Introduction to Business covers the scope and sequence of most introductory business courses. The book provides detailed explanations in the context of core themes such as customer satisfaction, ethics, entrepreneurship, global business, and managing change. Introduction to Business includes hundreds of current business examples from a range of industries and geographic locations, which feature a variety of individuals. The outcome is a balanced approach to the theory and application of business concepts, with attention to the knowledge and skills necessary for student success in this course and beyond. This is an adaptation of Introduction to Business by OpenStax. You can access the textbook as pdf for free at openstax.org. Minor editorial changes were made to ensure a better ebook reading experience. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably is for entrepreneurs and small business owners-the makers, movers, and shakers in our world-interested in taking their businesses to the next level of growth through exports.
This book presents theories and case studies for corporations in developed nations, including Japan, for designing strategies to maximize opportunities and minimize threats in business expansion into developing nations. The case studies featured here focus on Asia, including China and India, and use examples of Japanese manufacturers. Five case studies are provided, including Hitachi Construction Machinery and Shiseido in China and Maruti Suzuki in India. These cases facilitate the reader’s understanding of the business environments in emerging economies. This volume is especially recommended for business people responsible for international business development, particularly in China and India. In addition, the book serves as a useful resource for students in graduate-level courses in international management.
As the world is currently in the midst of financial and economic crises, this collection of expert contributions focuses on strategy formation and implementation at various organizational levels to address the challenges ahead. The latest economic turmoil and its ongoing impact on business performance are compelling top managers to develop effective business strategies and redefine the boundaries of their operational and strategic activities. On one hand, tremendous challenges in the competitive business environment have become a source of global threats for many small entrepreneurs. On the other, investors faced with today’s volatile economic conditions demand more gains on their capital investments to counter-balance the growing risk of global threats. This book explores the question as to whether it is possible to efficiently and effectively address these threats and obstacles. Are managers capable of planning and implementing strategic actions? What should the major managerial strategy be in order to overcome fluctuations in a market-oriented society? The strategies and practices recommended here are aimed to design continuous development competencies and contribute to the stability, recovery and sustainability of global business operations under volatile economic conditions. This refreshingly novel book seeks to establish managerial strategies and practices for effectively responding to challenges in the competitive business environment, as global volatility and fluctuations continue to worsen.
Why do so many global strategies fail—despite companies’ powerful brands and other border-crossing advantages? Seduced by market size, the illusion of a borderless, “flat” world, and the allure of similarities, firms launch one-size-fits-all strategies. But cross-border differences are larger than we often assume, explains Pankaj Ghemawat in Redefining Global Strategy. Most economic activity—including direct investment, tourism, and communication—happens locally, not internationally. In this “semiglobalized” world, one-size-fits-all strategies don’t stand a chance. Companies must instead reckon with cross-border differences. Ghemawat shows you how—by providing tools for: · Assessing the cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic differences between countries at the industry level and deciding which ones merit attention. · Tracking the implications of particular border-crossing moves for your company’s ability to create value. · Creating superior performance with strategies optimized for adaptation (adjusting to differences), aggregation (overcoming differences), and arbitrage (exploiting differences), and for compound objectives. In-depth examples reveal how companies such as Cemex, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and GE Healthcare have adroitly managed cross-border differences—as well as how other well-known companies have failed at this challenge. Crucial for any business competing across borders, this book will transform the way you approach global strategy.
While growth is a top priority for companies of all sizes, it can be extremely difficult to create and maintain—especially in today’s competitive business environment. The Granularity of Growth will put you in a better position to succeed as it reveals why growth is so important, what enables certain companies to grow so spectacularly, and how to ensure that growth comes from multiple sources as you take both a broad and a granular view of your markets.
Four different types of ventures created by entrepreneurs are explored in What Do Entrepreneurs Create?: survival, lifestyle, managed growth and aggressive growth. The concept of a balanced venture portfolio is introduced to guide public policy formulation and the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
This open access book focuses on Switzerland-based medium-sized companies with a longstanding export tradition and a proven dominance in global niche markets. Based upon in-depth documentation and analysis of 36 Swiss companies over their entire history, an expert team of authors presents several parallels in the pathways and success factors which allowed these firms to become dominant and operate from a high-cost location such as Switzerland. The book enhances these insights by providing detailed company profiles documenting the company history, development, and how their relevant global niche positions were reached. Readers will benefit from these profiles as they compile a diverse selection of industries, mainly active within the B2B sector, with mostly mature companies (60 years to older than 100 years since founding) and different types of ownership structures including family firms. ‘Masterpieces of Swiss Entrepreneurship’ brings unique learning opportunities to owners and leaders of SMEs in Switzerland and elsewhere. Findings are based on detailed bottom-up research of 36 companies -- without any preconceived notions. The book is both conceptual and practical. It fosters understanding for different choices in development pathways and management practices. Matti Alahuhta, Chairman DevCo Partners, ex-CEO Kone, Board member of several global listed companies, Helsinki, Finland Start-up entrepreneurs need proven models from industry which demonstrate the various paths to success. “Masterpieces of Swiss Entrepreneurship” provides deep insights highlighting these models and the important trade-offs entrepreneurial teams must consider when choosing the path of high growth or of maximum control, as they are often mutually exclusive. Gina Domanig, Managing Partner, Emerald Technology Ventures, Zurich
This book examines emerging theories, frameworks, and applications of global marketing for the 21st century. It highlights how global marketing is changing in a globalized and digital economy that is fast increasing in complexity and uncertainty. The traditional approach to global marketing is no longer sufficient to address the emerging issues in global markets. Global companies need to challenge traditional assumptions in global marketing in an era of shifting political, cultural, economic, and technological changes. They need to take a fresh look at the contemporary threats and opportunities in markets, institutions, and technology and how they affect entry and expansion strategies through careful re-calibration of the marketing-mix. This book offers new insights for global marketing that addresses these issues. This book should be an ideal resource to both academic scholars and reflective practitioners globally such as CEOs and chief marketing officers as well as government officials and policy makers interested in formulating strategies/policies for global marketing activities in the face of a globalized and digitized economy. This well-crafted research volume is an excellent addition to the growing literature on new trends in international marketing. The authors present the latest insight on the impact of phenomena such as cross-border e-commerce and digital markets, and they discuss new tools for political risk assessment, international branding and more broadly the reconfiguring of marketing-mix strategies – A powerful reminder that the new global market remains a rugged landscape. - Alain Verbeke, McCaig Research Chair in Management and Editor-in-Chief Journal of International Business Studies, University of Calgary, Canada. Emerging trends in institutions, markets, and societies, along with new technological advances, are redefining the scope and strategy in global marketing. Professors Agarwal and Wu have assembled a remarkable collection of cutting-edge topics and issues that capture the shifting paradigm and contemporary developments in the global marketing field. This is an informative and timely resource that makes a valuable contribution, useful for both scholars and business practitioners of global marketing. - Constantine S. Katsikeas, Arnold Ziff Endowed Research Chair in Marketing & International Management, Editor-in-Chief Journal of International Marketing, University of Leeds, UK. This book presents new and cutting-edge thinking at a time when the traditional views of international marketing need to be scrapped. Convergence forces are creating new opportunities as well as threats on a daily basis, and marketing practitioners as well as scholars must be forewarned as well as forearmed on how to deal with these changes. The real growth is coming from the emerging nations, and the theories that provided sufficient insights ten years ago have been completely outmoded by the ever-accelerating rate of innovation and technological change as well as the pressures to address the needs of all of the firm’s relevant stakeholders. The strategic insights provided here are absolutely invaluable. Don’t miss an opportunity to read this book!! - John B. Ford, Professor of Marketing & International Business, Eminent Scholar & Haislip-Rohrer Fellow, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Advertising Research, Old Dominion University, USA.
