Customer Reviews

International Business: The Challenge of Global Competition (8th Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a first time instructor using this book, I was floored by the amount of useless data in the book that students must dig through to get to the important points of each chapter. Since the power point slides provided with the book only did an outline of the chapters, they were not of much help in giving a lecture. It was also absolutely amazing that a book that bills itself as being published in 2004 (but I received in 2003) is behind the times in a significant number of topics (e.g. it still refers to the G7 - not even mentioning the G8 even though I think it was about 1997 that the G8 became official). The section on religion was a perfect example of how to offend someone in another culture. The author needs to attend a diversity training course! A majority of the questions in the sample tests did not deal with topics that were significant in the chapters, but rather minor insignificant points. It may be the best book out there for an international business class but it shouldn't be priced the way it is for what is clearly an outdated edition.

I just finished reading the new 9th edition of this book and it is excellent, containing many improvements on what was already an outstanding book for introducing international business issues to students and businesspeople.

The strengths of this book include its extensive coverage of the various environments of international business, such as the cultural, political, legal, financial, competitive, and physical environments. Each of these chapters has practical examples to supplement the discussion of key issues and concepts, as well as highlighting points of relevance for businesspeople. The discussion of these various dimensions of international business environment is superior to alternative books, such as Hill or Daniels, that I considered using in my teaching (I teach international business for undergraduate students and also offer executive development courses for universities and businesses).

Another strength of this book is its coverage of issues associated with the operations of an international business. The strategy chapter provides a concise and useful overview of concepts in a way that is superior to most strategy books. Other chapters provide detailed and practical discussion of issues such as how to participate in importing and exporting (presented in a manner that sets this book apart from other books that generally provide only a few general pages on the merits and challenges of exporting but provide minimal guidance regarding how to actually do it!). The discussion on international operations is unique compared to other introductory international business books, and provides an insightful review of operations practices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

There is also a simulation that is provided with this book, allowing users to practice the management of an international business within the global cell phone industry. As part of the 8th edition of Ball et al, I used this simulation with my undergraduate and graduate classes and their response was outstanding. They felt that the experience was one of the best in the entire program, and that they not only learned very much about international business (market analysis, selecting products, pricing, promotion, managing exchange rates, etc.), but that they learned more practical information about functions such as finance, marketing, operations management, and strategy than they had in their earlier coursework.

Teaching or learning the material for an introduction to international business can be a complex and daunting challenge. The Ball et al book helped me and my students to minimize thse challenges, making international business a relevant and enjoyable topic for study, and practice.

Better than their 6th edition, with appropriate updates and improved chapter organization. I've used this title for four years in my intro course and the students love it.

I've been in school now for two years and this is by far and away the worst textbook I've come across. First of all, for every point they make they include WAY too many examples which just draws out the reading. Also, they introduce terms in earlier chapters without explaining them until later chapters. This means that you're left scanning through text endlessly trying to figure out what they are saying. I think the organization of the whole thing is poor.

A bit obsolete and redundant. No great insight can be found in this book.

The isbn number I ordered was 0072866845 the isbn # I recieved is 007121582-4 or 007121427-5 both numbers are on the book.

I got the book in very good condition. It was delivered in a timely manner. Thanks very much.

I ordered the book on the 16th of Oct, its now the 30th, wrote several times when i did not receive it, still no answer, i want the book or my money back!!