A new era of global banking and insurance is emerging, with leading banks eager to serve international markets. This book explores the issues that arise for banks in their strategic choices as they move into these new international markets.
Building an International Financial Services Firm challenges conventional assumptions from the international management literature on topics such as the limits of globalization, the importance of cultural and institutional distance, the nature of economies of scale and scope, the existence of first mover advantages, the logic behind the global value chain configuration, the speed and timing of market entry, as well as organizational architecture. It focuses on fundamental strategic decisions such as when, where, and how to enter foreign markets and how to design the organizational architecture of the multinational financial services firm.
Using simple theoretical frameworks illustrated by case examples, this book provides a thorough guide to the challenges of the international market for financial services firms, both for those working in the financial services industry, and researchers studying the area.

The organizational design of the Multinational Corporation (MNC) was a vibrant area of research in the field of International Business and Management during the 1970-1990's. However, since then this research has largely faded from our scholarship. This volume of AIM is designed to spark new life into the research on the organizational design of the MNC. The world - and environmental forces - has changed substantially in the last decades placing new constrains on the MNCs. External shocks have increased and MNCs need to learn how to live with this increased market volatility. Integrating value chains makes MNCs more efficient but also vulnerable. The relentless forces of competition and globalization are forcing MNCs to divide their activities and reach for foreign inputs, markets and partners. By dividing their value chain into discrete pieces -- - some to be performed in-house, while others are outsourced to partner organizations -- - MNCs hope to reduce overall costs and risks, while also reaping the benefits of ideas from contractors or alliance partners worldwide. These challenges call for new research on the organizational design of the MNC. It is our intention with this AIM volume to motivate new research on the proper organizational design mechanisms of MNCs as of today.

For many industries, mergers and acquisitions have become the main pathway for reaching strategic objectives like growth, technological leadership, or efficiency in production and distribution. However, the success rate of most M&A deals is low - and flawed. Unrealistic synergies, wrong target selection, culture clashes and, most of all, weak post-merger integration processes pose huge challenges, and this book addresses the salient question of how to make M&A deals work. The authors offer readers unique access to each stage of the M&A process, with added depth and perspective provided by Prysmian - the global leader in energy and telecom cables. Prysmian's perspective enables the authors to deliver a manual for successful M&A in mature industries that require high levels of integration between operating companies. This collection of existing M&A experiences that identify clear action steps will be an essential tool for managers to develop their growth strategies and accelerate their post-merger integration processes. This guide will also prove useful for practitioners and academics as they seek to improve the ability of firms to conduct M&A, through dissemination in academic and executive classrooms.

Recent financial crises have shown that firms need to create more robust business models. However, it seems that the task of developing resilience - a firm's ability to adapt, endure, bounce back and then thrive, despite the shock - appears on most managers' strategic issue list only after such a shock has occurred. Managers, through responsible leadership, can make explicit choices that will enhance their firm's resilience, increasing their chances of anticipating and avoiding these shocks. This book is the result of a three-year research project across seven industries, and is aimed at improving the understanding of why some firms are better than others in dealing with market turbulence. Pirotti and Venzin develop a measure for organizational resilience, identifying resilience drivers and demonstrating how firms can appropriate value from high resilience levels. It is a valuable read for graduates taking a course in strategy and global management and for reflective practitioners.

Recent financial crises have shown that firms need to create more robust business models. However, it seems that the task of developing resilience - a firm's ability to adapt, endure, bounce back and then thrive, despite the shock - appears on most managers' strategic issue list only after such a shock has occurred. Managers, through responsible leadership, can make explicit choices that will enhance their firm's resilience, increasing their chances of anticipating and avoiding these shocks. This book is the result of a three-year research project across seven industries, and is aimed at improving the understanding of why some firms are better than others in dealing with market turbulence. Pirotti and Venzin develop a measure for organizational resilience, identifying resilience drivers and demonstrating how firms can appropriate value from high resilience levels. It is a valuable read for graduates taking a course in strategy and global management and for reflective practitioners.