Yadong Luo

How multinational companies can use digital technology to compete in a world where business is driven by the forces of both globalization and deglobalization. Digital technology has put globalization on steroids; multinational companies now account for one-third of world GDP and one-fourth of world employment. And yet complicating this story of unchecked global capitalism are two contradictory forces. Even as advances in digital technology enable borderless markets, a new nationalism has emerged, reviving protectionism and railing against digital colonialism. In The Digital Multinational, management experts Satish Nambisan and Yadong Luo examine how companies can adopt a dual strategy to cope with this new normal: harnessing the power of digital technology while adapting to the geopolitical realities of particular markets. Key to success, Nambisan and Luo explain, is the notion of tight and loose coupling to characterize the relationship of the digital multinational to its global partners and subsidiaries. Identifying the tightness-looseness requirements of global business connectivity leads to successful business strategy. Drawing on real-world examples that include Burberry’s entrance into the Chinese market, Unilever’s AI-powered global talent marketplace, and the Vocal for Local movement in India, they develop a typology of global business contexts; discuss digital strategies for entering new markets, establishing digital platforms, managing globally dispersed activities, and pursuing innovation; and explain how these strategies can be part of a business leader’s toolkit. The Digital Multinational is an essential guide to competing in a business world driven by both globalization and deglobalization.

This fully revised and updated fourth edition of International Business offers an action- focused, practical approach to the topic, helping students understand the global business environment and its repercussions for executives. The book provides thorough coverage, delving into fundamental concepts and theory; the cultural, political, and economic environment; international business strategies; and even functional management areas.More comprehensive than competing books, this new edition of International Business includes:A new chapter on the digitalization of the global economy and its implications for firm strategy and organizations.New examinations of the forces of de- globalization, implications of rising trade protectionism, challenges of geopolitical conflicts, and a friction framework for understanding the effects of cultural differences.Enriched and expanded discussions about potential reconfigurations of global value chains following the COVID- 19 pandemic, changing perspectives on the role of the government with renewed attention to industrial policy, shifts in regional integration with the emergence of such new trade blocks as CPTPP and RCEP, and fresh insights on factors influencing a country’s balance of payments.Strengthened, expanded global cases, examples, and “industry” and “country” mini- cases that give students practical insight into the ways companies actually behave within a competitive, global environment.Also featuring a companion website with a test bank, PowerPoint slides, and instructor’s manual, this book is ideal for students and instructors of any international business course at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

This fully revised and updated fourth edition of International Business offers an action- focused, practical approach to the topic, helping students understand the global business environment and its repercussions for executives. The book provides thorough coverage, delving into fundamental concepts and theory; the cultural, political, and economic environment; international business strategies; and even functional management areas.More comprehensive than competing books, this new edition of International Business includes:A new chapter on the digitalization of the global economy and its implications for firm strategy and organizations.New examinations of the forces of de- globalization, implications of rising trade protectionism, challenges of geopolitical conflicts, and a friction framework for understanding the effects of cultural differences.Enriched and expanded discussions about potential reconfigurations of global value chains following the COVID- 19 pandemic, changing perspectives on the role of the government with renewed attention to industrial policy, shifts in regional integration with the emergence of such new trade blocks as CPTPP and RCEP, and fresh insights on factors influencing a country’s balance of payments.Strengthened, expanded global cases, examples, and “industry” and “country” mini- cases that give students practical insight into the ways companies actually behave within a competitive, global environment.Also featuring a companion website with a test bank, PowerPoint slides, and instructor’s manual, this book is ideal for students and instructors of any international business course at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

First published in 1998, this volume explores international investment strategies as mainly antecedent decisions about what, when, where, and how a transnational investor should invest in the pursuit of its sustained competitive advantages in the global marketplace. The objective of this book is to provide international managers with conceptual frameworks, general guidelines, governmental policies, and insightful evidence useful for their strategic investment decisions involving the People’s Republic of China, a country which is now the largest emerging economy and the biggest foreign direct investment absorption developing country in the world.

Interpersonal relationship (guanxi) is one of the major dynamics of Chinese society. Guanxi has been a pervasive part of the Chinese business world for the last few centuries. It binds literally millions of Chinese firms into a social and business web. In China's new, fast-paced business environment, guanxi has become more entrenched than ever, heavily influencing Chinese political landscapes, social behavior, and business practice.This book delineates social and cultural principles and philosophies underlying guanxi dynamics, along with guanxi's social norms that have been long embedded in the Chinese society. Although guanxi is embedded in almost every part of social life in China, companies demonstrate different needs and capacity toward guanxi cultivation. Chinese firms develop guanxi as a strategic mechanism to overcome competitive and resource disadvantages by cooperating and exchanging favors with government authorities and other stakeholders. This book presents an integrative framework about guanxi development according to institutional, strategic, and organizational factors. It further articulates how foreign firms adaptively develop their own legitimate and effective guanxi in China's highly dynamic and complex environment.Guanxi is really dynamic that its practices have been constantly changing and its normative and cognitive legitimacy is shifting as the social and economic structures in the society are drastically transforming. For this reason, this third edition of the book has added numerous new and emergent issues such as moral degradation and guanxi, qualitative and quantitative review of guanxi studies, and guanxi ties between organizations.

First published in 1998, this volume explores international investment strategies as mainly antecedent decisions about what, when, where, and how a transnational investor should invest in the pursuit of its sustained competitive advantages in the global marketplace. The objective of this book is to provide international managers with conceptual frameworks, general guidelines, governmental policies, and insightful evidence useful for their strategic investment decisions involving the People’s Republic of China, a country which is now the largest emerging economy and the biggest foreign direct investment absorption developing country in the world.

Guanxi or interpersonal relationships is one of the major dynamics of Chinese society. A pervasive part of the Chinese business world for the last few centuries, it binds literally millions of Chinese firms into a social and business web. Any business in this society, including local firms and foreign investors and marketers, inevitably faces guanxi dynamics. In China's new, fast-paced business environment, guanxi has been more entrenched than ever, heavily influencing Chinese social behavior and business practice. However, as in other emerging economies, corruption in China is becoming more rampant, which makes guanxi and corruption often intermingled. As such, business executives need to place greater caution today in the practice and process of guanxi development and utilization.Due to the growing academic and practical interest in guanxi, this second edition provides a timely update to the systematic and vigorous exploration of the various social, economic, cultural, and business issues relating to the complex concept and practice of guanxi.

This book looks at the condition of corporate governance in the new millennium; illuminating its complexities and examining key issues such as interaction with global stakeholders, competitors, governments, partners, suppliers, and peer subsidiaries. Enhances understanding of the complexities of global corporate governance issues. Provides important guides to refining and improving the rules that govern business relationships among major global stakeholders.

Across the world, companies are forming some of the most complex and exciting collaborations in the business world: cross-border alliances (CBAs). Yet while this offers multinational companies a way into the global marketplace, there is no guarantee of success.This book looks at the business and human resource issues arising in these complex collaborations, putting forward the case that the handling of these issues can determine the CBA's success. The book takes readers through the two main kinds of CBA - International Joint Ventures (IJV), and International Mergers and Acquisitions (IMA) - explaining how each type works and which human resource issues will arise. As well as analyzing these issues and explaining the relevant management, economics and sociological theories, this impressive text uses short end-of-chapter case studies and in depth end-of-text case studies to provide numerous practical examples.The first major textbook that seriously studies human resource issues in a CBA context, this book offers both students of human resource / international business and practicing human resource professionals alike the frameworks for truly understanding the complexities of the area.

Across the world, companies are forming some of the most complex and exciting collaborations in the business world: cross-border alliances (CBAs). Yet while this offers multinational companies a way into the global marketplace, there is no guarantee of success.This book looks at the business and human resource issues arising in these complex collaborations, putting forward the case that the handling of these issues can determine the CBA's success. The book takes readers through the two main kinds of CBA - International Joint Ventures (IJV), and International Mergers and Acquisitions (IMA) - explaining how each type works and which human resource issues will arise. As well as analyzing these issues and explaining the relevant management, economics and sociological theories, this impressive text uses short end-of-chapter case studies and in depth end-of-text case studies to provide numerous practical examples.The first major textbook that seriously studies human resource issues in a CBA context, this book offers both students of human resource / international business and practicing human resource professionals alike the frameworks for truly understanding the complexities of the area.

Whether or not foreign companies can succeed in China is largely determined by how they enter the market. This book offers insightful lessons to international managers in this area. It integrates views of both foreign business and Chinese government, describes entry choices and related governmental policies, compares pros and cons of each entry choice for foreign firms, and provides a series of thoughtful advice to business people.The book illuminates how to enter China for international corporations seeking preemptive opportunities and long-term competitive positions abroad. It presents China's investment environment at the turn of a new century; outlines the impact of China's WTO membership on these companies; articulates each of the entry mode choices available to foreign companies; analyzes factors underlying entry mode selection and equity ownership arrangement; and provides insight into entry mode selection from case studies. It also synthesizes relevant literature, offers managerial lessons regarding entry strategies, and illustrates Chinese government views and expectations of MNCs.By choosing an entry mode that fits organizational capabilities, objectives, and environmental contingencies, foreign businesses can accomplish their strategic goals, prevent uncompensated exposure of proprietary knowledge, and mitigate transactional hazards that may be precipitated during allocation and local operations. Students taking a "Doing Business in China" course, executives interested in foreign investment, and scholars interested in international expansion will find How to Enter China invaluable for those purposes.Yadong Luo is Professor of Management, University of Miami.

The first book-length treatment of theories, practical lessons, and the full set of critical issues that affect international joint ventures. It addresses culture, human resources, learning, legal, management, and research and development, and presents a full set of decisions and detailed guidelines for IJV formation and management. It also thoroughly analyzes 30 case studies.

China is the largest emerging market in the world, yet Western MNCs have invested significantly less there than their Asian MNC counterparts. Luo systematically compares Western and Asian investment strategies and their performance in China and draws lessons that Westerners must heed. He compares Western and Asian MNCs on their respective economic rationales, cultural proximity, strategy behavior, investment structure, business determinants, and performance differences. He also reviews foreign direct investment in China over two decades, outlines the economic environment facing MNCs today, delineates new policies that affect foreign investment and operations, and discusses China's entry into the World Trade Organization and the impact this will have on MNCs everywhere. The result is a needed contribution to the literature on international investment and the China market, particularly for upper level executives, analysts studying emerging markets, and scholars specializing in international business and expansion.In Part I, Luo reviews the experience of MNCs in China and the opportunities and challenges, today and in coming years. In Part II he looks at the strategy, structure, and performances of Western and Asian MNCs. He assesses and compares strategic and structural behaviors of these two groups of MNCs, then deciphers and compares the differences in distinctive capabilities and their performance implications. In other chapters he examines and compares financial performance and its business determinants—thus giving executives of Western MNCs a way to verify the effectiveness of their own investment and operating strategies and to reconfigure them, if necessary, to include environmental dynamics and organizational capabilities. In addition to mini-cases throughout the book, there is an appendix consisting of six major case studies, detailing the experiences and successes of six Asian MNCs in China, offering a seldom seen glimpse of how the West's Asian competitors accomplish their own goals, and why the challenges they present to the West are so formidable.

The first book-length treatment of theories, practical lessons, and the full set of critical issues that affect international joint ventures. It addresses culture, human resources, learning, legal, management, and research and development, and presents a full set of decisions and detailed guidelines for IJV formation and management. It also thoroughly analyzes 30 case studies.

This book demonstrates how the success of foreign companies depends on the extent to which they can benefit from structural transformation.

Globalization provides firms with tremendous opportunities as well as daunting challenges. International expansion has become a pervasive and prominent strategic response to global economic dynamics for a large number of companies. The success of such expansion depends on several of entry and cooperative strategies. Dr. Luo provides conceptual backgrounds, analytical frameworks, managerial insights, and business guidance for a firm's international expansion efforts. He illustrates how (entry mode), when (timing), where (location), and what (industry). He elaborates on cooperative strategies such as partner selection, joint venture negotiation, control, cooperation, and termination.The book is written for international executives who are actively pursuing international market opportunities. It argues that managers need to formulate appropriate expansion strategies to achieve a sustainable and successful presence in the global marketplace. The book is also valuable for students and scholars of international business, global management, and strategic management.