Contemporary Developments in Business and Management

Kenneth Fee

The University of Sunderland © 2013 The University of Sunderland First published September 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without permission of the copyright owner. While every effort has been made to ensure that references to websites are correct at time of going to press, the world wide web is a constantly changing environment and the University of Sunderland cannot accept any responsibility for any changes to addresses. The University of Sunderland acknowledges product, service and company names referred to in this publication, many of which are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks. All materials internally quality assessed by the University of Sunderland and reviewed by academics external to the University. Instructional design and publishing project management by Wordhouse Ltd, Reading, UK.

Contents

Introduction

vii

Unit 1

The contemporary world of business and management Introduction 1.1 1.2 The global business environment The importance of developments in the global environment Case Study 1.3 Organisational decision making and performance

vii 1 3 10 14 17 19 19 20

Self-assessment questions Feedback on self-assessment questions Summary

Unit 2

Globalisation Introduction 2.1 2.2 Definitions and indicators of globalisation Key drivers and facilitators of globalisation Case Study 2.3 2.4 Barriers and inhibitors of globalisation Comparing the costs and benefits of globalization Case Study 2.5 International trade and foreign direct investment Case Study 2.6 Applying Porter’s diamond model

21 21 22 25 27 29 31 32 36 36 40 43 43 44

Self-assessment questions