Synopses & Reviews
The globalization of business activity: whether you love it or hate it, it affects you. What causes it, how different countries deal with it, and what the future might hold for it are all key questions which
The Global Environment of Business answers. It traces the growth of big business, the comings and goings of economic globalization over two centuries, and compares the institutional environments and track records of business in a selection of countries on every continent today. It examines the role of local and regional clusters of small and medium-sized companies, and the obstacles which both oil wealth, and concentrated land ownership, pose for poor countries trying to develop. The final chapter assesses the sustainability of global business in the context of climate change and growth of regional blocs. Changing forms of business organization; changing technology; who wins and who loses; all are kept in sight throughout the book.
Frederick Guy pulls together all these various themes. Employing clear, vivid examples, narrative structures, and stories, it is not a dry textbook. Economic, political, and sociological theories are used, explained, evaluated; and employed to knit together a collection of vivid examples and cases.
Review
"The author has done the student and the general reader a great favor by weaving together many contributions into a single highly readable book...I am hopeful that many lecturers will chose to stretch into disciplines outside their specialties to make the best use of this uniquely integrative approach. They will be offering the student a rewarding educational experience."--Journal of International Business Studies
"The book is a remarkable effort to provide an explanation of the current configuration of international business. Namely it tries to answer two key questions: What are the roots of the global corporation? Why did the Nation State accept to enter into a system of integrated markets?...this book should be part of any modern course on international business and/or globalization."--Journal of Economics
"This thoroughly researched, well written volume provides an extensive and careful investigation of how the complex relationship between policy, technology and the international business system has evolved in time. The approach is multidimensional, blending in a successful way international economics and international business with political economy and economic history."--Francesca Sanna-Randaccio, University of Rome La Sapienza
"I highly recommend Frederick Guy's The Global Environment of Business. It is rare to see a book that with such intellectual depth and breadth that can serve as a course textbook."--William Lazonick, Director, Center for Industrial Competitiveness, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
"The Global Environment of Business is a fine text offering an analysis of the environment in which international business operates. From how multi-national corporations and nation states interact to shape the international economic system to how the economy internationalizes and how this can lead to a global world or a regional focus, this is packed with technological and historic assessments based on economic research and political science alike: perfect for any college-level business library."--Midwest Book Review
"A unique book on international business providing all essential insights to comprehend the driving mechanisms of economic globalization. The clear presentation of the key intuitions of international trade theory makes this manuscript a main reference for all international business economists."--Cecilia Jona-Lasinio, Department of Economics, Luiss University, Rome
About the Author
Frederick Guy is a lecturer in the Department of Management at Birkbeck College, University of London. He was born in San Francisco. He received his BS in the Political Economy of Natural Resources from the University of California at Berkeley, and his PhD in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He worked for ten years as a manager, director, and management consultant for consumer cooperatives in food retailing, wholesaling, and housing, and for two years as a researcher at Cambridge University's Centre for Business Research. He has been with the Department of Management at Birkbeck College, University of London, since 1997. He lives in London with his wife and son.