Global Strategy (with World Map and InfoTrac) [Hardcover]

Mike W. Peng (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0324288522 | ISBN-13: 978-0324288520 | Publication Date: January 6, 2005 | Edition: 1

International business involves at least two sides, foreign multi-national enterprises (MNEs) and local firms. Global strategy used to be the domain of large MNEs built up in developed countries, now there exists numerous smaller, international firms originating in emerging economies. Some of these companies can best be thought of as "born global" firms. The recent rise of e-commerce has greatly lowered the entry barriers for these firms to go international. The rising interest in smaller firms reflects current trends in entrepreneurship. Historically, business students have been prepared for a corporate career, especially in the Fortune 500 sector. Large corporations, now often in the business of downsizing and entrepreneurial firms are usually the engine of job creation and economic growth throughout the world. This is an important trend for students to understand and strategize. GLOBAL STRATEGY is the first to focus on how newer companies and companies from emerging economies compete, both inside and outside of their home markets. The author examines local companies' strategies in emerging economies, as MNEs' competitors, collaborators, and/or acquisition targets. This book is unique in its thorough study of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) strategies. Global foreign direct investment continues to rise along with cross-border M&As . Increasingly, MNEs are investing a disproportionately higher amount of their resources in emerging economies, in essence, making their strategy more balanced and more global. This balanced understanding of international business is critical to discovering current cutting-edge practices in the field. The text examines the ramifications of a more balanced approach for multi-national enterprises.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There is nothing else like this text. The other books available either need lots of international supplementation or (in the case of the global/international business texts) they are really international management books and not strategy books. This book is definitely needed for Global Strategy classes."

"I would not hesitate to adopt this text for MBA candidates, as it is replete with relevant, illustrative and current examples and case studies."

"I really like the idea of concentrating on different regions, such as China/Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa, rather than the Triad. I am also impressed with the objective of presenting a globally-centered perspective rather than the US-centered point of view of many texts on the market."

"This text challenges students to critically reflect about the basic institutions and ethics that capitalism - and thus business behavior - is built upon. Too many texts take basic principles as a given and reduce business classes to teaching students how to make the most money. However, if universities wish to teach business, they have to provide more then recipes. Peng helps them with accomplish this. Chapter 12, Strategizing with Corporate Social Responsibility is a major innovation! I believe that confronting students already at early stages of their education with ethical issues affecting business will sensitize them to reflect over ethics throughout their education, and - hopefully - make them."

"I like the proposed length; too many texts are so long I can't imagine most students really absorbing (as opposed to merely memorizing details) all the material. I also like the writing. The author has apparently taken great pains to make the writing interesting, clear, and easy to follow. I also like the supporting resources and citations. Mike Peng provides excellent coverage of the relevant literature, both in terms of scope and variety. Finally, I like the focus which represents an innovative and refreshing take on the field."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 582 pages
• Publisher: South-Western College Pub; 1 edition (January 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0324288522
• ISBN-13: 978-0324288520
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #410,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for International Business/Strategy class, March 6, 2007

By 

Yi Jiang - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Global Strategy (with World Map and InfoTrac) (Hardcover)

As a professor, I have used several books for International Business classes and I have to say there are Global Business books that should have been titled as International Politics or American Business. This book has a good balance between country analyses such as EU regulation, privatization in emerging economies, and company perspectives such as entering into foreign countries, creating synergy between divisions. The cases cover companies from a lot of countries; they provide enough information to complement the chapters but are not too long so that it's easy to read through. My students and I enjoyed this book very much!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very engaging book, April 25, 2005

By 

Alex Lubman (NYC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Global Strategy (with World Map and InfoTrac) (Hardcover)

This is by far the best written business textbook I read in college. The book offers a very wide variety of real-world examples of the different strategies and actions explained in the book. These examples span all kinds of companies, from large MNE's to small businesses based in developing nations. The text is written very straightforward and the book seems to flow well from chapter to chapter. I was lucky to have Mike Peng as my professor in international business, because he devoted as much attention to his students as he did to his textbook.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teach Our Students How to Fish, July 30, 2007

By 

Li Sun (Shenzhen, China) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Global Strategy (with World Map and InfoTrac) (Hardcover)

As a PhD student teaching global strategy and international business, I like this book, not only for its comprehensive theoretical framework, but also for its openness for a series of debates on globalization. The theoretical framework can help students analyze the complex global business environment. More importantly, a series of debates can open their eyes, and can help them build more skills to deal with challenges in a globalizing world (think about the current buzz on offshoring and outsourcing).

Many textbooks attempted to teach students how to arrive at "correct" answers. They just tell students what is already known, and do not describe the sorts of problems that the professional may be asked to solve and the variety of techniques available for their solution. This textbook deviates from the rest of pack, because the author tries to integrate many new fronts (and yes, even debates!) in the academic and practitioner world (see the long list of references) and cultivates a "global mental set" based on his rich experience in many countries. What is most refreshing is that the author does not give a single answer or simple evaluation for many questions, but provides many possible approaches to widen the reader's mindset. In fact, every chapter has a beefy section devoted to "Debates and Extensions," with no given conclusions.

Even vivid business cases will fade quickly and be forgotten in this dramatically changing world. So a set of "divergent thinking skills" will play a more important role in helping students develop long-term capabilities in their career success. Through this book, students will learn how to recognize and evaluate many problems to which no unequivocal solution has yet been given, find an arsenal of techniques (industry-based view, resource-based view, and institution-based view) for approaching these problems, and develop "global mental sets" to judge the relevance of these techniques and to evaluate the possible solutions.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi once said: "Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; but teach him how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime." Truly, this exciting book may teach our students how to fish!