Multinational Corporations in Political Environments: Ethics, Values and Strategies [Hardcover]

Usha C. V. Haley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001 | Series: International Business

"Multinational Corporations in Political Environments" advances and tests a theory of why foreign corporations leave host states. Theories of international business have often ignored the complexity of corporate decisions about leaving foreign countries, generally assuming that the economic and competitive reasons that prompt multinational corporations to enter host states also explain their subsequent reasons for leaving. Alternatively, this book proposes a theory of how different stakeholders' values and ethics shape multinationals' strategic leaving behaviours. Tested in South Africa when US multinationals were facing diverse pressures from stockholders, governments and consumers to leave, the research provides a prism to isolate how different stakeholders' actions influenced multinationals' behaviours. Detailed analyses of subsidiary-level archival data over a period of four crucial years revealed that the multinationals engaged in diverse forms of leaving reflecting their involvements, strategies and stakeholders' influences. The research, the first to test which stakeholders' strategies, including boycotts and sanctions, influenced multinationals and which did not, and to identify their effects on multinationals' behaviours, has enormous implications for policy makers, managers and social activists. The book also applies the findings and explores implications for recent stakeholders' attempts at influencing multinationals and governments, such as Nike in Asia and the Burmese government, through sanctions, resolutions and boycotts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Finally, an in-depth 10-year survey on South African sanctions casts new doubt on their effectiveness... -- Wall Street Journal Europe, September 3, 2001

Haley is to be applauded for tackling such a complex issue head on...thought-provoking research... -- Academy of Management Review, Vol. 27, #4, October 2002

Haley whose book [is] based on a seven-year study...explained that the best run multinationals are perceived as local brands. -- United Press International (UPI), December 27, 2004

Hitting a company's bottom line through exclusion from government contracts...is the best way to force change, Haley said. -- Atlanta Journal Constitution, October 7, 2004

This important book is the first to study systematically why multinationals leave host states and the circumstances that prompt their leaving. -- William D. Guth, Professor of Management and Strategy, Stern School of Business, New York University

About the Author

Usha C. V. Haley (PhD, Stern School of Business, New York University) is a Professor of Management, focusing on Strategic Management and International Business, in the School of Business at the University of New Haven in West Haven, Connecticut. She has more than 90 books, journal articles, book chapters and research presentations on international strategic management. She has taught International Business and Strategic Management at major universities in the United States (including Harvard University), Singapore (at the National University of Singapore), Australia (at the Australian National University), and Mexico (at ITESM, Monterrey Campus). Additionally, she has taught in major corporate, governmental and universities' executive-development programs, for top and middle managers and policy makers, in the United States, Australia, Mexico, Vietnam, Italy, Russia, Hungary, Finland, India and Singapore. She also serves as a consultant on issues concerning strategic management and foreign direct investment for several multinational corporations in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia and as Regional Editor (Asia Pacific) for two academic journals. In 2003, she received a Life-Time Achievement award in Management from the Literati Club (UK) and a panel of businesspersons, policymakers and academics, for her contributions to the understanding of business in the Asia Pacific. She is listed in Who’s Who in America.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 267 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Inc; 1st edition (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9810244274
• ISBN-13: 978-9810244279
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,914,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive coverage of multinational corporations, January 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Multinational Corporations in Political Environments: Ethics, Values and Strategies (Hardcover)

This is the definitive book on multinational corporations and their effects on society. Drawing on a strong foundation in economics and management, Professor Haley traces the power of the multinational in society and reasons for profits as well as losses. Then she applies these theories to real life situations explaining which sanctions, stakeholders' resolutions, etc. work and which do not. The study on South Africa is astounding drawing on detailed data over several years. This is the one that the Congress needs to read!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional analysis of sanctions, January 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Multinational Corporations in Political Environments: Ethics, Values and Strategies (Hardcover)

This book is a must read for politicians, activists and researchers. It shows without a shadow of a doubt that sanctions against American multinationals in South Africa did not work. Why do we keep using them as weapons? Read this one!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good addition to review of multinationals, October 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Multinational Corporations in Political Environments: Ethics, Values and Strategies (Hardcover)

The scholarly literature on multinational corporations is very weak when it comes to explaining why multinationals leave. This is the focus of this book. After one of the best reviews EVER on research regarding the multinational corporation, the author presents a very detailed study on why they left South Africa. The implications for this study extend to anyone who wants to know why multinationals leave -- or anyone who wants to influence whether they stay or leave! Excellent and highly recommended