UK: IT'S THE TAKING PART THAT COUNTS - MANAGEMENT.

True competitors can't bear to believe that they aren't superior on each and every count, says Robert Heller, and that means constant measurement against not one but a whole series of criteria.

Few league tables are stranger than the World Economic Forum's annual ranking of the competitive power of nations. Is it really true that Canada almost exactly matches the prowess of Britain? Or that the Italians are half as potent as the Brits, who hold 14th place overall? That position is below four other European partners, and a full third under the leading US score - for what that's worth.