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BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY: CONCLUSIONS AND PROSPECTS


any- high-quality jobs. This is true even in industries that are considered
to
be "dying". While some industries do actually die, in most cases
the
shrinkage is limited. For example, there will continue to be large markets
for
agricultural machinery in the United States and abroad. Some American
companies will continue to be major suppliers to those markets - but not
all
current suppliers. The weaker ones will, in fact, die. It is vital for Wisconsin
to have the stronger companies, even in contracting industries. Better an
in-
dustry leader, even one with fewer employes than in the past, than none at
all.
The quality of management will largely determine which type of companies
the state has. Quality management means, among many attributes, greater
responsiveness to changing market needs. It means greater attention to qual-
ity of product and people. It means greater concern for productivity and
cost
control. It means greater emphasis on long-term performance. It means
emphasis on innovation and risk taking. It means the effective use of technol-
ogy to keep costs down and quality up.
   While the foregoing emphasized the state's manufacturing, the importance
 of quality management in all sectors is vital. As noted previously, managers
 in agriculture must also improve their skills: "The future of Wisconsin
dairy-
 ing depends not [only] on new technology but on the ability of her dairy
farm-
 ers to adopt that technology and learn to manage it for maximum productiv-
 ity". Similarly, in retail trade the use of new technology to improve
 productivity is evident in the now-common bar-code scanners in use in many
 supermarket checkout lanes.
                  Technology, Productivity and Employment

    The emphasis on productivity and technology, forced on the economy by
  greater competition, does have a negative side, and this is one of the
most
  significant changes in Wisconsin's economy in recent years: increasingly,
suc-
  cess and sales growth for industries and individual firms will not necessarily
  translate into major increases in employment. The cost containment mea-
  sures forced by competition do produce greater productivity, but this usually
  means the same or greater output with fewer employes. Successful compa-
  nies can continue to grow, but they will not be employing as many people
to
  do so.
    Again, this is probably most applicable to manufacturing, but it also
ap-
  plies elsewhere. In agriculture, for example, 3,000 Wisconsin farmers went
  out of business in 1986 - but not their farmland, most of which is still
in
  agriculture production; same production, fewer producers. True, the fast-
  growing service sectors tend to be more labor intensive and less amenable
to
  significant productivity improvements, but there is still that nagging
salary
  problem discussed above.
     Another problem that could hamper Wisconsin's economic growth is the
  rise in importance of "foot-loose" industries and firms. As was
suggested
  above, these companies tend to be less tied to natural factors and can
locate
  where other, more controllable, cost factors dictate. This is especially
true in
  the service sectors. Banks can locate major facilities in, say, South Dakota.