizes the major changes over the period 1960–86 in the shares of world markets of the world'S leading American, European and Asian corporations based in 15 major industries. It relates the differential sales growth rates of the gaining and losing firms to national trends in industrial competitiveness, to employment change and to long-term returns to shareholders. One principal determinant of firms' global growth rates, and thence gains and losses in ‘world market share’, corporate research and development (R&D) intensity, is examined and tested on an 83-firm, six-industry subset of the overall data base. The proportion of corporate sales revenues allocated to commercially oriented R&D emerges as a, perhaps the, principal indicator of subsequent sales growth performance relative to competition over 5–10-year periods. Insofar as many U.S. and U.K. firms have lost global market share relative to Asian and European competitors over the past two decades, a significant contributory factor would appear to have been negligence on the part of many U.S. and U.K. firms of investment in technology as a factor determining strategic, competitive advantage.     

Investments in Human Capital： Elements of Investments, Their Valuation, and the Related Financial Performance Ratios

Investments in human capital （employees） include investments in the direct assurance of working abilities, investments in health and well-being, and investments in loyalty to the company. These investments are crucial for the long-term existence and development of a company, but their value is not disclosed on the assets side of the classical balance sheet. The most important argument of the mentioned approach＇s promoters is that the economic benefits stemming from such investments are uncertain. However, investments in human capital are those with the highest long-term benefits for the company. Therefore, human capital is the only element of the business process that can add value. Other elements （equipment, materials, and services） just transfer their value to products and services. In this paper, the elements of investments in human capital and the methods used to evaluate these investments are addressed. In addition, uniquely shaped financial performance ratios related to investments in human capital are presented along with the system of integrated ratios.