Repositioning a country for global manufacturing competitiveness : a case of South Africa

Abstract

Manufacturing competitiveness is imperative for many economies because of the importance of the sector in job creation and economic growth. Manufacturing Competitiveness Index (MCI) has been used to measure this construct, but there is a need to include the relevant variables in such index. In addition, there is the need to interpret such measure in a relevant context so that actionable programme for strategic transition would be planned. The relevant MCI was expanded to accommodate proxy variables that capture the levels of both the development and the adoption of cutting edge manufacturing technology within an economy appropriately. This is further supplemented by the use of the Ward’s clustering algorithm to provide a relevant context of competitiveness grouping of countries so that a reference nation can develop an actionable plan to move from a level of global competitiveness to another. Gap analysis, Pareto analysis and value analysis were used as integrated mechanisms with the national strategy plan in order to determine the best path of shift that the nation can adopt in order to transition across levels of competitiveness. The integrated methodology was illustrated using a case of South Africa and was found relevant.