In the June 14, 1996 Issue:

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1996 World Competitiveness Yearbook Released; U.S. Ranks First
The International Institute for Management Development has released its annual World Competitiveness Yearbook, and the United States has reclaimed its spot atop the list. The U.S. was followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and Denmark.

World Competitiveness is defined by IMD as "the ability of a country to create added value and thus increase national wealth by managing assets and processes, attractiveness and aggressiveness, globality and proximity, and by integrating these relationships into an economic and social model." National wealth is the end result of world competitiveness.

The World Competitiveness Yearbook 1996 considered eight different factors: domestic economy, internationalization, government, management, finance, infrastructure, science and technology, and people. Altogether, they account for 225 criteria where each of the 46 countries is ranked individually. The World Competitiveness Scoreboard is the aggregation of all these criteria and provides each country's global ranking.

According to the report, "the United States (1st) has reinforced its leadership position in world competitiveness, previously held by Japan for many years, and has even increased its lead over the other nations. The U.S. economy seems to have found the right cruising speed. This success is based on having a large and resilient  Domestic Economy (1st), on regaining first place in introducing new Technology (1st), and on taking a very flexible attitude towards work structures. The U.S. also has high scores in Finance (1st) and Internationalization (2nd). The country's weak point is in the People factor (15th), which inevitably fuels the growing debate on the human costs for recovering competitiveness and the social responsibility of Management (10th)."

Specifically in the area of Science and Technology, the report describes several assets and liabilities for the U.S. Assets include: total expenditure on R&D, business expenditure on R&D, total R&D personnel in business, Nobel prizes, research cooperation, patents granted to residents, total R&D personnel nationwide, basic research, financial resources, technological cooperation, and number of patents in force. Liabilities are limited to: quality of science in education and number of qualified engineers.

For more information or a copy of the report summary, contact SSTI at 614-421-SSTI, or IMD via the internet at http://www.imd.ch

Three Cities Receive NSF Urban Systemic Initiative Awards
Milwaukee, St. Louis, and San Diego were named to receive a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for developing system-wide reforms in K-12 science, mathematics, and technology education. The awards are part of NSF's Urban Systemic Initiative. The initiative supports science, math, and technology education reform in cities with the largest number of school-aged children living in poverty.

Each city will receive a five-year, $15 million grant for system-wide reform. Twenty-seven cities have received NSF urban reform grants since 1993. Nine cities received USI funding in 1994. Seven more received funding in 1995. Milwaukee, St. Louis, and San Diego are the first cities chosen to receive funding in 1996.

13 Receive National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology
Thirteen individuals have been named recipients of the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology--America's version of the Nobel Prize. Among those honored was a director of one of New Jersey's Advanced Technology Centers.

The National Medal of Science, administered by NSF, honors individuals for contributions to the present state of knowledge in: physical, biological, mathematical, engineering or social and behavioral sciences. The National Medal of Technology, administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce honors individuals and companies for technological innovation and advancement of U.S. global competitiveness.

Recipients of the National Medal of Science are:

Recipients of the National Medal of Technology are:

The medalists will be honored at a White House ceremony later this summer.

SBA Names Winners
A Missouri businesswoman was named National Small Business Person of the Year by the Small Business Administration. Phyllis Hannan, president of Laser Light Technologies, received the award last week as part of the SBA's Small Business Week (June 2-8) celebration. Small Business Week is designated each year to honor the nation's small businesses and to highlight their contributions to the national economy and their local communities. SBA also honored leading business owners from each state, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico at the ceremonies in Washington. Contact SSTI for the names of the state or special award winners.

SBA also announced the winners of the First Annual "Tibbetts Awards" in recognition of individuals and organizations that have provided outstanding contributions to the Small Business Innovation Research Program.

Award winners came from private sector, non-profit, and government organizations including:

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