E-books: International Business

This volume advances the debate on the past, present and future of international business and management research. A truly international group of experts present their perspectives, and ask the question 'What is it that we know?' when discussing major issues and concepts in the field. This annual collection includes a regular special feature on a leading scholar; exploring in this volume the work of Jean-Francois Hennart and his theories on multinational enterprise and strategic management. Part two addresses international business and international management issues from a philosophical perspective, examining key topics such as post-merger integration, dominant design theory, internalizing firms and the strategy-performance relationship.

Attracting, managing and retaining talented employees is an important area of human resource management. Managing talent across an organization's global network presents many challenges including expatriation and repatriation issues, cross-cultural adjustment of employees, and operating in different regulatory and economic environments. This volume provides insights into multinational enterprises' (MNEs) global staffing and global talent management (GTM), and covers issues of global mobility from organizational, individual and contextual perspectives. The chapters in this edited volume cover historical development of expatriation, use of self-initiated and company-assigned expatriates, talent management in entrepreneurial firms, and talent retention through effective expatriation and repatriation programs in transitioning and emerging economies.

The Mindful International Manager tackles the management situations that international managers have to handle every day. Accessible and jargon-free it explains how to clarify local vs. international roles, support and develop a team, organize and coordinate boundaries of time and distance, and win commitment toward common goals. The authors, both interculturalists, include exercises and best practice advice and the experiences and insights of practising international managers. They combine their practical approach with great depth of insight into the challenges of working and managing internationally and include the results of new research findings and cutting-edge case studies on topics such as leadership, global nomads, virtual teams, coaching and mentoring across cultures and decision-making.

Business leaders need to embrace sustainability in order to ensure the lasting success of their organizations. Co-authors Suhas Apte and Jagdish Sheth bring their expertise from practice and from academia to illustrate how business leaders can embed sustainability in a truly holistic and transformative way. Through an examination of such companies as Walmart, AT&T, IKEA and the Tata Group, Apte and Sheth have developed a proven and actionable framework rooted in the real world success of these companies. The case studies reveal how business leaders proactively engage, energize and promote market sustainability to all of their stakeholders including customers, employees, suppliers, investors and the government.

Effective international business operation is not possible without implementing best practices of international human resource management (HRM) to motivate, attract and retain global talent that can help achieve the organisational objectives and market competitive advantages of global firms. The complexity of international HRM among global firms is further epitomised by different cultural and institutional environments of home and host countries, whereby multinationals are operating. Multinational firms are required to constantly adopt new and emerging practices, and adapt to the changing local and global conditions for their effective business operation. Research in the field of international HRM must also keep up with the pace of MNCs practices in the real world. This edited research book is aimed at addressing current trends and practices of international HRM of MNCs around the world. It also points to several challenges and future directions in the research and practice of international HRM within the context of international business. The collections in this volume cover several important and emerging topics within the field of international HRM. The main topics range from building a global HRM architecture via clarifying HR roles and responsibilities of multinational companies to developing multicultural teams with culturally-oriented strengths. Chapters also cover the interesting aspect of workplace friendship to facilitate effective expatriate adjustment; the complex process of managing global knowledge transfer between strategic alliance partners; and different perceptions to corporate social responsibility by persons with different cultural values. Both cultural impact on HRM design, delivery and institutional influence on differentiated HRM policies, and practices of MNCs between home and host countries are examined. The diverse topics are competently discussed by leading scholars and researchers in the field of HRM. Using both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, the authors address trends, practices and challenges of international HRM in several countries, including Australia, China, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and USA. The volume will be of interest to students, researchers and practitioners who would like to know the leading edge of research and practice in international management, human resource management, and cultural and institutional factors influencing multinationals operation in the global marketplace.