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This article presents information on the relationship between the national characteristics of a parent company and manufacturing process in other countries. This study used data from Great Britain and Germany to investigate the "gap" in performance at the national, industrial and factory levels. National competitiveness refers to a nation state's ability to produce, distribute service goods in the international economy in competition with goods and services produced in other countries, and to do so in a way that earns a rising standard of living. Without a strong manufacturing sector, a country becomes a "wealth driven economy", one which is living on the accumulated investment in the past. Within the manufacturing area, the ability of manufacturing to perform at world-class levels in an increasingly global competitive environment is becoming more important. World-class organizations are those that have mastered total quality and learning, and are recognized as the best overall in at least several strategically important areas. One can distinguish between world-class practices, the established processes which a company has put in place to improve the way that it runs its business, and world-class performance, the measurable improvement in a company's manufacturing processes resulting from the adoption of such practices.