This text gathers together 13 articles that deal with the internationalization strategies of firms, effects of foreign investment on host countries, and host country policies vis-a-vis foreign multinationals. It illustrates how the behaviour of multinational firms and their effects on the host country are likely to differ between countries in a systematic manner, depending on the host country's economic policies and market conditions and provides an approach on how to look at multinational firms.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the management and investment strategies of Japanese multinational companies, examining foreign investment from a Japanese perspective by studying international business practices and the behaviour of multinational companies in the global environment. Beginning with an overview of recent trends in international capital flows and the role of international mergers and acquisitions, it describes the global environment for Japanese multinational companies as it affects Japanese foreign direct investment, as well as the impact of Japanese foreign investment in the host countries. The domestic cultural environment of Japanese companies is investigated, providing a background to the understanding of the expansion of Japanese business activities throughout the world. Foreign investments in various parts of the world are examined in detail, as are their impact on the domestic economy of Japan. A comprehensive analysis of the strategic planning process in Japanese multinational companies follows, and the book concludes with an assessment of the management and leadership styles of Japanese multinational companies and how they differ from Western leadership styles. This book is a valuable source of information about recent developments in the international economy in which Japan is playing a prominent role.

Multinational enterprises have played a crucial role in post-war international economic integration. They have promoted intra-firm trade, technology transfer and internal movements of capital and human resources. This book provides wide-ranging evidence on their role in globalizing the service sector - especially financial services - in establishing international networks of research and development and in developing trade and investment linkages in Asia. Particular attention is given to the participation of multinationals in management contracts and joint ventures and the significance of this for host country industrial policy. This book is designed to be of interest to students of business, management and finance, and economics.

Staying at the pinnacle of the advancing business development of transition economies and the impact of changing business conditions is a challenging task for all firms wanting to do business in them. This book provides insight into the way in which businesses function with a comprehensive overview of the major aspects involved.

Foreign-owned firms (FoFs) can have significant implications in terms of employment, income and technology for the national economies involved. This book compares the efficiency of domestic and FoFs, and also looks at the performance of FoFs in several different countries. Contributors take a broad variety of research approaches with a focus on the use of firm-specific data from France, Germany, Austria, and Sweden. They conclude that foreign ownership matters but the real difference is not between FoFs and national firms but between multinational and domestic firms.

This book uses both political and democratic studies perspectives as well as economic, philosophical and managerial to provide a practical insight into the issues like the extensive economic power of large enterprises and changing balance of power between public and private sector, regulation and the governance of large private entities.

This volume is a product of the Interstratos project which brought together research teams from across Europe to study the strategic behaviour of small and medium-sized industrial firms, the determinants of their behaviour, and the impact on performance. The book uses information from annual surveys of companies in Europe during the period spanning the formation of a single European market. It addresses issues affecting small businesses such as marketing, entrepreneurship, export strategies and the single market, on an international basis. The book also contains detailed case studies of individual countries including The Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland and the UK.

This collection of essays addresses questions of the theory of the firm and international business. The first section deals with theoretical issues underpinning multinational enterprise. These are the issues of information, re-engineering and change management and international trade. The second section concentrates on the inter-firm relationships of multinationals, assessing the interplay of co-operation and adversarial behaviour. The third section deals with applications of the principles presented in the first two sections. The applications concern the defence equipment industry the world automobile industry and corporate governance under European Union Regulations.

This book provides a new source of data and analysis on the role of multinational companies in U.S. international trade over the past two decades. Developed from benchmark surveys of foreign direct investment conducted by the U.S. Government, it contains 96 tables and companion analyses covering affiliate trade, intrafirm trade, bilateral trade, ultimate beneficial owners, commodity (SITC) trade, and affiliate industry groups. The book is intended for researchers and analysts in international business, international trade, and international finance.

This book provides a new source of data and analysis on the role of multinational companies in U.S. international trade over the past two decades. Developed from benchmark surveys of foreign direct investment conducted by the U.S. Government, it contains 96 tables showing MNC-related trade for 1975, 1982, and 1989. Tables and analysis cover affiliate related trade, intrafirm related trade, bilateral trade with major trading partners, the role of ultimate beneficial owners, commodity (SITC) trade, and trade by affiliate industry groups. The data and analyses in the book will be equally useful to academic researchers and policy analysts in the fields of international business, international trade, and international finance.

From something as simple as finding a distributor to as complex as founding an overseas operation. Here's a 'meat and potatoes' guide to entering and excelling in the international business arena. Combining theory, practice, and insider savvy, 'Business Abroad' shows you how to successfully take your company global and expand and improve your current global activities.
You'll find a straightforward plan of action for starting and conducting overseas business. This clear, succinct road map helps you effectively conduct key international business transactions. Mistakes in any of these areas could cost you tens of thousands of dollars, so there's specific help with:
* Exporting/importing * Distribution * Joint ventures * Licensing * Franchising * Technology transfer * and more...
Going international is not an easy decision, but this valuable guidebook makes it a simpler and more profitable one.

This research volume includes a synthesis of recent advances in the theory of the multinational enterprise, with a focus on internalization and international diversification issues. It proposes important extensions of multinational enterprise theory, especially as regards the importance of geography to multinational strategy, and the linkages between internalization and international diversification. The book also introduces the study of various new topics in international business research, namely regional (as opposed to global) strategy analysis, global alliances that lead to alliance specific advantages, and environmental aspects of international strategy.

The ten chapters that provide this state of the art overview of international business theory and strategy were written by some of the world's best known international business scholars, including John Cantwell, John Dunning, Lorraine Eden, Jean Francois-Hennart, Ans Kolk, Alan M. Rugman, Alain Verbeke and Bernard Wolf.

The research volume focuses especially on the important contributions of Alan M. Rugman, President of the Academy of International Business, and one of the founders of the international business field.

The volume's editor is Professor Alain Verbeke, McCaig Chair in Management at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary (Canada) and also associated with Templeton College, University of Oxford (UK), and the Solvay Business School, Free University of Brussels (Belgium).

This book shifts the debate on knowledge transfers within multinational corporations (MNCs) back to its core: How can we increase the effectiveness of cross-border transfers of knowledge? Several perspectives on international knowledge flows, from control issues to cultural barriers, are integrated into a comprehensive framework. Based on a sample of leading MNCs, empirical results show which managerial mechanisms have to be implemented to increase the benefit from knowledge transfers in headquarters and subsidiaries.

This study chronicles the unique relationship between the Federal government and the American multinational corporation, integrating it into the mainstream of American political history. It is a record of continuous adjustment on the part of both parties as each side navigated the unchartered waters of this unconventional partnership. What makes it so relevant historically is that while the Federal government was adjusting to its postwar global responsibilities, corporate America in its multinational dimension was taking on new roles which redefined the international political economy. It involved international oil companies impacting our relations with the volatile Middle East, an economic Watergate of global dimensions, and an unresolved debate on public versus private responsibilities toward the Third World and its multiple economic and social problems. Objectively presented, " America and the Multinational Corporation" provides the historical context for tracking the various presidential perspectives from Truman to Bush as well as the various congressional initiatives to redefine business-government relations in terms of corporate America's most aggressive offspring--the multinational.

Professor Reardon moves beyond the initial assessments of the multinational corporation vis-a-vis the Federal government, refusing to view it as a threat to the continued survival of the nation-state or as a force that the Federal government must tame at all cost. Rather, the partnership is a complex and continuously evolving relationship that may well be acquiring a new configuration as the world's economy becomes global rather than international. His study will be of interest to all students of contemporary American history as well as scholars in international political economy.

Two recent developments from globalization have fundamentally altered the nature of work organizations: (1) the workforce has become increasingly diverse in national and cultural origins, and (2) work assignments are increasingly performed by teams consisting of members located in different countries. Together, these changes have resulted in employees increasingly finding themselves working in culturally diverse, geographical dispersed, multinational teams. Yet, relatively little scholarship has been done to study the dynamics of such teams and how they can be better managed. The current volume presents cutting-edge theorizing and research from a multidisciplinary (e.g., psychology-,
communications/technology-, organizational behavior-, and strategy-oriented) group of scholars who have been active in studying multinational teams in a global context.

This book is divided into three parts. The first includes four chapters focusing on culture and other intra-group factors that affect the effective functioning of multinational teams. The second includes five chapters that examine the effect of technology and other external influences on team processes and outcomes. The third part includes four chapters dealing with leadership and management issues. The two final chapters were written by authors who have been actively involved as organizers of multi-country academic research teams whose life spans many years and continues today. Cumulatively, this book??'s chapters provide management scholars a diversity of theoretical and methodological perspectives, at many levels of analysis, and include insights borne from the authors??? observation-based and/or living-based experience withthe culturally-challenging issues they discuss. Additionally, these chapters also provide practicing managers useful ideas on both intra- and external-group dynamics that help increase their understanding about the effective functioning of multinational teams. As a result, this book offers both breadth and depth on the topic of managing multinational teams in a global context that promise to make its contents of interest to many audiences.

This study provides a timely and useful benchmark for analysis of the effects of the recently negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement on investment flows. It also presents a unified history of foreign investment in Canada, Mexico, and the United States over the twentieth century, stressing interactions among these countries and their changing policies towards inward and outward investment. Twomey analyzes economic theories of foreign investment from the perspectives of neoclassical economics and political science and places them in the context of the ongoing debate over neo-protectionist policies and the role of the United States in the global economy.

This book is a timely study in light of the resurgence of resource nationalism that is currently occurring in several resource-rich, developing countries. It moves away from the traditional explanations for the disappointing economic performance of resource-rich, developing countries, notably those advanced by key researchers.

In their foreign markets, MNCs interact not only with customers and suppliers but also with governments and bureaucrats. The book is an outcome of several years of research on MNCs market activities in developing and industrialized countries. Different from the earlier studies this book addresses how interactions not only with business partners, but also with the vast variety of governmental and legislative organizations, affect local firms and MNCs??? businesses. Based on the business network theory, the book develops a new model for the exchange relationship between local customers and MNCs and investigates the effect of different political organizations and other business firms. It examines relationship using several dimensions, business, social and political, through multiple cases from a developing country (DC) and industrialized countries. The comparison provides deepened knowledge on strength and longevity of business relationship in these two different business worlds. The outcomes reveal new insights with the claim for general appliance for DCs. The book supports the management of MNCs in their understanding of local firms??? behavior in such markets and to retain appropriate measure in their globalization efforts. The book also enables governments in DCs to realize consequences of their political actions for both local firms and MNCs and thereby industrialization of the country.

Despite a shared interest in the analysis of complex organizations operating in complex environments, macro-organization theory and research on the multinational corporation have developed quite independently of each other. This book, the product of a collaborative endeavour by scholars from both fields, represents the first systematic effort to build a broad bridge between these two areas of research. 'An excellent collection of essays which provides both the general and specialist reader with a fascinating insight into the latest advances in organisational theory.' John H. Dunning, Universities at Reading and Rutgers.

Written for both corporate accountants and advanced students of accounting, this volume offers comprehensive coverage of multinational financial accounting issues. As Ahmed Riahi-Belkaoui explains at the outset, multinational financial accounting is the branch of accounting developed to accommodate the specific international accounting needs of multinational corporations that are not met by their national accounting systems. Among the specific topics he addresses are the dimensions of multinational financial accounting, the efforts underway to harmonize international standards, the international environment within which multinational firms operate, and specific multinational financial accounting practices. Throughout, Riahi-Belkaoui emphasizes both theoretical concerns and practical solutions to multinational financial accounting problems.

The book begins by describing the nature of the emerging global economy and the challenges it poses for accountancy. Subsequent chapters address accounting for foreign currency transactions, futures contracts, and other financial instruments; illustrate the management of translation exposure; and examine accounting for inflation proposals. Riahi-Belkaoui goes on to explore accounting for inflation internationally and includes a separate appendix of illustrative calculations to compute current cost/constant purchasing power information. Finally, the author reviews segmental reporting and value-added reporting within the multinational financial accounting context.

This examination of multinational location strategy focuses on the areas of economics, management and policy. It discusses issues such as regionalism and international trade; location patterns, local content rules and foreign direct investment; and, plant location in Eastern European countries.

As a consequence of aggressive competition, Chinese industries have become increasingly consolidated. While the extent to which emerging local firms can challenge well-established multinational firms varies by industry, there are common characteristics of 'winners' within each firm type. A handful of multinational and local firms emerged victorious by acquiring small, weak, and regional players to become truly national players. During this process, weaker multinational firms were crowded out of the market by stronger multinationals as well as by emerging local powerhouses. The successful local firms that survive competition in China have global ambitions and venture into international markets, challenging foreign multinational firms in the global marketplace. This book examines how multinational firms grew their operations in China and how successful local firms emerged from the restructuring process, as well the competition between them, in the fierce marketplace of China's economic reform. While anecdotal evidence on this topic is widespread, there exists no comprehensive research. This book seeks to address this gap by rooting its discussion in the author's extensive and rigorous statistical analyses and detailed case studies across five industries: consumer products, beer, telecom, automobile, and steel.

Bringing together the leading authorities on globalization and international business this book looks ahead to the new challenges facing multinational firms and predicts what the multinational company will look like in ten years time.

Henry Bernard Loewendahl scrutinizes the relationship between multinational companies, regional development, and governments, using a framework of bargaining between government and multinationals. He critically analyzes the role of foreign investment in economic development, and examines how governments can link inward investment to regional economic development. Based on extensive use of data, interviews and case studies of Siemens and Nissan's UK investment, the book shows why MNCs have invested in the UK in the past, how they bargained with the government, and what the impact was on the national and regional economies. In particular, through linking the strategy of multinationals to the location advantages of the UK, it is argued that labor flexibility and incentives were crucial to investment decisions. Loewendahl recommends a framework to integrate endogenous and exogenous approaches to developments; and proposes a greater role for the region and the EU to control incentives and monitor multinationals.

Multinational companies have learnt through experience that cultural differences can be very damaging in terms of failed initiatives, lost contracts, high employee turnover and low morale. Research shows that 20 to 50 per cent of managers posted abroad fail and have to return home prematurely. "The Culture Factor" examines why it is that cultural differences engender such difficulties and looks at the different kinds of cultural costs. Through identifying the organizational processes that lead to "cultural problems", the book shows in a practical way how business can manage cultural difference more effectively.