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The study of international business has become increasingly important in recent years. So important that the American Assembly of the Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has called for the internationalisation of business curricula. In 1992 and beyond, successful business people will treat the entire world as their domain. No one country can operate in an economic vacuum. Any economic measures taken by one country can affect the global economy. This book is designed to challenge the reader to develop a global perspective of international business. Globalisation is by no means a new concept, but there are many new factors that have contributed to its recently accelerated growth. Among them, the new technologies in communication and transport that have resulted in major expansions of international trade and investment. In the future, the world market will become predominant. There are bound to be big changes in the world economy. For instance the changes in Eastern Europe and the European Community during the 1990s. With a strong knowledge base in international business, future managers will be better prepared for the new world market. This book introduces its readers to the exciting and rewarding field of international management and international corporations. It is written in contemporary, easy‐to‐understand language, avoiding abstract terminology; and is organised into five sections, each of which includes a number of chapters that cover a subject involving activities that cross national boundaries.

We contend that the international strategy adopted by and the international experience of top executives in parent firms, as well as the embeddedness of foreign subsidiaries in host countries, moderate the impact of institutional distance between home and host countries on the divergence of isomorphic pressures experienced by foreign subsidiary managers. We further suggest that diverging isomorphic pressures are more likely to spur foreign subsidiary managers to deinstitutionalize organizational routines from parent firms when these managers possess knowledge‐based power, the subsidiary’s performance is declining, or social controls are lacking from the parent firm. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of returnee managers on Chinese firms’ performances at overseas markets.

By hand collecting two data set containing managers’ foreign experiences and firms’ principal customers, this study empirically examines the relationship between returnee managers and overseas customers.

The author shows that firms with returnee managers: have higher probability of gaining overseas customers and proportion of overseas sales; and are more likely to conduct international M&A, adopt international Big 4 auditors and list overseas. In addition, returnee executives who came back from individualistic culture with overseas working experience, when entering the overseas market where they have experienced, are more effectively in helping firms to perform well.

The findings in this study suggest that firms with returnee managers are better able to develop relationships with overseas customers and expand overseas markets than those firms without returnee managers.

For policy makers, this study justifies government policies that aim to attract and encourage more returnees to come back. Furthermore, the author shows that returnees with different foreign experiences, national culture of different countries, whether doing business with their familiar foreign country, and their positions in current organizations have different effects on overseas customers. Firms can utilize all these information to choose the “right” returnees to increase their success in overseas markets.

This study is among the first to examine the role of returnee managers in an emerging economy on firm’s probability of gaining overseas customers and expanding overseas sales.

This study aims to examine how senior foreign executives in a top management team catalyse strategic change in firms that originated from emerging markets (EMs). It further examines the moderating effects of organisational size and uncertainty avoidance (UA) on the positive relationship between senior foreign manager and strategic change in an organisation.

The panel data econometrics and multilevel analyses were adopted to run the model. The author tests hypotheses on 263 emerging market firms (EMFs), originating from nine EMs.

Empirical results reveal that senior foreign managers are active agents who can promote and implement strategic change in an organisation. They possess a different set of values, knowledge and experiences that can trigger strategic change. In addition, firm size and UA weaken the relationship between senior foreign manager ratio and strategic change of a firm..

This study indicates that recruiting committees of EMFs should consider hiring senior foreign managers to foster a higher degree of strategic change. Nevertheless, firm size and UA may impose implementation difficulties for senior, foreign managers. As a result, the focal firm should be flexible and open to change.

This study aims to contribute to strategic change and top management team internationalisation literature by promoting the role of senior foreign managers and national culture on strategic change.

Commercial advertising is relatively new in Vietnam, having been reintroduced only after reform began, and policy has been erratic. Much initial criticism seems to be based on the fact that foreign companies are usually better at it than local companies, and thus gain market share. However, one aim in opening the economy is knowledge transfer, so local managers should be learning more about modern advertising if they work in foreign companies. This research looks at how Vietnamese managers in local and foreign consumer products companies view various elements of advertising. The pattern of views about specific elements indicates that Vietnamese managers working in foreign companies are learning current ideas about how to construct effective ads more rapidly. Relative to the managers in local firms, they are somewhat less concerned about information content, and more concerned with elements of execution style.

Applying the concept of “entrepreneur managers” from dynamic capabilities theory to the question of how some Japanese managers develop and use their relationships with foreign investors, this article explores organizational contexts in which Japanese managers use foreign shareholders as resources to enhance firm capabilities in the global marketplace, deploy assets effectively and implement changes to traditional organizational customs. The article asks why and how some top managers implemented institutional changes and adopted customs that are common in the shareholder-based system while others did not.

We conducted qualitative interviews with 11 inverstor relations (IR) managers of large, listed Japanese firms in Kyoto and Tokyo.

First, by inviting a hedge fund partner and using their human capital and social capital, a Japanese CEO committed to strengthening his firm’s competencies in the global market and introduced changes that are common in the shareholder-based system. Second, a CEO with an MBA degree and exceptional communication skills in English and Japanese dedicated himself to executing much of the strategic advice suggested to him by foreign shareholders and altered some of his firm’s traditional Japanese management practices. Third, even though many Japanese firms welcomed and used foreign shareholders as advisors to help them streamline and/or acquire firm assets, their top leaders’ implementation of organizational changes was limited. Fourth, the top leaders of family-owned firms were reluctant to initiate dialogue with foreign investors.

This article adds some useful organizational context to existing scholarship on institutional theory by examining Japanese leaders’ strategic management in their relations with foreign investors. Using the concept of dynamic capabilities, it addresses the role of innovative strategic managers in firms’ institutional changes.

Proposes a reputation‐based model to examine the managerial investment and liquidation decisions regarding real estate projects in developing countries. Unlike investments in domestic projects, foreign investments are subject to noisy monitoring, resulting in a liquidation inefficiency where managers preserve their reputational capital by not liquidating projects likely to fail as long as negative signals are not revealed to the public. The manager’s decision to invest in foreign countries is influenced not only by the difference between foreign and domestic project returns, but also by the change in reputational capital. Shows that reputation‐based utility maximization can lead to an under‐investment in profitable foreign projects. Government support to invest in foreign countries can reduce the under‐investment problem, but it can also increase the liquidation inefficiency.

Building on the institutional theory perspective on corporate governance change and based on interviews with investor relations (IR) managers in large Japanese companies, this study aims to examine Japanese IR managers’ perceptions of the influence of foreign shareholders on Japan’s corporate governance reform and stakeholder-based system. The paper examines tensions, conflicts and collaborations among different stakeholders involved in corporate governance changes in Japan, especially in the areas of firm ownership, employment relations and boards of directors. The paper explains why convergence does not happen in some large Japanese companies by investigating Japanese managers’ responses to and perceptions of foreign shareholders in multiple corporate contexts.

The author conducted in-depth interviews with ten IR managers at large, listed Japanese companies in Kyoto and Tokyo and two managers at foreign investment banks in Tokyo, between 2018 and 2021.

This paper explores five themes that emerged from my interviews: Chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) mixed perceptions of foreign investors, the effectiveness of CEO compensation and outside directors, managers’ reluctance to accept stock price-driven business strategies, foreign investors’ engagement vs investments in index funds and gender patterns, including the effectiveness of token female outside directors. The Japanese companies the author looked at incorporated foreign shareholders as consultants and adopted a few major shareholder-based customs, such as CEOs communicating with investors, having outside directors, increasing CEO compensation and slimming down unprofitable parts of the business via restructuring and downsizing. Simultaneously, they resisted a few major shareholder-based practices. Foreign shareholders’ pressure revealed tensions and contradictions between the Japanese stakeholder system and shareholder primacy-based customs.

This paper is one of the few qualitative studies that explores Japanese IR managers’ responses to and perceptions of foreign shareholders in corporate governance reform, with a particular focus on ownership, employment relations and board members. This paper provides examples of tension, conflict and cooperation between Japanese managers and foreign investors, as seen through the eyes of Japanese IR managers. Examining changes in Japan’s stakeholder-based system of corporate governance reform enables us to better understand the processes by which, with vigorous pressure from government and foreign shareholders, a non-western country like Japan may adopt shareholder-based customs and how such a change may also lead to institutional changes.

Purpose – This paper identifies skills necessary in order to succeed in Vietnam and proposes a training program to develop such skills. Design/methodology/approach – To determine necessary skills, 74 managers were interviewed using critical incident methodology to identify training needs. Critical incident approach asks respondents to describe the incident, its nature and consequences to provide context for understanding the managers’ problems. Findings – Local Vietnamese managers cited professional development (42 percent), basic business skills (29 percent), communication and cultural skills (18 percent) and legal understanding skills (11 percent) as most critical to succeed in international business. Foreign managers cited cultural understanding and awareness (34 percent), professional skills (23 percent), personal skills (20 percent), and interpersonal skills, language and communication skills. For Vietnamese managers, training includes leadership, problem solving, interpersonal skills, business basics, communication and culture. For expatriate managers, training presents the particular aspects of the local culture in a way that allows the foreign manager to become more effective through understanding and awareness. Research limitations/implications – The findings of this study and its training suggestions are based on findings from Vietnam. To be relevant outside Vietnam, the program may be adapted. Originality/value – This paper identifies the skills needed by Vietnamese and expatriate managers to be successful in international business. The findings and suggestions are valuable to managers and trainers involved in international business in Vietnam and Asia.

In discussing the general approach to management and supervisory training in Nigeria in Part II of this article, attention will be given to: