Section Twomanagement development programs, human resource
managers may need to lengthen such cycles.
Sustainable Global Competitive Advantage
Interestingly, predictions by some observers that the United
States would become an information economy while
underdeveloped countries would take on the less skilled
manufacturing roles appear to have been off the mark. These
predictions have underestimated the intellectual resources of
such countries and the limited capital investments required for
entry into the information industry. For example, the city of
Bangalore, India, has high-quality computer programming
talent that U.S. companies and companies from other countries
are using for development of highly complex computer
software. The Indian programmers have the reputation of
exceptional ability and the persistence to be able to develop
very complex programs. Further, their lower salaries compared
to U.S. standards makes them a highly sought out source of
world-class labor.^46 Strategists would do well to avoid a
premature dismissal of other countries’ long-run capabilities
and focus on the factors that provide companies with real and
sustainable competitive advantage in the global economy.