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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Book Review
James L. Morrison
To cite this article: James L. Morrison (2007) Book Review, Journal of Education for Business, 82:5, 300-304, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.82.5.300-304
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.82.5.300-304
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
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300 JournalofEducationforBusiness
BOOKREVIEW
Ajami,RiadA.,Cool,Karel,Goddard, G.Jason,Khambata,Dara.International Business:TheoryandPractice(2nd ed.).London:M.E.Sharpe,2006,548 rapid growth of global economic links amongorganizationshasresultedinthe outsourcing, ethics, environmental issues,andsocialresponsibility.
The authors have divided the text into five segments beginning in Part I with an overview of the multinational corporation. In Part I, the authors pro-vide the reader with a historical per-spective regarding the evolution of the multinational corporations, initiating with its definition and following with an introduction to several examples of successfulmultinationals,suchasSony, Citigroup, and Nestlé (Switzerland). Theyhavegivenconsiderableattention to the effects of increased competition that resulted from new multinational corporations(MNC)entrantsintoworld trade.Theauthorshavecarefullydelin-eated varying methods of expanding the capacity of multinationals, such as export,franchise,contractmanufacture, andformstrategicalliances.Theycon-clude this segment with a discussion of how governments around the world interveneviatraderestrictions.
InPartII,theauthorshaveprovidethe business major with a review of basic economic theory by presenting classi-cal viewpoints of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and John Kenneth Galbraith, among others. The segment also
con-tains a discussion of how the Interna-tional Monetary Fund and the World Bankfunction.Thisexplainstotheread-erhowcurrencyisexchangedaroundthe world.Inthisregard,theauthorsdevote considerableattentiontoexplainingthe need to achieve global financial stabil-ity as currency is converted between countries active in world trade. They begin with a discussion of past mon-etary policy, which initially relied on a gold standard for establishing stability intheearlydecadesofthe20thcentury. Theyexplaintheeffectsoftheestablish- mentoftheBrettonWoodsSystem,fol-lowed by the introduction of the Float-ing-Rate era in the 1970s. In addition, otherimportanttopicsthatareintegrated into the text for analysis include the establishmentoftheEuropeanMonetary Union, the Maastricht Treaty, and the Asianfinancialcrisis.
In Part III, the authors emphasize the need to understand the concept of risk management as business leaders attempt to function in a global mar-ket. Topics that are introduced at this point in the text relate to forecasting demand, adhering to international law, and accommodating intellectual prop-ertyrights.Ofparticularinterestinthis segmentisthediscussionofissuesthat managers of multinational companies frequentlyarerequiredtoaddress,such as antidumping and antitrust laws, for-eigncorruptpractices,andinternational taxtreaties.
In Part IV, the authors assist the business major in understanding how managers in multinational corpora-tionsproduce,promote,price,andplace productsandservicesinamarketplace without boundaries. Topics for study includeamanager’sneedtounderstand the idiosyncrasies behind international accounting,marketing,andfinance.Of particularinterestistheattentionpaidto addressing the ramifications related to working capital management, flexible budgeting,andcurrencyexchangerates. In this segment of the textbook, the
authors emphasize the need to address international staffing and labor issues suchasvaryingworkcultureornorms, codetermination,andinternationallabor unions.
Finally, in Part V, the authors por-trayhowmanagersaddressandresolve social,environmental,andethicalissues when they carry out daily operations. Of particular interest is the ramifica-tion of environmental issues on global operations, such as greenhouse gases andhazardouswaste,deforestation,and the impact that these issues have on a multinational corporation’s ability to compete in markets around the world. Alsointhissegment,theauthorsrecog- nizetheemergenceofarenewedinter-estincorporatesocialresponsibility.In thisregard,theyproposesomeintrigu-ing strategies that the managers may adopt when they respond to quality of lifeconcernsexpressedbyinternational publicandprivateagencies.
InPartVI,theauthorsconcludewith alistoftrendsintheforeseeablefuture that are likely to affect international operations. The trends include the rise ofChina,internationalterrorism,migra-tion, and environmental degradaofChina,internationalterrorism,migra-tion, amongothers.Theauthorssuggestthat thepaceofchangeisexpectedtobecon-tinuousandrapid,resultingintheneed fortoday’smanagerstobeonthecutting edge with their knowledge, flexible in their decision making, and sensitive to dealing with a variety of labor issues uniquetocountriesaroundtheworld.
Thegreateststrengthofthetextbook istheuseofcasestudiesthatenablethe reader to analyze global issues in the context of a very competitive interna-tional marketplace. The authors have integrated a number of intriguing case studies throughout the text. They ana-lyze such multinational organizations asChemtech,Inc.,DelisFoodsCorpo-ration, CompuSoft Systems Inc., and Scrinton Technologies, among others. In this regard, the authors have pro-vided a different kind of appendix to
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text material with the inclusion of an additionalsixintensivecasestudiesthat encompassavarietyofindustries,such as Michelin in the global tire industry, AXAintheEuropeaninsuranceindus-try, Ban & Olufsen in the electronics entertainment industry, and Arcelor in thesteelindustry.
The opportunity to analyze a vari-etyofglobalsituationsamongexisting multinationals by means of these case studiesprovidesthebusinessmajorwith realitylearning.Also,thebibliographies at the end of each chapter assist stu-dentsinconductingadditionalresearch as they attempt to make decisions abouthowtobecomeeffectivemanag-ers themselves in the future. Another noteworthydimensionofthetextisthe intensivelistofdiscussionquestionsat theendofeachchapter.Thelistsenable thefacultytouseanindirectmethodof teaching to bring the students into the learningprocess.
Althoughtheauthorsrelyonthecase study format to apply the text content, itwouldhavebeenmorehelpfulifthey hadusedexamplesofmorecurrentmul-tinational organizations via access to the Internet. The richness of the Inter-netaffordsthereaderanopportunityto get involved with an updated version of reality learning by studying current eventsastoday’smultinationalsattempt tocopewithchangingmarkets.Ananal-ysisofhowmanagersincompaniessuch asPepsi,Toyota,Dupont,andIntelhave come up with innovative strategies to address international marketing issues would provide the reader with greater insight to how current leaders actually change the work culture of their orga- nizationsinanefforttogainacompeti-tive advantage. Such a strategy would alsoassisttheauthorsinmatchingtheir content to current situations, adding a significantdegreeofcredibilitytotheir textbook.
Inconclusion,thetextbookprovidesa useful introductory purpose of expand-ingtheperspectiveofbusinessmajorsas they prepare to enter the very complex roleasamanagerofinternationalopera- tions.Thetextbookisdesignedforatra-ditionalsemestercourseattheuniversity level.Inmyview,theauthorshaveput together a thought-provoking approach to the study of international business byguidingthereaderthroughthedeci-sion-making process that is similar to whatmayberequiredinactualpractice. If not adopted as a course textbook, it wouldbeavaluableadditiontoalistof readingsrequiredforstudentsinterested inlearninghowtobecomeaneffective managerintheframeworkofaninterna-tionalmarketplace.
JamesL.Morrison UniversityofDelaware Newark,DE
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