ATLANTA-- On Friday, April 26, 2002, IPST will webcast a seminar by Dr. Frank Giarratani, "Creative Destruction" in a Basic Industry. The seminar will be presented live from IPST's Kress Auditorium from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. EDT. To register and join the live webcast go to: http://www.ipst.edu/news_events/seminar/seminar_webcast.htm ten minutes before the presentation. The seminar is cosponsored by the Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies.

Dr. Giarratani is Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Industry Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. His research specialization is in Regional Economics and in the Economics of the Steel Industry. His work, which has been both theoretical and applied,is represented in publications concerning regional economic growth and decline, econometric modeling of regions, and structural adjustment in the steel industry. His award-winning book, The Renaissance of American Steel (Oxford 1996), reports the findings from this work.

In 1942 when Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase "Creative Destruction", he used U.S. Steel as an example of a company on the cutting edge of competition. At that time, U.S. Steel was revitalizing the market from within by beating old-line manufacturers. U.S. Steel remains a competitive firm in a competitive market, but now U.S. Steel is one of a number of firms being challenged by new competitors. Intra-industry competition in the steel industry today is a clash of two technologies, one based on the reduction of iron ore and its transformation into steel and the other based on the direct melting of ferrous scrap.

Friday's seminar, "Creative Destruction" in a Basic Industry, explains the process and consequences of competitive adjustment in the American steel industry. At the core of this process are lessons concerning business competitiveness that are broadly applicable. The consequences described expose core elements of the industry's current economic crisis.

Viewers of the webcast will see Dr. Giarratani's PowerPoint slides and hear him live. PowerPoint is not required on the viewer's terminal. However, you will need a sound card and speakers. Participants will be able to ask Dr. Giarrantani questions during the presentation by emailing to questions@ipst.gatech.edu.

Minimum System Requirements are:
Operating System - Windows 98 or higher
Browser - Internet Explorer 5 or higher
Viewer - Windows Media Player
Hardware - Sound card and speakers