Stanford Business School professor Jeffrey Pfeffer suggests that the U.S. should create a "government-funded research and consulting organization with a mandate to study, consult on, and promote people-centered management practices, primarily in small and medium-size enterprises," as South Korea has done. Pfeffer argues that our current practice -- retraining displaced workers after their firm has gone out of business or laid them off -- lets all of that labor sit idle while workers figure out where to find a job.

Instead, South Korea's New Paradigm Center works to iron out as many kinks as possible, improving competitiveness and keeping threatened businesses from succumbing to pressure from overseas. Pfeffer's statistics indicate that the center is succeeding. I do wonder how the Korean government controls access to the center's services and how long improved internal implementation and strategic planning can hold off macro pressures as more countries learn how to compete. But it does seem like Pfeffer is pointing us in the right direction. South Korea has discovered an effective interim step, it would seem -- one that could ease dislocation and perhaps even help some companies (or even industries) find a new niche in a changing market.