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Why Doesn't Britain Have a Huauei of its own?

This was the headline in the Guardian Opinion section for May 8 th 2019 written by Aditya Chakrabortty.

To answer this question he examines the history of GEC after Arnold Weinstock left in 1996 and <quote> "all hell broke loose" with the appointment of George Simpson (an accountant), and John Mayo (from the Merchant Banking world).

Even companies outside of Britain (examples RCA and Westinghouse) have been afflicted by the same upper management failures.

What does Britain have to do to create a business climate that will allow world class companies to thrive?

Peter Brooks MIET

Palm Bay Florida USA

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0 Roy Bowdler over 4 years ago

Many books and articles have and will be written yet about international competitiveness. It could reasonably be argued that it was impossible for the UK to retain competitive advantage in ways that it once enjoyed in the face of globalisation. It is also the case that over the last twenty years our universities have been full of students from China and elsewhere. In some sectors of industry intellectual property has been exported, but most offshoring of manufacturing and production has simply been cost driven , allowing UK consumers to easily afford products like mobile phones. In my younger days products like televisions and later video recorders were unaffordable to many and had to be foregone or rented.

Twenty five years ago there were predictions that ICT (the internet) would transform the way we lived our lives, which after the dot-com crash seemed like hype, but eventually it is coming to pass. Knowledge, including intellectual property is readily shared. I have no expertise in ICT but my working assumption is that Huauei is producing products that we fully understand and are simply being chosen on the basis of competitive price/performance. As in everything we do we need to fully understand the nature of any risks in relation to benefits and manage them appropriately. If we lack the necessary expertise to do that, then that is a most terrible crime.

I agree that we have lacked coherent industrial strategies from which policies to target investment on improving productivity, including through skills training should be driven. I also agree that just creating “graduates” who don’t have graduate type jobs to go to isn’t an industrial strategy, it is a social one. I’m a great enthusiast for apprenticeships which allow a young person to become economically productive as soon as possible whilst still learning life and professional skills.

Many have criticised the expansion of higher education in the UK and even belittled some degree courses. I disagree and think on balance that the expansion of HE has been beneficial, but I would prefer to see a much stronger emphasis on flexible provision for people in employment, perhaps even an “entitlement” to either degree level or vocational training of similar economic value (Electrician, Plumber etc) able to be taken up at any age. Our university system, which was until recent decades used by only a small fraction of society has become one of our largest industries, routinely processing nearly half of all young people for at least three years, before they then think of meaningful skilled/professional employment.

Would it not be hugely more effective if most of these young people undertook employment based training, supported with appropriate learning? An important role of former Polytechnics (and some 1960s Universities) was to support the needs of local industries, but inevitably many have moved to compete for non-local full-time undergraduate students and in academic league tables, acting as pure “educators” or even “social experience providers” rather than with a vocational purpose. Many young people are therefore making choices based on local nightlife, rather than career prospects. With “going to uni” like “gap years” etc just becoming a modern rite of passage. I won’t complicate the argument by bringing local Further Education Colleges into it (see below) but they are a vital part of the mix.

An unforeseen consequence of strategies like privatisation was the loss of apprenticeship opportunities in many parts of the country that were offered by major strategic infrastructure industries. Inevitably sectors like financial services are concentrated in major commercial cities, especially London. When I was looking for my first job (aged 15/16) apart from the Armed Services, most opportunities with further training in my part of the country were with the nationalised industries. So people like me were trained by and in my case later became a trainer then training manager in well-resourced excellent vocational training establishments. These were mostly lost during the 1990s. Obviously we cannot turn back the clock, but we should focus on ensuring that we build on what advantages we have to create skills and productivity.

It would be naïve to suggest that skills training is the simple answer to a range of complex questions, I’m just better just better qualified to address that angle. If anyone has the same interest, then look up the work of Ewart Keep http://fetl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FETL_scriptingthefuture-web.pdf is an example. For those who wish to contribute to IET policy   https://www.theiet.org/impact-society/sectors/education-and-skills/
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0 Roy Bowdler over 4 years ago

Many books and articles have and will be written yet about international competitiveness. It could reasonably be argued that it was impossible for the UK to retain competitive advantage in ways that it once enjoyed in the face of globalisation. It is also the case that over the last twenty years our universities have been full of students from China and elsewhere. In some sectors of industry intellectual property has been exported, but most offshoring of manufacturing and production has simply been cost driven , allowing UK consumers to easily afford products like mobile phones. In my younger days products like televisions and later video recorders were unaffordable to many and had to be foregone or rented.

Twenty five years ago there were predictions that ICT (the internet) would transform the way we lived our lives, which after the dot-com crash seemed like hype, but eventually it is coming to pass. Knowledge, including intellectual property is readily shared. I have no expertise in ICT but my working assumption is that Huauei is producing products that we fully understand and are simply being chosen on the basis of competitive price/performance. As in everything we do we need to fully understand the nature of any risks in relation to benefits and manage them appropriately. If we lack the necessary expertise to do that, then that is a most terrible crime.

I agree that we have lacked coherent industrial strategies from which policies to target investment on improving productivity, including through skills training should be driven. I also agree that just creating “graduates” who don’t have graduate type jobs to go to isn’t an industrial strategy, it is a social one. I’m a great enthusiast for apprenticeships which allow a young person to become economically productive as soon as possible whilst still learning life and professional skills.

Many have criticised the expansion of higher education in the UK and even belittled some degree courses. I disagree and think on balance that the expansion of HE has been beneficial, but I would prefer to see a much stronger emphasis on flexible provision for people in employment, perhaps even an “entitlement” to either degree level or vocational training of similar economic value (Electrician, Plumber etc) able to be taken up at any age. Our university system, which was until recent decades used by only a small fraction of society has become one of our largest industries, routinely processing nearly half of all young people for at least three years, before they then think of meaningful skilled/professional employment.

Would it not be hugely more effective if most of these young people undertook employment based training, supported with appropriate learning? An important role of former Polytechnics (and some 1960s Universities) was to support the needs of local industries, but inevitably many have moved to compete for non-local full-time undergraduate students and in academic league tables, acting as pure “educators” or even “social experience providers” rather than with a vocational purpose. Many young people are therefore making choices based on local nightlife, rather than career prospects. With “going to uni” like “gap years” etc just becoming a modern rite of passage. I won’t complicate the argument by bringing local Further Education Colleges into it (see below) but they are a vital part of the mix.

An unforeseen consequence of strategies like privatisation was the loss of apprenticeship opportunities in many parts of the country that were offered by major strategic infrastructure industries. Inevitably sectors like financial services are concentrated in major commercial cities, especially London. When I was looking for my first job (aged 15/16) apart from the Armed Services, most opportunities with further training in my part of the country were with the nationalised industries. So people like me were trained by and in my case later became a trainer then training manager in well-resourced excellent vocational training establishments. These were mostly lost during the 1990s. Obviously we cannot turn back the clock, but we should focus on ensuring that we build on what advantages we have to create skills and productivity.

It would be naïve to suggest that skills training is the simple answer to a range of complex questions, I’m just better just better qualified to address that angle. If anyone has the same interest, then look up the work of Ewart Keep http://fetl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FETL_scriptingthefuture-web.pdf is an example. For those who wish to contribute to IET policy   https://www.theiet.org/impact-society/sectors/education-and-skills/
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Why Doesn't Britain Have a Huauei of its own?

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