Renaissance of American Steel : Lessons for Managers in Competitive Industries.
Title:
Renaissance of American Steel : Lessons for Managers in Competitive Industries.
Author:
Ahlbrandt, Roger S.
ISBN:
9780198026778
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (193 pages)
Contents:
Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- Dramatic Change -- The Basis for Competitive Gains -- Summing Up -- 2. An Overview of Industry Change -- The American Steel Crisis -- The Steel Crisis in Europe and European Politics -- Japanese Competitive Advantage -- Capacity Change in the U.S. Steel Industry -- Measures of Gain -- Summing Up -- 3. Elements of Competitiveness -- Understanding Basic Product Lines -- Risk in Choosing a Market -- Restraining the Competition -- Technological Advantage and Steelmaking Processes -- Steel Plant Characteristics -- Summing Up -- 4. Market Focus and Strategic Success -- Common Ground -- Defining Markets -- Strategic Market Focus: Nucor Corporation -- Strategic Market Focus: United States Steel -- The Market Contest Today -- Summing Up -- 5. Leadership and Management -- Goals Must Be Held in Common -- Keys to Successful Leadership: Drawing on Graham's Experience -- Keys to Successful Leadership: Drawing on the Minimill Experience -- Accountability and Reward for Performance -- Risk Taking -- Continuous Improvement -- Summing Up -- 6. High-Performing Workplaces -- Gains in Productivity and Quality -- Benchmarking Technology and Efficiency -- Change in Technology and Change in the Workplace -- Complements in Production -- Human Resource and Organization Practices -- Culture and Exceptional Performance -- Communication is Key -- Summing Up -- 7. Regaining Competitiveness in the United Kingdom -- Restructuring in the Integrated Sector -- The Transformation of a Minimill -- Summing Up -- 8 Sustaining Competitiveness in Japan -- The Context for Japanese Restructuring -- Unprecedented Change in Japan's Integrated Sector -- Competition from Minimills -- Kaizen: A Built-in Competitive Edge -- Summing Up -- 9. Converging Technologies -- Technology Drivers -- The Integrated Sector -- The Minimill Sector.
A New Margin for Domestic Competition: Specialty Steels -- Strategies for Technological Development -- Summing Up -- 10. Achieving and Sustaining Competitiveness -- The Vanguard of Change -- Dynamic Advantage -- The Importance of Competition -- General Application -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W.
Abstract:
By the end of the 1980s, the once mighty U.S. steel industry seemed on its last legs. More than a quarter of a million jobs had been lost, and communities like Pittsburgh and Bethlehem were devastated. Yet today, the industry again stands as a world-class competitor. In The Renaissance of American Steel, Roger Ahlbrandt, Richard Fruehan, and Frank Giarratani illuminate the forces behind this remarkable comeback, drawing valuable lessons for managers not only in the steel business but in any business now battling the global marketplace. Citing evidence from a wide range of companies in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan, and clearly explaining the basics of steel production, the authors show how the industry's rebirth resulted both from the downsizing of big companies and the rise of minimills capturing markets from the larger companies. They describe how large, traditional firms--including U.S. Steel, British Steel, and Nippon Steel--recognized that they had to reduce the scope of their operations and reorganize to become more competitive. U.S. Steel CEO Tom Graham, for instance, closed plants and refocused the firm's resources on the market for flat-rolled products. The book also examines how minimills--such as Nucor, Birmingham Steel, Oregon Steel, Tokyo Steel, and Co-Steel Sheerness--have redefined the industry's structure and competitive dynamics. Nucor, in particular, has emerged as the leader among the minimills--the largest electric furnace-based steel company in the U.S., with annual sales exceeding 3 billion. The reader learns how CEO Ken Iverson, recognizing the opportunities to be seized if Nucor moved beyond traditional products (such as steel joists and rebar), created the most innovative steel mill in the world, with a consistent record of investing in new technologies to lower operating costs and to move into sophisticated, value-added
products. Throughout the book, the authors offer sharp insights into the steel industry in the U.S. and abroad--but more important, they highlight the lessons to be learned for managers in all industries. The authors conclude, for instance, that success for both large and small steel producers depends on a critical interplay of factors that touch on leadership, new technologies, and decentralized management. Effective leaders, the authors find, don't micromanage; they set a goal for the company and communicate it broadly to gain employees' commitment. High-performing companies aggressively seek technical know-how, even if it means purchasing it from foreign competitors or securing joint agreements. And finally, successful companies decentralize, empowering employees far down in the organization to handle daily decisionmaking. This in-depth analysis of a radically changed industry speaks volumes about the value of flexibility in business. It is an essential resource for any manager working in today's global economy.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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Electronic Access:
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