This thoroughly updated and revised edition of a widely acclaimed, classic text will be required reading for academics, policymakers and advanced students of international business worldwide. Employing a distinctive and unified framework, this book draws together research across a range of academic fields to offer a synthesis of the determinants of MNE activity, and its effects on the economic and social well-being of developed and developing countries. Unique to the new edition is its focus on the institutional underpinnings of the resources and capabilities of MNEs, and the role of MNE activity in transmitting and facilitating institutional change. Since the initial publication of this book more than a decade ago, the economic, managerial and social implications of globalisation and technological advancement have become even more varied and prominent. Accompanying these developments, there has been a rise in scholarly interest in interdisciplinary research addressing the important challenges of an ever-changing physical and human environment. Drawing on articles and books from international business and economics, as well as economic geography, political economy and strategic management, a systematic overview of the developments in scholarly thinking is presented, while also highlighting the emerging topical issues and methodologies.

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.

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.

An original and insightful book, this work focuses on domestic and overseas firms operating in those Central Asian and Eastern European countries considered to be the transitional economic periphery. Chapters shed light on their distinct forms of capitalism, and how it influences and adapts the firms located there. The eminent authors show how, in a post-state socialist world, there are several implications for both domestic and overseas firms functioning successfully in the transitional periphery. With the complex mix of political and market mediation and informal personal ties, chapters explore the delicate balance of liberalisation in transitional economies. Detailed examples from specific countries in Eurasia and Central Asia such as Belarus, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Georgia are discussed alongside broader thematic issues of economic and social change, labour relations and human resource management. Most importantly, it is shown that liberalisation has little connection to short-term business growth. To succeed in such contexts, international firms need to be both pragmatic and creative, in coping with malleable yet durable forms of institutional mediation. Providing a unique perspective on the transitional economic periphery and much-needed insights from international business, this book is essential reading for researchers and graduate students studying transitional economies, non-traditional business models, institutional persistence and change, political and economic development and management in economically transitioning countries.

In this revised second edition, Hans Jansson develops and applies an international business and marketing strategy framework to contemporary complex global markets. This cutting-edge textbook explores the major challenges associated with doing business in complex and turbulent emerging markets, stressing the strategic importance of the natural environment. Taking a holistic perspective that integrates stakeholder and shareholder views, this textbook employs an innovative network institutional framework to achieve sustainable competitive advantages by creating economic, social and ecological values with stakeholders. This updated edition includes: The international network strategy (INS), offering a framework for connecting MNCs and multinational exporters with parties in new economic, social and natural environments, and the international matching strategy (IMS), dealing with how MNCs achieve legitimacy An overview of the historical development of the supranational environment, structured as three waves of the internationalization of firms, including the integration of foreign direct investment into the global value chain Dedicated chapters outlining the development of research on international business, strategy, marketing, networks and institutions A methodology for analysing the institutional context of foreign local markets. Insightful and enlightening, this textbook is ideal for postgraduate students of international business, strategy and marketing. This book will also offer frameworks and strategic tools for managers, consultants and practitioners confronting strategic issues in complex markets.

Present and potential multinational managers need a concise, modern, practical, and effective guide to dealing with the highly competitive international marketplace of tomorrow. This balanced approach to multinational, cross-cultural management is for large and small companies in a wide range of product and service industries. Actual company experiences are studied to show the common frameworks which are used to manage diversity from the decision making and action viewpoint of the individual manager. Surviving and prospering in the present environment; anticipating and adapting to new situations; generating ideas that manage and exploit change; and leading the creation of change across industries and markets are all dealt with in detail.

Present and potential multinational managers need a concise, modern, practical, and effective guide to dealing with the highly competitive international marketplace of tomorrow. This balanced approach to multinational, cross-cultural management is for large and small companies in a wide range of product and service industries. Actual company experiences are studied to show the common frameworks which are used to manage diversity from the decision making and action viewpoint of the individual manager. Surviving and prospering in the present environment; anticipating and adapting to new situations; generating ideas that manage and exploit change; and leading the creation of change across industries and markets are all dealt with in detail.

In the face of strong competitive pressure and a dynamic market, multinational companies in China are forced to innovate with extraordinary pace and inventiveness. Environmental sustainability is a vital benchmark, and is a key driver for the best companies in each sector - many of them allied with the WWF Climate Savers programme. Sustainable Champions shows how nine leading multinational companies - including Nestle, HP, Tetra Pak and Sony - are dealing with environmental, supply chain and ethical challenges in China. The book illuminates some of their transformative practices, and the impact this is having on business in China and beyond. The concluding cross-case analysis of supply chain and environmental challenges faced by leading international firms presents key lessons for business and for sustainability champions. Sustainable Champions: How International Companies are Changing the Face of Business in China is essential reading for researchers and course leaders seeking on-the-ground examples of local environmental challenges, and any company doing business in one of the world's fastest-growing economies. With a Foreword by Simon Zadek, Distinguished Fellow, Academy of Business in Society, Visiting Scholar, Tsinghua School of Economics and Management.

For upper division undergraduate, and graduate students. Focus on the essentials of international accounting. International Accounting was written with the express purpose of introducing students to the international dimensions of accounting, financial reporting and financial control. The seventh edition includes extensively updated material throughout the text.

Basing her research on interviews with over 100 British managers and executives, the author attempts to reveal what it is really like to work for a Japanese company. Constant exposure in the media has produced a number of now cliched beliefs about Japanese companies in Britain - that they are obsessed with long-term planning, that they carry out consensus decision-making, that all the senior positions are filled by Japanese, that all decisions are made in Tokyo, and that British executives (together with their Japanese colleagues) are expected to wear uniforms, sing the company song and do exercises in the morning.

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) invest in a variety of host economies, and closely interact with local businesses and society at large. This role has become the focus of policy debates of all sorts, as MNEs are seen as a primary conduit of globalization, thus spreading both its benefits and its negative side effects.This selection offers an interdisciplinary perspective on MNEs and host economies. Theoretical models are provided by economics research, yet some of the more subtle and complex forms of impact are hard to analyse using economics methodologies. A range of other disciplines such as management, sociology and ethics thus contribute to the discussion of these wider issues. The articles in this collection cover theoretical and empirical studies on the horizontal and vertical impact on local firms, to issues of labour standards and the natural environment, and normative issues.

Some of the key questions in employment relations, comparative business, and globalization revolve around the extent to which businesses embody a national business system, and what happens when these employment models are exported to other national settings. By exploring the variety of ways in which US multinationals deal with these issues, and their reception, when operating in Europe, Phil Almond, Anthony Ferner, and their contributors examine the interaction between globalization and national 'Varieties of Capitalism'. Using the findings of a four-year international exploration of the management of employment relations in US multinationals in the UK, Germany, Ireland, and Spain, this book examines what is distinctively 'American' about these companies, and how this notion is exported. The process is shown to be one that is not a technical managerial one, but one that is highly political, and 'negotiated', in which groups and individuals at different levels within the company try to influence the terms of transfer. These questions are not only of theoretical importance, but also of practical significance in terms of the transfer of management knowledge and 'best practice'. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and advanced students of HRM, International Business, and Organization Studies, as well as HR practitioners concerned with US multinationals operating in Europe.

This is a practial how-to guide to planning and concluding overseas acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and similar ventures. The author begins with a description of the planning process including strategic vs. long-range planning. He then discusses external issues such as currency, trade protectionism, and political and government intervention.

This book explores the internationalization of Turkish multinationals by examining a set of firms from various industries and providing eleven detailed case studies. The authors aim to discover the reasons behind the drive for internationalization within the firms, and how their internationalization processes work. By focusing on a medium-sized emerging country, which is strategically located at the intersection of European, Asian and African markets, Turkish Multinationals provide a significant contribution to research on multinational firms in emerging countries. Topics discussed include: strategic motives for and drivers of internationalization at multiple levels (firm, industry and institutional); the location, ownership and entry modes of multinational firms; and their market entry and post-acquisition strategies, which are critical to the evolution of the internationalization process. This innovative book will offer an alternative perspective to current debate on emerging markets, and will be of great interest to both academics of global strategy and international business, and policy-makers.

Multinational Strategic Alliances Robert J. Mockler St. Johna s University, New York Strategic alliances are one of the most significant tools used today in business, especially by multinational firms. It is seen by business managers as the way to grow their organizations, especially when faced by downsizing and cutbacks. Such alliances have certainly been around for a long time, and surveys show that today the majority of large organizations use them. Almost all multinational firms have considered them. However, what has changed in todaya s working climate is their breadth and frequency of use, and their complexity. This highlights the need for a comprehensive guide such as this. Indeed, research shows that over 70% of strategic alliances fail to deliver the results that were intended from the outset. What makes this book so useful is that it covers a broader range of alliances and has more current case studies than other books currently available. In addition, this comprehensive introduction to the subject provides a base of practical a how--to--do--ita material and specific decision models covering determining strategic fit, negotiating strategic alliances and selecting compatible partners, formulating type and structure of alliances in light of operational fit, and making strategic alliances work. The book also explores other options instead of alliances such as wholly--owned multinational expansion and exporting, and has major sections on understanding and managing cross--cultural diversity, communications and leadership. Case studies include General Motors in China, British Airways and American Airlines, Airbus Industrie, a celluar phone venture in Tashkent, British Petroleum/Mobil in Europe, and Puyi--Briggs and Straton Engine Corporation in China. The systematic processes, contingency frameworks, best practices guidelines and situation analysis checklists given in this book make it an indispensable guide for managers and senior managers no matter what the size of their enterprise, especially those involved in international marketing, planning and management. It is also relevant to consultants and MBA and post--graduate students interested in the development, management and other strategic issues involved in multinational strategic alliances.

This book provides a unique contribution to contemporary globalization debates by providing an accessible survey of the growth and role of multinational enterprises in the world economy over the last two hundred years. The author shows how entrepreneurs built a global economy in the nineteenth century by creating firms that pursued resources and markets across borders. It demonstrates how multinationals shifted strategies as the first global economy disintegrated in the political and economic chaos between the two world wars, and how they have driven the creation of the contemporary global economy.
Many of the issues of the global economy have been encountered in the past. This book shows how entrepreneurs and managers met the political, ethical, cultural and organizational challenges of operating across national borders at different times and in different environments. The role of multinationals is placed within their wider political and economic context. There are chapters on the impact of multinationals, and on relations with governments.
The focus on the shifting roles of firms and industries over time rather than abstract trade and capital flows provides compelling evidence on the diversity and discontinuities of the globalization process. The book explains the history of multinationals across a wide spectrum of manufacturing, service and natural resource industries from an international perspective, which ranges widely across different countries. It provides an essential historical framework for understanding global business.
An accessible survey of the history of international business worldwide, this book will be key reading for students taking courses inInternational Business, Business History, Multinationals, and Entrepreneurship; and of interest to academics and researchers working in these areas.

Among many factors contributing to a corporation's success, none is more crucial than reputation. It affects the way management makes decisions and the positions it takes, and how it takes them, on critical issues. A good reputation is also a signal to the market--one way that stakeholders will know that a corporation is successful. Riahi-Belkaoui looks at the most crucial functions and influences that determine corporate reputation, among them, the way it affects a firM's market value; the quality of its disclosures; how well its earnings are managed, how its executives are compensated. He also addresses other processes, such as international production, the informativeness of earnings, accounting choices, and the characteristics of earnings forecasts. The result is a succinct, readable, probing study for corporate decision makers in various functions of the firm, their academic colleagues, and knowledgeable onlookers who need ways to evaluate and buttress their investment decisions.

Riahi-Belkaoui examines the process of reputation-building first, then the role of corporate reputation and how market value and accounting value differ. He moves to the impact of contextual factors of multinationality and corporate reputation on accrual and cash flow valuation models. In Chapter Four he shows how corporate audiences construct the reputations of firms by interpreting information signals about the firms from various monitors. He then reports the result of an empirical study of the 100 most international firms, which supports the general hypothesis that corporate audiences construct reputations on the basis of information and firms' earnings management. In Chapter Six he turns to the relationship between the level of corporate reputation and managers' ccounting choices, and in Chapter Seven examines the value relevance of earnings, cash flows, multinationality, and corporate reputation. Chapter Eight advances the hypothesis that corporate boards control top management behavior by means of compensation, but also by judging them on organizational effectiveness and social performance. He restates a general model of international production, and in Chapter 10, hypothesizes that the level of corporate reputation affects both the informativeness of earnings and the magnitude of discretionary accounting accrual adjustments. He ends the book by providing empirical evidence of the relationship between economic performance and organizational effectiveness, a measure of overall social performance.

This collection of articles by an internationally recognised authority on the multinational enterprise contains advances in theory, examinations of organisational issues and empirical studies of multinationals in the world economy. The theory section includes an innovative paper on the role of multinationals in less developed countries. The organisational issues examined include strategic alliances. The final section includes analyses of joint ventures and Japan's relationship with multinational firms.

This book provides an overview of current approaches and research in the field of international organizations with a focus on implementation issues in a globalized context.
Written by a team of recognized leaders in the field, associated with the growing and influential International Organizations Network (ION).
Covers topical issues such as managing virtual teams and globalization.
Makes a cohesive statement about the field of international organizations.
Is written with a focus on implementation issues.
Offers a solid contribution to the closing of the gap between researchers and practitioners.

Brewer and Young examine the future of the world economy and the key economic and political forces that will shape it. Considering the implications of historically important changes in the world economy in recent years, including the expansion of the international investments of multinational corporations and the new role of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the authors present numerous examples of how countries have changed their international trade and investment policies, and examine how these changes are affecting firms' strategies and operations worldwide. This book explains the importance to international investment, as well as trade and technology transfer, of the many agreements being implemented by the WTO, and discusses the roles of other international agencies such as the UN, World Bank, OECD, EU, and NAFTA.

Human resource management (HRM) has a significant impact on companies' performance, as evidenced by research conducted in multinational companies (MNCs) based in Central Europe. This book provides a unique perspective of activities conducted in the HRM field in local subsidiaries of such enterprises. It also presents results verifying many hypotheses for each of the six models for single HRM subfunctions and their four relationships with the results of company performance. Particular chapters are devoted to activities including staffing the organization, shaping employee work engagement and job satisfaction, conducting employee performance appraisal, employee development, managerial staff development, and employer branding. The author used the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling to verify the research hypotheses. Readers will acquire knowledge about HRM practices in organizations in which the overwhelming ownership capital belongs to MNCs headquartered in Central Europe. The research findings presented confirm the positive impact that HRM activities have on the results of this type of enterprise in such areas as finance, quality, innovation and HRM itself. The research also sheds light on the new, interesting regularities identified in this regard, e.g. the perception of human factor as a competitive factor. This book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and advanced or postgraduate students who are interested in the latest research on HRM in MNCs in the region of Central Europe. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book examines one of the greatest challenges facing Japanese multinationals as they continue to expand foreign direct investment: how to integrate local managers into the management process of overseas subsidiaries, as well as in that of the parent companies themselves. In the majority of Japanese subsidiaries, management control has remained in the hands of Japanese managers at extremely high cost, but now Japanese firms are considering integrating local nationals into the management process of their companies, a process that may yield significant competitive advantage.