"Business Across Cultures" is the keystone book in the Culture for Business series. It provides an overview of all subjects tackled in the other books of the series. Its particular aim is to provide executives with a cross-cultural perspective on how companies meet the diverse needs of customers, investors and employees; to introduce the main ideas in business in a multicultural context; and to show how they all fit together.

For the left and the right, major multinational companies are held up as the ultimate expressions of free-market capitalism. Their remarkable success appears to vindicate the old idea that modern society is too complex to be subjected to a plan. And yet, as Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski argue, much of the economy of the West is centrally planned at present. Not only is planning on vast scales possible, we already have it and it works. The real question is whether planning can be democratic. Can it be transformed to work for us? An engaging, polemical romp through economic theory, computational complexity, and the history of planning, The People's Republic of Walmart revives the conversation about how society can extend democratic decision-making to all economic matters. With the advances in information technology in recent decades and the emergence of globe-straddling collective enterprises, democratic planning in the interest of all humanity is more important and closer to attainment than ever before.

"Multinational Corporations and Global Justice: Human Rights Obligations of a Quasi-Governmental Institution" addresses the changing role and responsibilities of large multinational companies in the global political economy. This cross- and inter-disciplinary work makes innovative connections between current debates and streams of thought, bringing together global justice, human rights, and corporate responsibility. Conceiving of corporate social responsibility (CSR) from this unique perspective, author Florian Wettstein takes readers well beyond the limitations of conventional notions, which tend to focus on either beneficence or pure charity.
While the call for multinationals' involvement in the solution of global problems has become stronger in recent times, few specifics have been laid down regarding how to hold those institutions accountable in the global arena. This text attempts to work out the normative basis underlying the responsibilities of multinational corporations--thereby filling a crucial void in the literature and marking a milestone in the CSR debate.

An increasing number of studies in the last decade or so have emphasized the viability and persistence of distinctive systems of economic coordination and control in developed market economies. Over more or less the same period, the revival of institutional economics and evolutionary approaches to understanding the firm has focused attention on how firms create distinctive capabilities through establishing routines that coordinate complementary activities and skills for particular strategic purposes. For much of the 1990s these two strands of research remained distinct. Those focusing on the institutional frameworks of market economies were primarily concerned with identifying complementaries between institutional arrangements that explained coherence and continuity. On the other hand, those focusing on the dynamics of firm behavior studied how firms develop new capacities and are able to learn new ways of doing things.
This book aims to bring together these approaches. It consists of a set of theoretically motivated and empirically informed chapters from a range of internationally known contributors to these debates. In their chapters, the authors show how institutions and firms evolve. Ideas of path dependency and complementarity of institutions are subjected to critical scrutiny both by reference to their own internal logic and to empirical examples. Varieties of institutional integration, the surprising maintenance of 'deviant' or alternative traditions and processes, and the existence of unpredictable yet consequential policy options that can lead to breaks in path dependency are scrutinized with particular reference to how national and international firms may relate toinstitutions at various levels as a diverse arena of potential resources rather than as a singular and determinant constraining force. The book provides a set of theoretical and empirical challenges for researchers concerned with the relationship between national institutional contexts and firm dynamics. For those involved in teaching or studying at doctoral, Masters and higher level undergraduate courses, the book provides a structured entry into the debates about how institutions and firms are changing in the contemporary era.

This book develops a conceptual framework for understanding the network of relationships that exists around the hub of large multinational firms. The authors bring together perspectives from international business and the organizational analysis of networks to explain their model which is supported by case evidence from several sectors: telecoms, autos, chemicals, retailing, and financial services.

This book develops a conceptual framework for understanding the network of relationships that exists around the hub of large multinational firms. The authors bring together perspectives from international business and the organizational analysis of networks to explain their model which is supported by case evidence from several sectorsDStelecoms, autos, chemicals, retailing, and financial services.

This collection explores the expansion of Japanese multinational firms into Asia, a process which parallelled the region's growth as a major economic region. The contributors discuss a wide range of topics, including the reasons for moving manufacturing to other countries, the flow of trade between Japan and these countries, technology transfer within firms, the impact of Japanese management practices in other Asian countries, and competition between Japanese and American firms in Asia.

This book brings together research on the spread of Japanese multinational firms around the World. The authors examine how Japanese managers adapt management styles and manufacturing processes to workers in other countries.

How is --- or was --- business organized over borders? The book offers an historical background. It explores the history and development of the 'free-standing company'. These were compannies, distinct from the classic multinational enterprise, established to organize and to manage business abroad for a European or North American parent company. These firms proliferated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period of extraordinary globalization. Leading international scholars --- economists and historians --- provide evidence on and analysis of the operations of free-standing companies in different parts of the world from 1830 to 1996.

The world's multinational enterprises face a spell of rough weather, political economist Ray Vernon argues, not only from the host countries in which they have established their subsidiaries, but also from their home countries. Such enterprises--a few thousand in number, including Microsoft, Toyota, IBM, Siemens, Samsung, and others--now generate about half of the world's industrial output and half of the world's foreign trade; so any change in the relatively benign climate in which they have operated over the past decade will create serious tensions in international economic relations. The warnings of such a change are already here. In the United States, interests such as labor are increasingly hostile to what they see as the costs and uncertainties of an open economy. In Europe, those who want to preserve the social safety net and those who feel that the net must be dismantled are increasingly at odds. In Japan, the talk of "hollowing out" takes on a new urgency as the country's "lifetime employment" practices are threatened and as public and private institutions are subjected to unaccustomed stress. The tendency of multinationals in different countries to find common cause in open markets, strong patents and trademarks, and international technical standards has been viewed as a loss of national sovereignty and a weakening of the nation-state system, producing hostile reactions in home countries. The challenge for policy makers, Vernon argues, is to bridge the quite different regimes of the multinational enterprise and the nation-state. Both have a major role to play, and yet must make basic changes in their practices and policies to accommodate each other.

This study deals with a topic of increasing concern--the relations between multinational corporations and their host countries in the Third World. Theodore H. Moran describes how a reaction against dependencia, a realization that the fate of the nation hinges on the decisions made by uncontrollable outside forces, can spur a host country to opt for control of an industry, exposing the country to new dangers as well as new opportunities. Originally published in 1975. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In The Supranatural Corporation, Laura Westra lays bare corporate actions both domestic and international - under the guise of legal 'personhood' - and shows how corporations flaunt laws and act as controlling powers beyond the constraints imposed on legal state citizens. Corporations are now embedded within domestic legal regimes and insinuate themselves to subvert the very systems designed to restrain corporate power and protect the public.

Depending on one's point of view, multinational enterprises are either the heroes or the villains of the globalized economy. Governments compete fiercely for foreign direct investment by such companies, but complain when firms go global and move their activities elsewhere. Multinationals are seen by some as threats to national identities and wealth and are accused of riding roughshod over national laws and of exploiting cheap labor. However, the debate on these companies and foreign direct investment is rarely grounded on sound economic arguments.

This book brings clarity to the debate. With the contribution of other leading experts, Giorgio Barba Navaretti and Anthony Venables assess the determinants of multinationals' actions, investigating why their activity has expanded so rapidly, and why some countries have seen more such activity than others. They analyze their effects on countries that are recipients of inward investments, and on those countries that see multinational firms moving jobs abroad. The arguments are made using modern advances in economic analysis, a case study, and by drawing on the extensive empirical literature that assesses the determinants and consequences of activity by multinationals. The treatment is rigorous, yet accessible to all readers with a background in economics, whether students or professionals. Drawing out policy implications, the authors conclude that multinational enterprises are generally a force for the promotion of prosperity in the world economy.

This comprehensive study examines the global strategies of multinational corporations (MNCs), the strategic evolution and the categories of their subsidiaries in China based on 150 MNCs. It is the first large-scale project of this nature to be conducted. The research has significant bearing on strategic planning for firms that have set up, are setting up or are planning to establish subsidiaries in China, and the firms that try to compete in the global marketplace. The findings are significant for the West, owing to the current economic crisis and the need to determine if subsidiary expansion strategies will help Western firms achieve the portfolio effects in operations and avoid the harmful impact of macro events such as the existing global financial crisis. Additional empirical findings, analysis, discussions, and suggestions for future studies are also presented.

In Governance, Multinationals and Growth, leading scholars celebrate and build upon the pioneering work of Edward Safarian on multinational enterprises and foreign direct investment. The book explores the linkages among multinationals and foreign direct investment, corporate and public governance, and economic growth. The contributors pay particular attention to emerging policy issues that include the behavior of individual governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil society. In addition, they address linkages among MNEs, their governance and economic growth, and generic policy realities (and innovations) in a small-to-medium-sized economy. The comprehensive coverage includes discussion of: the impacts of foreign ownership on productivity and growth; family controlled pyramidal groups and economic nationalism; trade liberalization, product diversification and FDI patterns; mergers and acquisitions as a form of FDI; uncertain market access, risk aversion and state subsidies as locational determinants within a free trade area; changes in the international policy environment facing multinationals; environmental investor-state disputes; and international economic policy issues facing small economies with large neighbors. This authoritative volume will be of great interest to scholars and students of foreign direct investment and multinational enterprises, as well as to government economists and policymakers tackling these issues.

This book examines corporate strategies which are driving the processes of globalization. These strategies are evolving under the influence of national policies and of various patterns of cooperation between governments. The authors study the effects of different policy environments on the management of corporate operations. The interdependencies between countries are analysed as determinants of policies, with efforts to assess ways in which the activities of firms affect those interdependencies. Attention is given to the structural consequences of corporate strategies for decision makers shaping fiscal, monetary, financial, trade, industrial, foreign direct investment and competition policies. The authors aim to identify requirements and opportunities for cooperation between firms and governments, across borders and sectors. Concerted entrepreneurship and collaborative policy making are advocated.

Multinational Enterprises and Trade Policy comprises a selection of Alan Rugman's most important and influential articles on the multinational enterprise and government policy. This volume focuses on trade and investment policy as well as applications of the theory of internalization to government policy. Topics covered include: strategic trade policy, the 'double diamond' framework, the 'shelter' theory, the issue of foreign control, the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and NAFTA and recent contributions on business networks and competitiveness. Special attention is given to the role of multinational enterprises in Canada, Japan and Europe. This book will be essential reading for both academics and policymakers interested in the relationships between multinational enterprises and governments. Together with its companion volume, The Theory of Multinational Enterprises, it will improve access to the work of Alan Rugman, one of the most cited scholars working on the multinational enterprise.

Banking on Multinationals addresses two fundamental puzzles in Japanese industrial policy: Why does the Japanese state-better known for its attempts to control markets, protect infant industries, and maximize national exports-administer the world's largest public program to support the expansion of multinational corporations? And why does the Japanese state not fear loss of control over mobile multinational corporations and erosion of the domestic export base through foreign direct investment (FDI)? Solis's explanation of Japan's lead in state financing of FDI takes into account both the industrial policy goals behind the extension of FDI loans and the political uses of subsidized credit to appease economically weak but politically powerful constituencies. As the first systematic study of Japan's public FDI loan program, Banking on Multinationals reveals a previously unexamined dimension of Japanese government policy and helps explain the uncanny ability of stagnant sectors and small firms to participate in FDI activities. Rather than simply espousing the familiar idea that Japan's preeminent role as banker to multinationals is evidence of mercantilism in Japanese foreign economic policy, this book brings to life the domestic political conflicts underlying FDI policy.

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.

"International Management" focuses on the most crucial challenge faced by managers of multinational companies today - that of the generation and transfer of knowledge across national settings, organizations and networks.

The text takes an interactive approach to exploring this knowledge challenge. Each chapter consists of three parts: -
A theoretically-grounded presentation of a particular aspect of international management
A case study from the real world of international management that is designed to illustrate the theory
Case assignments that assist the student in relating the theory to the case.

In addition, the closing chapter contains a discussion of four particular challenges facing multinational companies in the coming decade, illustrated through a series of readings.

As well as a wide range of multinational companies, the text spans a variety of national settings and draws upon contributors based in a diverse range of countries. Countries featured directly include China, Denmark, Finland, France, India, Ireland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA.

The historical-structural method employed here rejects analyses that are excessively voluntaristic or deterministic. The authors show that while the state was able to mitigate certain adverse consequences of TNC strategies, new forms of dependency continued to limit Mexico's options. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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.

This new textbook provides comprehensive coverage of the key issues facing multinational corporations (MNCs) in their management of human resources across diverse national boundaries. It attempts to answer the question, "Can there be a uniform set of best human resource management (HRM)
practices applicable across a spectrum of nations irrespective of cultural and institutional individualities?" The book takes a broad definition of HRM and begins with a summary of key discussions and models in this area before setting them in the international context of the MNC. Adopting an
integrated approach, the book covers the theories and practices of international HRM and sets them in context with numerous reference to news stories and case studies developed from the author's own extensive research. The book is student-focussed with strong learning features including objectives,
chapter summaries, reading lists and an activities section in each chapter.

A rare insight into the actual problems of managing multinationals. Multinational firms are a ubiquitous feature of modern economies. Yet how much do we really know of how they work? In this book, internationally-distinguished scholars show that multinational firms and the international systems which seek to regulate them are both political and precarious. This book reveals the complexity of managing multinationals and pulls the veil back from the myth of the multinational firm as a unified, economically-rational actor.

This is a study of the emergence, growth, and performance of British multinational banks from their origins in the 1830s until the present day. British-owned banks played leading roles in the financial systems of much of Asia and the southern hemisphere during the nineteenth century and after. In the 1970s and 1980s they made large investments in California and elsewhere in the United States. They played major roles in the finance of international trade, in international diplomacy, in the birth of the Eurodollar market, and in the world debt crisis. This is the first modern general history of these banks. It is based on a wide range of confidential banking archives in Britain, Australia, and Hong Kong, most of which were previously unavailable. Geoffrey Jones reveals, for the first time, details of the real profits and secret reserves of these banks, and uses these data in a unique analysis of their financial performance over more than a century. Jones places this new empirical evidence in the context of modern theories of multinational enterprise and of competitive advantage. This is a lucidly written and fascinating study, which will be of importance not only to historians, but to anyone concerned with contemporary multinational banking.