The author and a group of MIT researchers conduct interviews with managers at more than 500 international companies to discover which practices are succeeding in today's global economy, which are failing - and why. They examine businesses where technology changes rapidly - such as electronics and software - as well as more traditional sectors like the automobile, clothing, and textile industries. She compares the strategies and success of high-tech companies like Intel and Sony, who manufacture their products in their own plants, and Cisco and Dell, who rely primarily on outsourcing. They looked closely at textile and clothing to uncover why some companies, including the Gap and Liz Claiborne, choose to outsource production to foreign countries, while others, such as Zara and Benetton, basemost operations at home.
