Steve Jobs on Global Competition: Companies, Not Countries

The key point will be to maintain the idea of new ideas and production, as well as providing services. We will work harder than Japan and Europe. And they will work hard in the same way. I think this kind of competition is what we are aiming for in the future. Despite Mr. Skin's trust, my company has come to see the limit. The U.S. has been spending a lot more than I expected. There is a real fear of inflation, and the interest rate has risen. My company has also fallen into a situation where workers have to talk to each other many times. And we have been left in a stalemate. It seems that you blame the government for your own failure.

In Japan, automation is in full swing, and high-quality products are produced at lower costs. If you want to challenge this competition again, you have to automate the factory and change the company's policy. At the lowest cost in the world, we will create an environment where high-quality products are produced as much as possible. As you say, I failed. And now I'm in danger. I won't give up. I won't let you quit. Cutting 10% of people will make the remaining 90% feel uneasy. We must not allow the employees to feel uneasy. Mr. Jackson, what do you think? I'm against it. One of the best things about the U.S. economy is its liberal system.

You don't know how serious the problems in the U.K. are. My company is in a worse situation than you can imagine. My managers and I realized that. I think everyone is looking at this situation from the perspective of the past. Reality and the future are intertwined, aren't they? In the future, the competition will not be based on labor costs, but on how many excellent people you can hire. It's a competition between educational systems. The U.S. will compete with the educational system in Japan and Europe. Salaries have nothing to do with it. What do you think of the U.S.? That's a different question. You're asking me a different question again. No, I'm not talking about the U.S.

You made me travel. I paid you 2 million yen. Answer my question. Is the U.S. the leader of the world? It's a great country. But in the future, I think it will be a competition between companies, not a country. It will not be a competition between countries. So, from the perspective of Japan versus the U.S., your question about which one to choose is not correct. In the future, companies that think about business on a global scale, value their customers, and work across three world markets will be the winners. So, every country has a chance to win.

So, in the 1990s, the U.S. government and the Japanese government were in charge of the company's flag? Yes, that's right. Unfortunately, the government is a world-failure industry. That's what will happen.