What's New

You may have noticed that the number of authors of the 8th edition has swelled considerably. Those who have used prior editions may have seen the names of these new authors in the acknowledgement section, as the author of a case, or in other capacities.

Paul Franz, Mike Geringer, and Michael Minor each bring new perspectives and new energy to the considerable task of revising such a large text. They each also bring their individual strengths and areas of expertise to this new edition. Paul specializes in international law, international employment, and immigration. Mike focuses on strategy and international management. And Michael's research is mainly in comparative consumer behavior, international marketing strategy, and political risk issues. This new author team brings a dynamic new focus to this edition.

Organization and Features.

• A resounding comment in the reviews of the seventh edition was that the strategy chapter needed to come earlier. We have moved the chapter on strategic planning from Chapter 20 to Chapter 14, where it introduces the fourth and final section of the text.
• Another consistent comment we received concerned chapter 13. We have moved the discussion of distributive forces - long a part of Chapter 13 - to Chapter 2.
• Also, our presentation of the Internet has changed. In the 7th edition we viewed the Internet primarily as a source of materials for research. In this edition we reflect the current reality. The Internet is a concrete part of a firm's international strategy, across the marketing mix, across production issues - in fact, its influence is pervasive across the functions of the firm.

Chapter specific changes/updates.

Chapter 1: There is a new discussion of the continual broadening of the term "globalization" by social scientists and businesspeople. A new word "globality" is introduced. New evidence of the rapid growth of global and multinational firms is offered by an UNCTAD report. Also, the Internet Appendix has been completely updated. This will also appear on the book's web site, so it can be updated if any links change or are deleted.

Chapter 2: The extensive tables in Chapter 2 have been revised. New information on the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in international exporting and investment has been incorporated into the discussion. We have updated the discussion on recent changes and trends in the levels and direction of trade and investment among the major regions and nations of the world, including changes associated with China and other Asian nations. The discussion of record levels of foreign direct investment, including international mergers and acquisitions, has been expanded. We have provided updated company examples for many of the key chapter concepts. The discussion of distributive forces, which previously had been a part of Chapter 13, has been moved into this chapter to extend the discussion on ways in which companies enter into foreign markets for international trade and investment.

Chapter 3: Information on the EU ban of US beef has been updated to include the WTO authorization to retaliation given to the US. Also, new information has been added on the EU-US pact to limit government subsidies to their commercial aircraft makers.

Chapter 4: We have expanded the discussion of the European Union, as well as expanded coverage of the OECD and other international organizations. There is also a new section explaining the relationship between international organizations and international business.

Chapter 5: Obviously, the discussion of the Euro, and it's strengths and weaknesses has been updated to reflect the current developments. Also, developments in the Eurozone where the European Central Bank sets monetary policy are included in this chapter.

Chapter 6: A new discussion of the Euro and it's impact on international business is included. There is also an expanded discussion of the role of the US dollar in international transactions and of financial forces and how they affect business in countries throughout the world.

Chapter 7: The extensive tables in this chapter have been revised. New indicators of development such as cell phones, home computers, and Internet hosts are introduced. The importance of sociocultural forces is re-emphasized. To illustrate the wide variability of inflation rates, we have added an historical perspective.

Chapter 8: There are a number of updates and additions to this chapter. Information on the biggest ecological disaster since Chernobyl is presented, the impact of the new bridge connecting Sweden to Denmark is described, a report on the blockage of the Rhine Waterway caused by the NATO bombing in Yugoslavia is included, and new information on the progress made in the production of unconventional sources of petroleum has been added.

Chapter 9: The table comparing religious populations has been updated and changed to a graphical representation, which should make this information easier to understand. We changed the vignette on Disneyland Paris to reflect Disney's successful changes made there. We indicate that the influx of scientists and engineers into the United States from other countries has subsided. A new bribe payers index from Transparency International is introduced, as well as a new table describing the extent of the entrepreneurial spirit in various countries around the world.

Chapter 10: We have added the explanation of the importance to business of politics including such concepts and labels as conservative and liberal, right and left.

Chapter 11: There is now a section discussion international litigation and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Discussion of extraterritorial application of US laws and application of antitrust laws throughout the world has been expanded. Additionally, there is a discussion of the role of the US Department of Justice.

Chapter 12: A new section on immigration, focusing on the entry of businesspeople to the US has been added. Also, we have expanded the discussion of how technology is influencing workers and the workplace and of trends in labor movements worldwide.

Chapter 13: The discussion in Chapter 13 of competitiveness at the macro level ("national competitiveness"), has been completely revised and updated. The extensive tables in this chapter have been revised. Numerous new tables and figures have been added, including new measures of national competitiveness. Major changes in relative competitiveness of the U.S., the European Community, and Japan have been updated, including discussion of the changing role of keiretsu in Japan and the role of information and communication technologies in affecting relative rates and directions of development in the developed countries. We have included discussion of international e-commerce, as well as an expanded discussion of the newly industrialized economies and the leading developing nations of Asia, including China. The discussion of counterfeiting and piracy as important international business issues has been expanded and updated. Reflecting comments of our reviewers and prior users of this text, the discussion of distributive forces has been moved from this chapter into Chapter 2. We have provided updated examples for many of the key chapter concepts, and we have included a new mini-case at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 14: To more appropriately reflect the role of strategy and strategic planning as a key introductory and organizing focus for the discussion of how managers deal with the forces affecting international business, this chapter has been moved to the beginning of section 4. In this new Chapter 14, we have included a discussion of the concepts of strategy and competitive advantage, and their importance to international business. We have provided updated examples for many of the key concepts introduced in this chapter. The chapter includes a new strategic planning example (on 3M) and there is also a new mini-case on small and medium-sized enterprises (on ACT Manufacturing) at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 15: We shift our focus from the notion of market screening on a per-country basis only, and introduce the core idea that cross-country segments may be just as important. We re-emphasize the fact that policy stability rather than political stability per se is more important as an international business risk factor. We also introduce several political risk forecasting services for the first time. The material on sociocultural forces has been extensively changed. An in-depth vignette on market research practices has been added, as well as a new table on the marketing potential of emerging economies.

Chapter 16: The eternal issue of standardization vs. adaptation has been tackled again with more attention given to the likelihood of the need for adaptation. Another general change is an increased focus on consumer products and services as compared to business-to-business marketing examples. We introduce a table illustrating Internet advertising agencies for the first time. We also discuss challenges to advertising, personal selling, channels of distribution and prices on the Internet. A bit less emphasis is given to transfer prices as a pricing issue.

Chapter 17: We have added a new graphic that illustrates the risk/cost trade-off of export payment terms. There is also a new discussion on the successor to the Foreign Sales Corporation. The U.S. government has agreed to eliminate the FSC after it lost an appeal to the WTO. Also, we have included information showing that large firms do export - information from a Census Bureau study confirms that a large part of the export value associated with large multinational manufacturers was between related parties. Also, the top 50 manufacturers accounted for 45 percent of the known export value.

Chapter 20: In Chapter 20, we have expanded substantially our discussion of international outsourcing, and we have expanded our discussion of the linkage among outsourcing, value chains, and cycle time. We have provided an extensive new discussion of electronic purchasing and the impact of e-commerce on international operations management, including the challenges as well as opportunities associated with emerging business-to-business electronic purchasing practices. We have introduced an expanded discussion of international standards, with an emphasis on ISO standards, and have also expanded our discussion of the management of maintenance activities in international operations. We have provided updated examples for many of the key concepts introduced in this chapter, including examples from service-based companies to complement our existing coverage of more manufacturing-oriented firms. We have included a discussion of global concurrent engineering (or "chasing the sun") and have also added an extended example of international operations management within small and medium-sized enterprises (Cognizant Technology Solutions).