Export-management Books

The first section of each chapter provides a very brief look at the history, economy and politics of a given county, which is an integral part of understanding the people that one deals with. It is an injustice to the uninformed reader to only cover this in a short page or two, as most countries in Latin America have over 500 years of history and deeply rooted politics.

Additionally, Sabath frequently distorts historical facts and injects political viewpoints. An example of this is shown by the statement on how the Chilean Marxist President, Salvador Allende, "imposed his rule on the county," which led to instability and a poor economy. Allende was the first, if not only, democraticly elected president from the Communist party not only in the hemisphere, but in the world. I would suggest that business travelers who want historical and political information to seek it out from more informed and comprehensive sources.

Given this minor shortcoming and impossible task of summarizing 500 years of history and politics into a few paragraphs, Sabath does a commendable job of informing the public of all the little things one needs to know when doing business in Latin America--hence the four stars.

I have often wished that there was an outstanding source on business etiquette in various countries, and have searched in vain for one. I was quite interested to read this one to see if it would fulfill my needs. Obviously, I could not evaluate the advice for countries where I have not done business so I checked out the countries where I had done business. The results left me pretty pleased.

Issues that came up were addressed and in ways that seemed accurate based on my experiences. For example, if you go to Ecuador, your wardrobe will have to either accommodate the damp chill of Quito or the tropical humidity of Guayaquil.

On the other hand, the proper way to work with Chileans is still a mystery to me, even after reading this book. Well, one book cannot do everything.

The book is solid as far as it goes, and it attempts to cover the waterfront (14 countries and 24 subjects per country). That's probably the reason why the book is pretty basic in approach. You will get good help here on important subjects like how many hours of time difference (so you don't call at the wrong time, although this isn't often a big problem with Latin America), how dates are written down so you can decipher the messages you get, when holidays are so you won't offend someone by suggesting a meeting on an important religious or national holiday, and gift-giving etiquette (an area where Americans often err).

I do suggest that you acquire this book to have these basics available near to your computer and telephone at work. Also, the bibliography seems to provide a list of longer books on each geographic area. Those books may give you more details. There's probably no substitute for speaking with a business person from the country before you go, and getting advice from the concierge at a good hotel once you're there. Naturally, if you are fortunate enough to have colleagues in your company who work there already, they can fill you in. So this book is primarily aimed at those without a local operation.

Some of the better sections included information about what are appropriate conversational topics, rude gestures and actions to avoid, punctuality, seating etiquette, the special issues for women in business, and the weather conditions you can expect.

A book like this is a good reminder of how much we are conditioned by our culture. If nothing else, it can help you understand the sources of stalled thinking that can harm our business relationships in other countries because of our typical American approaches.

I liked what was in the book. I graded it down one star for what was not -- information about how to handle situations where communications and negotiations are not going well.

First of all, the author shares a lot of my opinions. She understands the cultural influences on contracting, recognizes that a contract isn't going to solve problems if you pick the wrong supplier or customer, and believes in keeping contracts short and simple.

Second, she writes both her sample contracts and the text of the book clearly and persuasively. The style is infinitely better than any predecessor books on the topic.

And finally, she hits the key issues where international contracts differ from domestic...Incoterms, CISG, exchange rates changing, and the importance of face to face contact in negotiation.

But the bottom line is that the authors seem to get it. And they explain this with examples, as well as analysis, and also give out some practical tools which should help pretty much anyone involved in international marketing.

The book also has a few novel ways of thinking about issues - whether one precisely agrees with them or not, they are very thought provoking (and in my view) at least generally correct and insightful. The concepts of "social learning" (where the SILK acronym in the title comes from) and of the "impact of biology" on marketing are quite intriguing.

..... leaves you with a new (and better) perspective on international marketing issues.

A great read for a dull flight ! And the people who should really read this book, probably fly a lot.

Does your CEO have the audacity to believe that he will not make the same mistakes that others made? Is your marketing team prepared for each and every market? This book teaches you to carefully prepare for each and every market and not take ANYTHING for granted. Do your research, or you will be the punchline of an joke or two at some International Marketing conferences somewhere in the future.

Dave Ricks lays out everyone else's blunders in such a way that you wonder if they could have really happened. Although it is sad that these mistakes happened, the message is that without preparation people make big mistakes in international business. These major business mistakes could happen to anybody (who does not know to avoid them.)

If you are looking for anectdotes for a business class or international business curriculum, you can save yourself the trouble of research and find out what Mr. Ricks has painstakingly already researched.

Although there is no way to find out what to avoid in every market... today's business students should buy this book and read it often so they can recognize when they need help avoiding the pitfals in today's increasingly global business world.

As a biingual international manager of an import/export firm I see many of these blunders cropping up everyday. Some companies are better prepared to handle them before they become broadcast over teh whole world. Many Mexican companies I have seen do not know their translation takes on a funny twist in English. But if I told them would they believe me?... I hope reading this book will make me realize I need help myself sometimes too.

Dave Ricks is a respected faculty member at Thunderbird, one of the world's most innovative International Business Master's Programs.

Don't be put off -- it _is_ a serious business book, and it treats the issues in a systematic fashion. But it is well-written, too, and the examples the author uses to make his points will have you chuckling.

As an ex Englishman near New York, one of the surprising things to learn, and thus the point of this book, is that cultural differences can affect us and our work performances.

It is often said that Britain and America are separated by a common language but this does not really convey the full extent of the differences between the two nations. The situation is made more difficult by the fact that American culture has established a hedgemony around the world and particularly so in the UK.

This book is a must read for anyone accepting a post in a foreign country and anyone relocating abroad. Indeed some of the lessons of this book can be usefully applied to different jobs not just different countries.

I like the structure of the book and in particular the focus on the book as a tool to be used and not just read. The use of case studies is very helpful although I personally do not appreciate the manner in which they are written. I would have liked some of them at least to be expressed in a more formal manner with actual references to be used where possible but this is a minor gripe.

Breaking through Culture Shock is written in a very user friendly manner and in a size that is easily followed.

Elisabeth Marx really has hit the nail on the head with this text which has a broad scope great applicability across the continents. My one concern would be with Chapter 5 where she looks at some country specific cases but which excludes Japan. Given that country's importance to business in the world one would think that it warranted inclusion.

That aside, I would highly recommend this book to anyone thinking about embarking on a move abroad and those who have already made a move, whether it be temporary or permanent.

Just a thought, but it would be interesting to see an American author tackle this subject in the same way.

I just realized this is the third book by a lawyer I have absorbed in this month's reading, and that is somehow a scary thought. If lawyers are starting to write popular reformist tracts against unfettered capitalism and the export of the flawed U.S. approach to capitalism, something very interesting must be happening in the dark recesses of our national mind.

This is not an easy book to read but on balance it is a very important book and one that would appear to be essential to any discussion of how we might reform the relationship between the federal government with its 1950's concepts and regulations, corporations with their secularist and short-term profit and liquidation notions, and the people who ultimately are both the foundation and the beneficiaries (or losers) within the political economy of the nation and the world.

The author lays out, from a business law perspective, all the legal and financial reasons why our corporate practices today sacrifice the long-term perspective and the creation of aggregate value, in favor of short-term profit-taking. He makes a number of suggestions for improvement.

Toward the end of the book, citing Lipsett but adding his own observations, he digs deep and summarizes our corporate culture as one that threatens traditional forms of community and morality (Lipsett), while increasingly dominating--undermining--foreign governments and cultures. Elsewhere in the book the stunning failure of our form of capitalism in selected countries is explored.

Although there are adequate notes, there is no bibliography and the index is extraordinarily mediocre--not containing, for example, the references in the book to oversight, political, or regulation. One star is deducted for this failure by the publisher to treat the book's content seriously.

In particular, Mitchell fails to systematically compare the behavior of public and non-public corporations in the U.S., or to compare American corporations with corporations operating in less-individualistic legal and cultural environments abroad. Yet such comparisons would be crucial to testing his points about the harmful impact of financial markets on American corporate management. In reading the book, I also wondered whether the pressures to maximize short-term returns are less the result of "American individualism" and more the result of a business environment where hostile takeovers are easy and executive compensation is tied to stock prices. In any event, these issues can't be resolved by theorizing. Mitchell needed to interview some managers to find out what really makes corporations tick.

This is a pity since Mitchell writes well, has common sense, and cares about ordinary Americans who spend most of their working lives in large business organizations. His concerns about warped corporate priorities were entirely vindicated by the scandals at Enron (where shareholders as well as workers were screwed by corporate managers bent on boosting short-term share values), which were exposed only AFTER his book appeared in 2001. We need more books pointing out that American-style capitalism isn't the last word on business and can take a heavy toll on humane values. I just wish that Mitchell had crossed his T's and dotted his I's.

The authors are the founders (1997) of a British consulting firm that specializes in social marketing. They've built an enviable track record already working with a range of clients including Coca-Cola and Nike. Their position is that companies should start becoming the solution to the world's problems instead of being seen as the cause. By using their power for social good, they can influence environment issues, human rights, and social justice.

Seven chapters carry the message: Orthodoxy, Heresy, Responsibility, Leadership, Anatomy, Possibility, and Unity. Intrigued? Prepare to read an interesting book filled with examples and stories about how business became so unpopular, but really isn't so bad after all. The heresy chapter tells the other side of the story that is pounded at us through the media: globalization makes the poor richer, corporations are good for human rights, and we can close sweatshops and end child labor. Under Responsibility, the authors explore how corporations respond to all this criticism and how they can be truly socially responsible. Leadership is needed-real leadership, not just lip service. Commercialism, profit, and social good can all live together in harmony. The authors offer some ideas about what business could do to make a real difference and how ordinary citizens can join the movement for common good.

This is an almost conversational book that is comfortable to read. You'll gain some new perspectives and perhaps some inspiration.

Having said that, there is value in the book as it demonstrates areas in which business and customers can work together to find arenas of social activity that are to their mutual advantage. It also puts forward good examples of why it is to the advantage of a company to engage in these sorts of activity and that they can turn a profit out of it as well.

The first two chapters are better forgotten. They set up the least sophisticated of the arguments against globalisation as a sort of straw man that they then tear down with decidedly simplistic and statistically dubious arguments. (It is one of the banes of this very important debate that each side presents totally 'authoritative' statistics that 'prove' the exact opposite of each other. However, these authors argue that the gap between rich and poor is not growing wider, which *really* requires some fancy definition bending.)

In the rest of the book, it is necessary to ignore the underlying theme that anybody who criticizes an aspect of business practice or the current global system is antibusiness and because some business is doing things well and responsibly all business is therefore beneficial. Neither extreme position is true. This leaves the possibility of becoming interested in the examples that they cite of good practice and thinking, with them, of how these examples could be spread and expanded. There are clearly many opportunities and it is equally clear that the authors' particular promotional skills will often be useful in identifying these opportunities and working out effective ways of getting them accepted and implemented.