The phrase 'economic system' refers to the organizational arrangements and processes through which a society makes its production and consumption decisions. In this book, Professor Conkin explores the diversity of economic systems and the choices societies must face in determining the economic systems best suited to their needs. He discusses the alternative objectives and alternative decision modes that are available to societies. Objectives such as efficiency, growth, liberty, and equality - though themselves desirable - frequently involve trade-offs; the more complete attainment of any one objective may involve the partial sacrifices of another. In pursuit of its objectives, each society uses a combination of decision modes. Professor Conklin examines six of these: free enterprise, price controls, subsidies, taxation, non-price regulations, and public enterprise. He ends with a discussion of the processes societies use to make their choice among objectives and decision modes.

The phrase "economic system" refers to the organizational arrangements and processes through which a society makes its production and consumption decisions. In this book, Professor Conklin explores the diversity of economic systems and the choices societies must face in determining the economic systems best suited to their needs. He discusses the alternative objectives and alternative decision modes that are available to societies. Objectives such as efficiency, growth, liberty and equality--while themselves desirable--frequently involve trade-offs; the more complete attainment of any one objective may involve the partial sacrifice of another. In pursuit of its objectives, each society uses a combination of decision modes. Professor Conklin examines six of these: free enterprise, price controls, subsidies, taxation, non-price regulations, and public enterprise. He ends with a discussion of the processes societies use to make the necessary decisions between the available objectives and decision modes.

This text provides upper-level undergraduate students with an international managerial perspective that concisely integrates both market (i.e., industry structure) and nonmarket (i.e., political forces) analysis. Conklin teaches students how to understand the impact of environmental forces on the firm's profitability, how to prioritize both risks and opportunities, how to analyze the relationships among them, and how to recommend firm responses to them to maximize MNE profitability.

Key FeaturesEnvironmental forces and their interrelationships are clearly organized and analyzed under four broad themes: social, technological, economic, and political forces.Each issue is clearly correlated to real management decision-making in chapter introductions, which discuss the strategies and management practices required to respond effectively to various environmental forces.Students learn to assess the changes in environmental forces over time and to ascertain the relative attractiveness of various nations as alternative sites for conducting business.Chapter-opening lists of critical skills and capabilities provide a focus and guide for the material in the chapter, relating theories to practical applications.Chapter-ending case excerpts with discussion questions provide illustrative real-world situations related to issues presented in that chapter and challenge students to come up with their own recommended solutions.

The Ivey Casebooks Series is a co-publishing partnership between SAGE Publications and the Richard Ivey School of Business at The University of Western Ontario. Due to their popularity in more than 60 countries, approximately 200 new cases are added to the Ivey School of Business library each year. Each of the casebooks comes equipped with instructor's resources on CD-ROM. These affordable collections will not only help students connect to real-world situations, but will benefit corporations seeking continued education in the field as well. Broadening the scope of environmental forces to a global rather than a domestic context leads to cross-country comparisons that add complexity to the subject matter, enrich analytical theories, and heighten the interest of students. Students gain an appreciation for the many ways in which environmental forces interact, creating a set of risks and opportunities that is unique in each country and that must be evaluated in formulating trade and investment decisions. Cases in the Environment of Business offers an outstanding collection of relevant, classroom-tested cases. In discussing the cases, students will participate in managerial decisions in an international context. Most cases deal with a variety of environmental forces, but generally a single set of forces plays a predominant role. The instructor's resources on CD-ROM includes detailed 6-10 page casenotes for each case, preparation questions for students to review before class, discussion questions, and suggested further readings. Cases in the Environment of Business addresses the following five sets of environmental forces: Industry Structure Responses to strategies of customers, suppliers, and competitors, ; dependence of profitability on unique value-added attributesand the shift of certain activities to low-wage countries Macroeconomic Variables Income levels and growth rates, foreign exchange rates, inflation rates, interest rates, and unemployment rates Political Variables Regulations, financial incentives, taxation, foreign investment restrictions, and international trade and investment agreements Societal Variables Labor and environmental practices, ethics, corporate social responsibility, boards of directors, and demographics Technological Variables Technological infrastructure and the pace and direction of technological changes, including, in particular, the Internet and e-business. The IVEY Casebook Series Cases in Business Ethics Cases in Entrepreneurship Cases in Gender & Diversity in Organizations Cases in Operations Management Cases in Organizational Behavior Cases in the Environment of Business Cases in Alliance Management Mergers and Acquisitions: Text and Cases

Major economic and social developments that will determine the context for tax reforms in the 1990s are the subject of this volume. They include the globalization of markets, free trade arrangements, changing technology and production processes, macro-economic policies and conditions in Canada, and population growth and changes in demographic structure.