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Since the 1960s, the U.S. states have operated overseas trade offices to promote trade and to encourage international exchanges of information. To date, little has been done to assess whether these foreign outposts are affecting trade. The following study tests a model of office budgets, amount of time spent on export promotion, and the number of formal sister‐ states and cities to assess their effect on exports. Coordination of indirect activities, such as developing official sister‐city and sister‐state relations, may be the most important contribution of overseas offices to future trade.

Major changes are already under way in the international distribution operations of many companies, with even more broad‐based ones likely in the future. The recent deregulation of the US ocean liner companies will create new opportunities for international shippers to redesign existing distribution channels in order to reduce order cycle days and shipment costs. Further, as the United States continues to shift towards a technology and service‐based economy—implying that it will produce fewer goods domestically and buy more from abroad—it is clear that for many firms international logistics will become a more important part of the physical distribution function before the end of the 1980s.

Argues that the distinction between the two distinct, but interrelated areas of management in international trade is not neat – exporters being differentiated from the international marketer by the foreign, or alien, nature of his products in the market sought, while the international marketer can eliminate this in many circumstances. Highlights the Ford Motor Company, with manufacturing capability in a number of countries, exclusive distributorships and distinctive, national promotional policies as a multinational. States that smaller firms' options are restricted by comparison – particularly with regard to overseas entrepreneurs. Discusses further the reasons for trading overseas and gives four distinct phases for this. Looks at management and export marketing, stating that UK industry has had to face competition with lower costings in areas from textiles to commercial vehicles and tyres. Sums up that while international trade poses recurrent issues for marketing management a stock of knowledge exists which aids the solving of problems pertaining to the issues posed.

Selling goods overseas is more risky than selling goods in the home market.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of cultural beliefs on governance in a business network without a legal institutional framework. Particular emphasis is placed on the cross-country remittance mail operating network in Chaoshan, China, during the period 1860-1949. This investigation builds on Greif’s business governance theory and develops an analytical framework that considers cultural beliefs, agency relationships and multilateral punishment mechanisms. Furthermore, it uses the institutional analysis method to identify the institutional factors that sustained the remittance mail operating networks and their underlying mechanisms.

This paper adopts the qualitative research method. First, it investigates the history of the remittance mail operating network and agency relationships by searching through the contents of the relevant historical documents preserved in the official archives and information found in other records. Thereafter, it summarizes and demonstrates the cultural beliefs inferred from that research. The archival materials permit analysis of the interactions between cultural beliefs, agency relationships and multilateral punishment mechanisms by the institutional analysis method.

Due to the lack of legal institutions in China during the period under review, cultural beliefs played a central institutional role in cross-country business relations. Network governance was coupled with clan cultural beliefs in the remittance mail operating network. This relationship was the key to sustain the efficient operation of the remittance mail network.

In the West, corporate governance has been influenced by and has become an integral feature of Western culture and values. This is not necessarily so for the corporate governance in terms of Chinese culture and values. Thus, instead of mimicking the modes of developed countries, it is important for Chinese enterprises to seek a mode of corporate governance that is in accord with their local cultures. This may be an important focus for enterprise development.

The general importance of technological advances, based on successful industrial research and development, is well established in the economics of international trade and investment. A part of the emphasis on technology as a factor in international trade has resulted from the general reaction to Leontief's findings about the apparent factor intensity of U.S. trade: findings which went against the accepted pattern of the capital‐ and labour‐ based Heckscher‐Ohlin model of international trade. More important though is the recognition of the commercial significance of product‐ and process‐ oriented industrial innovation in an industry's international operations. There is ample evidence to support the usually accepted connection between research and development and international trade and investment in the case of United States' manufacturing industry. There has not, however, been a proper examination of the nature of this relationship in U.K. manufacturing industries. With the availability of new data on book values of British direct investment abroad by industry groups, some assessment of the connection between research activity and export‐ and foreign‐investment positions can now be undertaken.

British firms are fortunate in having access to a plethora of information regarding markets and marketing activities in overseas countries. And yet, there are always nagging doubts as to the extent to which such sources of information are effectively used. Perhaps, the choice is too wide. The myriad of directories, research reports, sources of sources and books on overseas markets is just too time consuming to study in detail. There is little doubt, however, that a systematic study of secondary source information before entering a foreign market can greatly enhance an executive's feel for the environment in which his product may (or may not) be selling. This article attempts to help those managers wishing to conduct international market research in the art of finding and using published sources of information.

This paper is concerned with the learning needs of managers in SMEs that seek to become progressively international. A particular focus of attention is the informal learning practices that occur within the economic and social networks utilised by managers in this sector. Using both qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection, the paper investigates the challenges perceived by managers engaged (or seeking to engage) in international activity. The results suggest three main areas of challenge: first, the early “pre‐internationalisation” stage, when decisions about “whether”, “where” or “how” to internationalise are taken; secondly, the development of longer‐term planning processes and business systems to cope with the consequences of the initial internationalisation decision; thirdly, the challenge of regulatory issues and the need to secure payment and manage foreign intermediaries. Further areas of learning need, which depend on the significance of international business for the firm, are also indicated. Existing structures, cultures and approaches to management can be maintained for many SMEs that undertake some limited international activity. Where international business is a more important factor, however, managers need to develop cultural appreciation and empathy to underpin their expertise and consolidate their market position. Indeed, sustained international development may require a significant reorienting of the business, underpinned by management and organisational learning to develop an appropriate international “mind‐set” that supports the effective development of relationships with stakeholders in different countries.

The strategic growth directions, taken by a sample of 27 major European retailers selected across the main EC states, are explored. A descriptive model is developed to assess such directional growth and the paths taken by the sample companies within the framework of the model are analysed. The findings indicate that similar patterns of development have occurred within certain sectors across national boundaries. The majority of trading activity exists within the national boundaries of the sample companies. Furthermore, the cross‐border activity that exists tends to be small in scale relative to the size of the company, and in close geographic and marketing proximity to the country of domicile and the core business.

This study develops our understanding of the internationalisation activities of ‘transnational entrepreneurs’ (TEs), namely, entrepreneurs that are socially embedded in two or more different countries, specifically, in the context of the growing phenomenon of ‘micro-multinationals’ involving small firms with income-generating assets in more than one country. The investigation involves TEs originating from South Asia (Indian Sub-continent), based in the UK clothing and textiles sectors. Limited statistical differences exist between the perceptions of 63 survey respondents with varying degrees of international sales regarding perceived barriers and assistance requirements towards operating in overseas markets. Subsequent interview data with 16 of those TEs owning micro-multinational businesses offer unique insights, suggesting their behaviour is distinct from certain existing literature involving internationalising entrepreneurs, but that they are not a homogeneous group as strategies vary. This study provides opportunities for further research to understand TEs’ practices, including those operating in different institutional contexts.