Read more
By understanding the historical antecedents and current organization of industry associations, business and government will better be able to help restructure them and thus assist American industry more effectively battle foreign competition. Procassini, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, maintains that American associations can, and should be reorganized by reviewing and comparing their origins and operations today to similar associations in America's two major trade competitors, Germany and Japan. Comprehensive, thoroughly researched, readable and anecdotal, this book is the first to focus on the role of associations in the global marketplace. A provocative and useful analysis for businesspeople, government officials, and members of the academic community concerned with the structure and practice of international commerce.
The author compares U.S. industry associations to those in Germany and Japan in two ways. First, he looks at their past legacies and present mandates; then, with special emphasis on America's major high-tech industries, he analyzes their organization and operation. After a general overview of the past, present, and foreseeable future of associations, and a detailed study of those in the U.S., Germany, and Japan, he turns to specific industries - aerospace, biotechnology, semiconductors, and computer systems - and their trade associations, defining and comparing the characteristics of each. Part IV of the book digs into the ways in which associations fail, as well as succeed, in the mission demanded of them today. From this analysis and the author's extensive experience as a corporation and association executive, emerge a series of recommendations for redefining the associations' mission in today's global economy, and a blueprint for achieving these goals.
List of contents
Preface
IntroductionAssociation Foundations: Past, Present, Future
Legacies of the Past and PresentJapan
The United States
Germany
The Leaders
High Tech Industries and Their Trade AssociationsIntroduction
The Aerospace Industries and Their Association
The Biotechnology Industry and Its Trade Organizations
The Semiconductor Industry and Its Association
The Computer Systems Industry and Its Associations
Characteristics of American High-Tech Trade Associations
Designing American Associations for Global CompetitionThe Approach to a New Design
American Competitiveness and the Intermediate Sector
Forming and Focusing the Primary Association
Alliances and Consortia
Operating the Primary Associations
Designing the Association
Bibliography
Index
About the author
ANDREW A. PROCASSINI is president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, which is one of the most effective industry associations in the U.S. and the first to represent an industry that has recaptured world leadership from Japan. The author has had broad, high-level international management experience for a variety of major American and foreign corporations in the U.S., Japan, and Germany. He is a frequent speaker on issues related to international trade, technology policy, and global competition.
