Tom Peters

According to many experts, America is becoming increasingly integrated into a global economy. In the following viewpoint, Tom Peters agrees, arguing that new technologies have increased the importance of information and reduced the role of large-scale industrial processes in production, signaling the end of the Industrial Revolution. Peters predicts that information- based, export-oriented business and increased international trade will transform America as well as other nations. Peters is the author of In Search of Excellence, Thriving on Chaos, and Liberation Management and president of the Tom Peters Group, a management training firm in Palo Alto, California. This viewpoint is adapted from his speech before Congress in July 1993.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How does Peters compare the economies of America and Japan?
2. What does the author mean by “reengineering”?
3. In...