International Business [antikvár]

!!s. D erace International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace is intended for the first international business course at either the undergraduate or the MBA level. My goal in writing this book has been to set the standard for international business textbooks; 1 have attempted to write a book that (1) is comprehensive and up-to-date, (2) goes beyond an uncritical presentation and shallow explanation of the body of knowledge, (3) maintains a tight, integrated flow between chapters, (4) focuses on managerial implications, and (5) makes important theories accessible and interesting to students. Comprehensive and Up-to-Date To be comprehensive, an international business textbook must: • Explain how and why the world's countries differ. • Present a thorough review of the economics and politics of international trade and investment. • Explain the functions and form of the global monetary system. • Examine the strategies and structures of international businesses. • Assess the special roles of an international business's various functions. This textbook does all these things. Too many other textbooks pay scant attention to the strategies and structures of international businesses and to the implications of international business for firms' various functions. This omission is a serious deficiency because the students in these international business courses will soon be international managers, and they will be expected to understand the implications of international business for their organization's strategy, structure, and functions. This book pays close attention to these issues. Comprehensiveness and relevance also require coverage of the major theories. Although many international business textbooks do a reasonable job of reviewing long-established theories (e.g., the theory of comparative advantage and Vernon's product life-cycle theory) they often tend to ignore important newer work. It has always been my goal to incorporate the insights gleaned from recent academic work into the text. Consistent with this goal, over the years 1 have added insights from the following research: • The new trade theory and strategic trade policy. • The work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen on economic development. • Samuel Huntington's influential thesis on the "clash of civilizations." • The new growth theory of economic development championed by Paul Romer and Gene Grossman. • Empirical work by Jeffrey Sachs and others on the relationship between international trade and economic growth. • Michael Porter's theory of the competitive advantage of nations. • Robert Reich's work on national competitive advantage. • The work of Nobel Prize winner Douglas North and others on national institutional structures and the protection of property rights. • The market imperfections approach to foreign direct investment that has grown out of Ronald Coase and Oliver Williamson's work on transaction cost economics. • Bartlett and Ghoshal's research on the transnational corporation. • The writings of C. K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel on core competencies, global competition, and global strategic alliances. I have incorporated all relevant state-of-the-art work at the appropriate points in this book. For example, in Chapter 2, "National Differences in Political Economy," reference is made to the new growth theory, to the work of North and others on national institutional structures and property rights, and to the work of Sen. In Chapter 4, "International Trade Theory," in addition to such standard theories as the theory of comparative advantage and the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, there is detailed discussion of the new trade theory and Porter's theory of national competitive advantage. The empirical work on the relationship between trade and economic growth is also examined in this chapter. In Chapter 5, "The Political Economy of International Trade," the pros and cons of strategic trade policy are discussed. In Chapter 6, "Foreign Direct Investment," the market imperfections approach is reviewed. Chapters 12, 13, and 14, which deal with the strategy and structure of international business, draw extensively on the work of Bartlett, Ghoshal, Hamel, and Prahalad. In addition to including leading-edge theory, in light of the fast-changing nature of the international business environment, every effort is being made to ensure that the book is as up-to-date as possible when it goes to press.