Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This insightful Research Agenda provides reflections on the state of the international business and management discipline and also highlights important future topics for research. The book especially covers a range of thought-provoking ideas on key subjects, from externalisation theory to emerging market economies to societal crises and modern slavery. This Research Agenda also revisits the relevance of core theories; examines the changing roles of nation states and multinationals as well as power relations and ideologies; and discusses new phenomena in international business and management (IB/M). Authors emphasise the merits of and the need for incorporating insights from critical perspectives and, finally, a commentary is given on fulfilling the future agendas laid out in the chapters. This will be a useful read for postgraduate students and researchers of IB/M. Academics in neighbouring subfields including social geography, political science and economic sociology will also find beneficial insights.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This insightful Research Agenda provides reflections on the state of the international business and management discipline and also highlights important future topics for research. The book especially covers a range of thought-provoking ideas on key subjects, from externalisation theory to emerging market economies to societal crises and modern slavery. This Research Agenda also revisits the relevance of core theories; examines the changing roles of nation states and multinationals as well as power relations and ideologies; and discusses new phenomena in international business and management (IB/M). Authors emphasise the merits of and the need for incorporating insights from critical perspectives and, finally, a commentary is given on fulfilling the future agendas laid out in the chapters. This will be a useful read for postgraduate students and researchers of IB/M. Academics in neighbouring subfields including social geography, political science and economic sociology will also find beneficial insights.

This title was first published in 2000. In contemporary management literature, the idea that managers and organizations should learn and provide widespread capabilities for learning to learn is gaining popularity. Some see reflexive thinking and learning as being the proper response to the transformation of industrial society. However, this study is not concerned too much with the reasons for learning, but is more about how actors and groups of actors actually learn and the resources at their disposal for learning. The study aims to show that differences in social context do matter, and analyzes the organizational learning process in the political and social transformation of East Germany.

This title was first published in 2000. In contemporary management literature, the idea that managers and organizations should learn and provide widespread capabilities for learning to learn is gaining popularity. Some see reflexive thinking and learning as being the proper response to the transformation of industrial society. However, this study is not concerned too much with the reasons for learning, but is more about how actors and groups of actors actually learn and the resources at their disposal for learning. The study aims to show that differences in social context do matter, and analyzes the organizational learning process in the political and social transformation of East Germany.

Over the past decade, politics perspectives in international business have moved into the mainstream repertoire of research, theory development and teaching about the organisational behaviour of multinational corporations (MNCs). Politics perspectives contribute substantially to understanding the behaviour in and of MNCs in their different contexts and environments but so far these burgeoning perspectives have not been systematically and comprehensively reviewed. This book offers the first detailed overview of the theoretical foundations, methodologies and empirical applications of politics perspectives in MNCs. A group of international authors discuss twelve seminal contributions to the study of politics, power and conflict in MNCs, followed by a summary and synthesis of the literature into a comprehensive analytical framework. The book closes with a discussion of future directions in the field. This is a thorough introduction to political behaviour in MNCs written for scholars and graduate students in the fields of organisation studies and international business.

The study of multinational companies (MNCs) has been split for many decades into two camps which hardly 'talked' to each other: a) predominantly economic and functionalist oriented International Business Researchers, and b) largely social constructivist and critical management oriented Organization Theorists. This volume intends to build bridges by bringing together leading international scholars from both camps, who provide new insights in the study of MNCs. In addition to the bridge-building exercise, the book aims to develop a more comprehensive organizational theoretical understanding as well as methodological plurality in the study of how MNCs function in the post-millennium era, both internally and externally, and also how they control their international operations across economic, institutional, cultural, linguistic, political and social divides. Key topics addressed in our volume include: historical perspectives on the study of MNCs, the role of increased financialization and marketization on MNCs, the new role of the HQ within contemporary MNC, the role of language in MNCs, discursive studies of MNCs, labour representation in MNCs as well as social movements and corporate social responsibility and MNCs.

Over the past decade, politics perspectives in international business have moved into the mainstream repertoire of research, theory development and teaching about the organisational behaviour of multinational corporations (MNCs). Politics perspectives contribute substantially to understanding the behaviour in and of MNCs in their different contexts and environments but so far these burgeoning perspectives have not been systematically and comprehensively reviewed. This book offers the first detailed overview of the theoretical foundations, methodologies and empirical applications of politics perspectives in MNCs. A group of international authors discuss twelve seminal contributions to the study of politics, power and conflict in MNCs, followed by a summary and synthesis of the literature into a comprehensive analytical framework. The book closes with a discussion of future directions in the field. This is a thorough introduction to political behaviour in MNCs written for scholars and graduate students in the fields of organisation studies and international business.

This book was first published in 2011. The current financial and economic crisis has negatively underlined the vital role of multinational companies (MNCs) in our daily lives. The breakdown and crisis of flagship MNCs, such as Enron, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers, Toyota and General Motors, does not merely reveal the problems of corporate malfeasance and market dysfunction. It also raises important questions, both for the public and the academic community, about the use and misuse of power by MNCs in the wider society, as well as the exercise of power by key actors within internationally operating firms. This book examines how issues of power and politics affect MNCs at three different levels; the macro-level, the meso-level and the micro-level. This wide-ranging analysis shows not only that power matters but also how and why it matters, pointing to the political interactions of key power holders and actors within the MNC, both managers and employees.

This book was first published in 2011. The current financial and economic crisis has negatively underlined the vital role of multinational companies (MNCs) in our daily lives. The breakdown and crisis of flagship MNCs, such as Enron, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers, Toyota and General Motors, does not merely reveal the problems of corporate malfeasance and market dysfunction. It also raises important questions, both for the public and the academic community, about the use and misuse of power by MNCs in the wider society, as well as the exercise of power by key actors within internationally operating firms. This book examines how issues of power and politics affect MNCs at three different levels; the macro-level, the meso-level and the micro-level. This wide-ranging analysis shows not only that power matters but also how and why it matters, pointing to the political interactions of key power holders and actors within the MNC, both managers and employees.