International Businessprovides a clear and concise introduction to the environment and functions of international business. It explains in straightforward language the economic and financial underpinnings of international trade, the more subtle organisational and cultural issues, and the managerial challenges which face organisations of all types and sizes. In particular, it provides up-to-the-minute coverage of recent global events the economic downturn and uncertainty in financial markets. It is written for students on undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, or undertaking professional qualifications. It is especially suitable for non-specialist students of business.
Preface: using this book
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1 Introduction to international business 1
Introduction 1
Patterns and trends in international business 1
Globalisation 13
The multinational enterprise (MNE) 28
How important are the multinationals? 31
Useful websites 36
Useful key texts 36
Other texts and sources 37
Case studies
1.1 Dyson relocates production to South-East Asia 10
1.2 Happy birthday, globalisation 17
1.3 How to play the home advantage 20
1.4 Does a global approach benefit the company? 22
1.5 Competing in a globalised economy 25
Boxes
1.1 Relative Unit Labour Costs (RULC) 9
1.2 Definitions of globalisation 14
1.3 Globalisation features 15
2 Internationalisation process 38
Introduction 38
Export-based methods for internationalisation 39
Non-equity-based methods for internationalisation 43
Equity-based methods for internationalisation 47
Why invest abroad? 59
Theoretical explanations 69