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.

Multinational Enterprise and Transnational Regions offers an innovative approach to the study of the history of transnational economic regions. The Rhine valley is such a region comprising the cities and areas along the Rhine river and its tributaries. The transition from coal to oil that unfolded between 1945 and 1973 rapidly transformed the region, shattering some of the old river-based connections and creating new ones with the introduction of large-scale cross-border oil pipelines. Multinational enterprises shaped these new regional connections but divergent national government responses gave rise to differentiated development in different parts of the Rhine valley. Multinational Enterprise and Transnational Regions argues that processes of regional change should be understood from transnational interconnections rather than from local or national perspectives. This book uses a transnational business history methodology to tease out the region's transformation and to circumvent the national bias in public sources. It will be of relevance to academics and researchers with an interest in regional and transnational European history, international business, environmental history, and business history, as well as practitioners interested in the oil industry, energy and energy history, business history and international business, and associated disciplines.

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.

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.

The late Honourable Michael Wilson was a Canadian politician and business professional. As Minister of Finance under Brian Mulroney, Wilson was one of the key negotiators of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement - one of Canada's most important economic agreements in the last 50 years, later superseded by NAFTA. In addition, Wilson was responsible for implementing the controversial Goods and Services Tax (GST), which remains key to the federal government today. After his life in Parliament, Wilson served as Ambassador to the United States and Chancellor of the University of Toronto. Outside of politics, Wilson was active in raising awareness of mental health issues following the traumatic loss of his son, Cameron, to suicide. Devoting considerable time to advocacy, he established the Cameron Parker Holcombe Wilson Chair in Depression Studies at the University of Toronto and served as Board Chair for the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Something within Me highlights how Wilson's personal life blended with his political life and accomplishments, detailing his advocacy for mental health awareness as well his involvement in important pieces of legislation that made significant impacts in Canadian political and economic history. These deeply personal stories, particularly those of a father grappling with his son's illness and death, remind us of the lives behind the political personas that shape our world.

The Development of International Business offers an extensive understanding of contemporary international business through detailed, engaging discussion of the development of the multinational enterprise (MNE) over the past half-century. By providing an analytically informed basis for understanding MNEs, two parallel strands of analysis in International Business (IB) are reviewed: the `theoretical' and the `practical'. Firstly, Robert Pearce identifies how the practical restructuring of the MNE as an organisational form has responded to changes in the wider global economy and how this evolution has interacted with the enrichment of theory on the topic. Secondly, by tracing the persisting dynamics of the MNE's structure and strategic positioning, he demonstrates the use of these systems and how they can help to understand and organise the future evolution of not only MNEs but of international business as a whole. Highly accessible with an informed overview of the entire IB subject area, The Development of International Business is an essential text for students and academics of business, management, economics and development. More generally, business leaders, economists and politicians will value the exceptional insight into the progression of international business and its future.

Management of international business has become more complex with rapidly changing global environments, a multi-actor setting with numerous conflicts and disparities, increased political, foreign exchange, and other risks, and substantial global competition from Japan and newly industrialized nations. This book covers two decades of international business management and provides readers with general principles and observations drawn from experience. International Business Knowledge features articles--many of them published in the prestigious Journal of International Business--by leading practitioners and academics. They combine descriptive, analytical, and prescriptive aspects of the subjects they discuss, providing useful bases for researcher and practical tools for business executives and government officials.

International strategies and the organizational designs of multinational corporations are in a period of transition; the dominant designs of the recent past are gone and new dominant designs have not yet emerged. This authoritative collection of articles by leading international scholars presents the dominant ways of examining and understanding these current changes. It investigates contrasting points of view and provides the reader with a framework for evaluating the transformation of international corporations and for developing a critical insight which will be as useful for understanding future changes as it is for understanding those that have already occurred.

This book explores the personal experiences of professionals who are a part of the post-colonial and late-industrializing reality in the global value chain in Singapore. Looking at Chinese Singaporean employees at a French multi-national firm, the author explores the evolving social constructions of 'Chineseness'. Sociologist Manuel Castells once hailed Singapore as 'the only true Leninist project that has survived', and Lee revisits the Singapore 'social laboratory', addressing recent dialectics that transpire within the global political economy. Currently, professional actors need to address the demands of dual hegemony in response to China's rise in the Western-dominated capitalist political economy. Underlying these constructions are enduring dispositions that mediate interpretations of professionalism. The author puts to test the potential for change, surveying a large cohort of teachers as makers of future professionals. The question is, does change occur in the domain of practice or the habitus, if it is possible in the first place? The book will be of interest to scholars and students with an interest in Sociology, Identity and Ethnicity, Business Management, Globalisation, Organizational Sociology and Sociology of Education.

In the context of political tensions and rising economic interdependence between Japan and China, this book studies how Japanese multinational companies try to minimize damages and manage their own fear and uncertainty to sustain their business interests. Using a qualitative approach, including over 150 interviews with Japanese and Chinese business and industry leaders, combined with statistical analysis of unique firm-level data, this book brings a 'firm-level view' to this crucial case of political conflict amid economic interdependence. It argues that there is wide variation in the degree of material damages Japanese multinationals sustain in the aftermath of political disputes, and how threatening they perceive the risks of political conflict to be. This book then goes on to evaluate the different responses to risk, from promoting Japan's culture through privately funded tactics and building common cause with the government, to diversifying a portion of assets abroad and even leaving China entirely. Presenting a new angle on economic globalization in the Asia Pacific region, Risk Management Strategies of Japanese Companies in China will be useful to students and scholars of Asian politics, business, and economics as well as international political economy.

Globalization has been under extreme pressure in the wake of the financial crisis. Multinational firms are weighing the costs and benefits of international scale and scope, and are increasingly under pressure to hire local, to source local, and to pay taxes domestically. At the same time global competitive pressures have intensified. This book reviews international business practices from the multinational firm perspective, and provides pathways forward concerning competitiveness and sustainability in global markets. What sets this book apart from others is that the benefits and pitfalls of globalization are addressed. Chapter coverage focuses on the functional areas of the business and how they are impacted by international expansion. Practical case studies supplement chapter coverage and highlight both positive and negative developments in the global business arena. Readers should expect to be challenged on what will be the limits of the multinational firm in the future, and how multinational firms can continue to prosper while at the same time adhere to sustainable business initiatives. Equally useful to both undergraduate and graduate students of international business as well as professional development programs, Global Business: Competitiveness and Sustainability provides a necessary tonic for dealing with today's troubled seas of globalization.

This book makes a timely and highly stimulating contribution to the discourse on emerging-market multinationals, (EMNCs), as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Europe from emerging countries (especially from the BRICs - Brazil, Russia, India, China) continues to grow in significance. Unsurprisingly, the emergence of EMNCs from emerging economies raises a wide range of challenges and opportunities for scholars, business professionals, and policymakers alike. While explaining the sudden rise of these companies has become a major concern among scholars, we have very limited knowledge on drivers, motivations, strategies, and impact of these EMNCs in Europe and their policy implications. This volume provides fresh insights into EMNCs activities and their impact in Europe. The contributors argue that EMNCs combine various country specific advantages, existing firm-specific advantages (exploitation), and/or new FSAs (exploration) in their FDI, and that there is considerable heterogeneity across EMNCs, even those from the same southern economy. Highlighting the importance of considering this divergent behaviour when implementing future European FDI policies, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics, International Political Economy, International Business and European Integration.

This book explores China's global competitiveness in the building of infrastructures with a particular interest in the resource-rich African countries. The book begins with a comprehensive literature review on total quality management (TQM) and national culture, followed by reviews of the construction industries in China and Nigeria. This provides better understanding of the linkages between TQM, based on the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 quality management systems (QMS), and national culture, based on Emeritus Professor Geert Hofstede's national cultural dimensions. Premised on the culture-specificity and bi-directionality relationships between TQM and national culture, this book investigates the construction industries in China and Nigeria including their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) as well as an appraisal of their historical and emerging relationships. In its conceptual approach, this book presents different models in the lead up to its primary theoretical contribution of a quality management assessment model (QMAM) that was adopted during the study's field work. The book also presents relevant lessons relating to cross cultural management and quality performance not only to the Nigerians but also other foreign players in Nigeria's construction industry.

Guided by the overarching question ''how and why does the emerging economy context matter for business?'', this collection brings together key contributions of Klaus Meyer on multinational enterprises (MNEs) competing in, and originating from, emerging economies. From theoretical to process perspectives, the book also explores how outward investment strategies contribute to building internationally competitive MNEs. It looks at the process by which foreign MNEs pursue distinct opportunities in each emerging economy by adapting their strategies to the specific business ecosystem. This includes, inter alia, the location of production, choice of entry mode, forms of equity and non-equity partnerships and market positioning. Conversely, when local firms set their ambitions beyond national boundaries, their own resources and capabilities are shaped by the business ecosystem of their home country. The author's theoretically grounded empirical research in Multinational Enterprises and Emerging Economies gives MSc students, PhD students and junior scholars the opportunity to dig deeper into the study of MNE growth. Keywords: Business in emerging economies book / emerging markets book Multinational enterprises Foreign entry in emerging economies Emerging economy multinationals Institutional theory Context of business

Thoroughly updated and substantially extended, this internationally successful text explores transnational corporations (TNCs), their activities and effects, as well as the theories developed to explain them. Invaluable for courses as well as researchers in international business, international economics, globalization, international relations, economic geography and history of economic thought on the TNCs. Key features of this edition: A unique critical analysis of all the theories of TNCs in their historical context and with insightful commentaries at the end of each chapter, now extended to cover network theory and dynamic capabilities theory Clear exposition of concepts on the evolution and the activities of TNCs Analysis of effects of TNCs' activities on: innovation; labour; trade; balance of payments and the fiscal revenue of countries Discussions on new topics such as the digital TNCs and global value chains A contribution to the history of economic thought on the TNC Summary boxes as well as suggestions for further reading within each chapter give opportunities for discussion and extended learning. Ideal for advanced bachelors and masters courses in international business, economics, international relations, globalization and economic geography as well as the history of economic thought, Transnational Corporations and International Production is an essential text for appreciating the evolution, explanations and impact of TNCs in a globalised world.

This book presents a new approach to management in an increasingly interactive world. In this context, the use of the word "new" has two meanings. The first relates to a new definition of borders (which are natural, institutional, functional, or mixed); the second concerns the fact that the book applies (and, where necessary, develops) analytical tools, methods and models that are different from those used in other similar books. The objectives of this book are: to clarify whether existing management theories and methods can be effectively applied in an entity (which can be defined as a sovereign country, a region, a community, a culture, or a firm) as the latter increasingly interacts with the rest of the world; to develop qualitative and quantitative methods to help leaders make optimal decisions for their entity and, at the same time, to maximize the positive (or minimize the negative) effects of those decisions on the rest of the world; and to design workable cross-border cooperation plans and conflict-management schemes that allow policy-makers to better cope with the challenges and problems posed by our increasingly interactive world.

Volume 28 of the Advances in International Management focuses on the opportunities and challenges for multinational enterprises that consider emerging economies as their destinations or their homes. Chapters in this volume examine the rise of home-grown multinational enterprises in emerging economies and the challenges they face when they enter developed markets. They also analyze the co-evolution of and the dynamic interaction between market institutions and business organizations in emerging economies. The volume provides a forum for thought-provoking ideas, empirical research, and discussions, and is ideal for researchers and doctoral students whose work touches emerging markets.

Cost accounting traditions differ across countries, especially between Germany and the US/UK. Consequently, multinational companies often face cross-national differences in the design of their subunits' cost accounting systems. To improve comparability and facilitate control, multinational companies seek to globally align these systems. In this respect, they have to balance the needs of the headquarters and the subunits. By the means of a mixed-method approach, this study analyses the design of cost accounting systems from both perspectives. It finds empirical evidence for cross-case and cross-country differences in the complexity and standardization of cost accounting systems in subunits of German multinational companies and identifies important determinants and success factors. The findings have implications for researchers and practitioners in the field of management accounting.

International growth is one of the most important challenges facing companies today. For companies of all sizes and in almost all industries, building a strong international position isn't an option - it's a necessity.

Accelerating International Growth is designed to help you - the practising manager - navigate your company's international growth. It takes a practical and direct approach to identifying challenges and recommending action.

Based on a successful executive programme at IMD, Accelerating International Growth brings together four experts in international management: Philip Rosenzweig, Xavier Gilbert, Thomas Malnight and Vladimir Pucik. Together, they explain five capabilities your company needs for successful international growth:

• Global strategic thinking: a process we call 'grasping the globe'
• Effective international partnerships: managing alliances and acquisitions
• Rapid staffing: expatriation and localization
• Global learning: using the world as your classroom
• Organizational adaptation: changing organizational forms

In this book, the focus is on post-merger intercultural integration, effective communication between the relevant cultures and the different politeness strategies adopted by them. It is argued that cultural differences are a key issue in misunderstandings and miscommunication, which can affect a smooth post-merger integration, thereby focusing on differences between the Australians, US-Americans, Germans and the Swiss. The research contributes to bridge the gap between pragmatics, sociolinguistics and intercultural management studies. The empirical findings identify a company's social dimensions and execution skills as strategic sources of competitive advantage in cross-border M&A activity.

Labor Rights and Multinational Production investigates the relationship between workers' rights and multinational production. Mosley argues that some types of multinational production, embodied in directly owned foreign investment, positively affect labor rights. But other types of international production, particularly subcontracting, can engender competitive races to the bottom in labor rights. To test these claims, Mosley presents newly generated measures of collective labor rights, covering a wide range of low- and middle-income nations for the 1985-2002 period. Labor Rights and Multinational Production suggests that the consequences of economic openness for developing countries are highly dependent on foreign firms' modes of entry and, more generally, on the precise way in which each developing country engages the global economy. The book contributes to academic literature in comparative and international political economy, and to public policy debates regarding the effects of globalization.

Since China's adoption of the "go global" strategy, more and more of China's privately owned enterprises have focused on outward foreign direct investment , and by doing so they have become the major market participants in China's internationalization process. This book presents authoritative academic and professional insights into the determinants of internationalization of China's indigenous privately owned enterprises. The case studies, in-depth interviews and investigations in this book will capture the interest of the readers and provide them with the background material and understanding of the determinants and possible pattern selection for internationalization of China's privately owned enterprises.

Reflecting on the evolving organisation of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their growing presence in international business, this book focuses on value creation by subsidiaries in transition economies, and uses Poland as an example. Drawing on internalisation and business network theory, the author analyses the role of the subsidiary with the aim of explaining the mechanisms of subsidiary functional specialisation and its operationalisation. The book presents an innovative model illustrating the determinants of the functional responsibilities of subsidiaries, whilst providing an empirical analysis of foreign subsidiaries in Poland. Addressing a vital topic in international business and management studies, this Palgrave Pivot will be useful for researchers, students and practitioners.