Sources of competitiveness for secondary wood products firms : A review of literature and research issues

More than 1 million U.S. workers in some 45,000 firms are employed in the lumber, wood products, furniture, and fixture industries. Wood household and office furniture (SIC 251 and 252) are the largest manufacturing segments, adding $13.851 billion per year to raw product value. During the 1980s, U.S. furniture manufacturers lost sizeable market share to Pacific Rim countries. To improve their performance in increasingly global markets, U.S. manufacturers must have a clear understanding of how to assess their competitive position and how to affect its strategic determinants. This paper reviews existing information on the performance of the U.S. secondary wood products industry and summarizes current models regarding competitiveness and its sources. A review of the literature suggests that both intemal firm processes and external market and government policy factors affect firm and industry competitiveness. However, these are rarely linked in a comprehensive analysis. This paper argues that in order to better understand the factors affecting global competitiveness in this industry, research is needed that combines engineering and economic analyses of competitiveness.