This seems particularly true for the small and midsize companies that now represent the most dynamic force in the U.S. economy. A 1987 INC. survey of small and midsize companies found that a large majority had little interest in overseas markets. Equally disturbing is the choice of the United Kingdom -- a nation with only limited economic growth potential -- as by far the most favored locale for overseas expansion among those expressing interest in foreign sales. The United Kingdom was almost twice as popular as Japan, for more than 20 years the top purchaser of American products after Canada. Companies also showed a marked preference for other slow-growth European countries over the rapidly expanding economies of Asia.
In their reluctance to do business overseas, or in choosing Europe as a preferred base of operations, American companies display instincts they would rarely show at home. Ignoring Asia for Europe, for instance, makes as much business sense as neglecting areas such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, or Orlando -- all with rapid population, industrial, and financial growth -- in favor of the industrial Midwest and Plains states, which have been losing both jobs and population. By ignoring the new growth markets, U.S. business could be conceding vast fields of opportunity to other nations, most notably Japan.
Executives of U.S. companies must change their thinking in one other important way in order to compete in the third century. They must adopt approaches to management that give employees more of a stake in their company and more motivation to produce quality products or services. New machinery and methods can improve performance only so much; more important is motivating workers and managers.
To date, American business has produced two equally lethal archetypes: one is the sprawling corporate bureaucracy, characterized by remote-control management and financialism; the other is ego-driven, individualistic entrepreneurism. In both cases owners and managers have often treated themselves royally while short-changing their companies, employees, and investors.
But out of the difficulties of the past decade a new breed of company has emerged, one that combines the entrepreneurial spirit of America with the humanistic approach and long-term perspective characteristic of many Asian businesses. Although risk oriented and quick to exploit new markets, these companies often function not under the domination of one person, but as "smart teams" that share responsibility among top management while granting greater autonomy to line workers.
This new form of organization is most evident among younger companies, many of which never developed the sense of superiority toward Asian ideas and methods inbred to older generations of American managers. Among the most prominent of the "crossover companies' -- those making the transition to America's third century reality -- is Compaq Computer Corp., which stresses long-term development and teamwork within the organization.
In many cases, crossover companies are themselves led by Asian-born executives who, attracted by America's entrepreneurial climate, also seek to inculcate Confucian principles into their organizations. At companies such as Sigma Designs Inc., a computer firm run by Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants, top executives provide role models by keeping corporate perks low and investing all profits for the long-term health of the business.
"We are devoted to surviving, no matter what," explains Binh Trinh, Sigma's vice-president of finance. "Salaries are fixed expenses. High salaries don't give you much flexibility. We don't want to lose the ability to react to adversity.'
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Central to the success of such crossover companies is the realization that American business can learn much from Asian models while still retaining the entrepreneurial culture that lures so many to these shores. Jim Pinto, an Indian-born engineer who in 1972 founded San Diego-based Action Instruments, synthesizes these principles by sharing 80% ownership of the company with his employees while reinvesting virtually all profits in new production, research, and development. He works without a secretary. "I guess I'm a bit of a new hybrid," says the 50-year-old Pinto, whose measurement and control business has been among the fastest growing in the industry. "My body was made in India, my science was learned in England, and my management philosophy comes largely from the Jap- anese, but I'm putting it all together in California.'
Like Pinto, the new Americans from Asia give the United States the energy, connections, and know-how required to break down many of the barriers that have stood in the way of profitable relations with the nonwhite world. Through them, Americans can learn many effective management ideas, born of Confucian roots, particularly with regard to the importance of commitment to employees, customers, and suppliers.
Indeed, despite the notions of decline fashionable among many in the intellectual establishment, the United States has at its disposal the tools for a new ascendancy. The dawning of new industrial powers does not necessarily mean the setting of the American sun. Drawing on the open system bequeathed by its founders, enriched by its status as a world nation and the favored area for foreign investment, the United States can flourish anew in the age of Asia.
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Copyright 1988 by Joel Kotkin and Yoriko Kishimoto, adapted from The Third Century: America's Resurgence in the Asian Era, published by Crown.
