Export-management Books

The book offers a good overview into brand marketing in particular to doctoral students. The cases provide a more practical aspect to the subject, after all, marketing is really practice oriented. I am half way through my thesis and the book refines many of my ideas and helps me immensely in reminding me of several issues that I otherwise have overlooked.

I use this book for my International Business class in college and it has become a second bible for me. There are detailed examples and countless explanations of all the necessary forms and permits as well as rules and regulations are all included in an easy to understand format. If you ever wanted to know the in's and out's of importing/exporting, if you've always wanted to start your own side business as an importer or simply if you are a student in any type of Business class then this book IS a must.

Charles Mitchell's book offers an excellent introduction to the differences in attitudes, values, protocol, rituals, traditions, communication styles and other characteristics that commonly separate cultures. He distinguishes people's basic cultural traits from different national groups, while noting regional and individual variations, too. Mitchell cites examples from many major nations, including the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, Israel, Australia, China, Japan, Russia, Vietnam and India, and from Hispanic and Arabic cultures. The book is clearly written and well organized, with tips on giving gifts, negotiating, handling verbal and non-verbal communications, holding meetings and conducting business in general. We [...] say tuck this into your carry-on bag - the farther you're going, the more you'll need it.

This book is light reading; with 227 pages it's a quick read and at times funny and insightful. However, I didn't get the point.

The "rules" of living a year without felt flimsy; granted, it was a work in progress, but what's the point if you're going to keep breaking the rules? Example: the "gift" exception. You can always ask a relative to buy something you need that's made in China.

If you're going to go a year without, * really * go a year without! Perhaps a better approach would have been to write a book titled "A Year of Made in the USA"... now that would have been tough! Here the writer goes to great lengths to buy items made from other countries.

Personally I think the entire book could have / would have done well as a lengthy article, and I would have gained just as much insight. What the book lacks, and what others have mentioned, is a pairing of this family's decision with a discussion about China. The reader could have benefited from a historical explanation as to why China has infiltrated our economy, and why it's difficult to go without purchasing items made there. I actually consider this a disservice to the reader.

Oh well... not a complete disappointment but it wasn't what I expected.

This book is a lot of fun to read and really gets you to think about where things come from. My wife and I both read it. We agreed that she was pretty hard-core. We would not have lasted the whole year. If you've ever looked at the label to see where things come from, or if you have some concerns about our trade deficit with China, this book is one you would enjoy.

I enjoyed this book, but came away just a little puzzled.

It's an interesting enough premise - the idea that we buy too much from China. For me, that means we take too little responsibility for the effort it takes to get those consumer goods to us, and for the cost in terms of worker conditions, etc., over in China.

For Bongiorni, it seems like it's too often simply about depriving her family - as other reviewers have commented - for the sake of the book.

I'm sure she started out with the best of intentions, but this book quickly devolves from its lofty premise and ambitions into a superficial story of looking for loopholes in a consumerist culture.

I'm not looking for an outright condemnation of Western culture, or any sort of manifesto (not exactly what I want to curl up with on a cold evening), but a little curiousity, a little background, a little more scratching of the surface, would have lent much-needed balance and insight to what is generally an entertaining, readable book.

I would have appreciated more depth about the actual experience of seeking out products not made in China and fewer irrelevant tangents about the author and her family and friends. The tangents do make the book "read like a novel" but if you aren't after a novel then you may find it annoying to have to wade through the fluff in search of the interesting parts.

Boring after the first chapter.

Assigned as a text for my International Business class, the students thought this was a light weight text with the main point established in the first 2 chapters. The rest of the book delves more into family details with more examples of the same.

Save your money, look into your closet and document all the things you have purchased that are made in China. In so doing, you will understand the concept of this book. There are no prescriptions or solutions, just railing about the problem.

Instead, the author should discuss the impact of Made in China:
* Trade imbalances
* Currency devaluation
* Declining educational system
* Bigger government

Do not buy this book. It states the obvious without any solutions.

International Marketing This was a book I needed for class. What can I say, it was required.

I have used this book for an undergraduate course in global marketing
for more than 10 years. My students generally love this book, except the cost.

The book is complete with everything from import, export, culture, supply chain, letter of credit, etc. Anything you name, it got the content. No wonder it is the 13th edition now.

I recommend this book to all instructors and students. Yes, it is bulky. But that is what global marketing is about. You can also use it for MBA students. The difference is, you need to cover case studies in depth.

For any professor that did not work in global marketing as a practitioner, this book may not be for you.

I bought this book instead of the regular edition. The international edition was almost exactly like the original version. I think some of the page numbers were different. Other than that, it was a great way to get a text book and save money!

The textbook came in excellent condition and right on time for class. THANK YOU!

This book is very good as a textbook for college. Alot of information with current examples to reinforce the written material.

The book was in good shape just as advertised, and I received it in a timely manner.

With the demographics changing in America, it's no longer just good enough to understand different cultures in our travels, but right here at home. As we continue to see more immigrants from all over the world coming to our country we must understand their customs and communication style to be effective business people and friends.

There is so much data stuffed into this book about so many cultures that its almost overwhelming! This is an impressive book covering many countries and most of the information is still current, despite the fact the last version was copywrited back in the 1990s.

I'd recommend this book for culture buffs as well as for general writers. A great source of ideas.

I am from Prague, Czech Republic, Europe.
In the books it says that our country lacks common things and that people will be grateful even for small gifts, such as ball-point pens etc since it is hard to get here.
I could not believe it when I have read it !
Did the author mix up Czech Republic with war-battered Cecnia or something ???
What a nonsence the statement in the book, even if it is from 1993 or whatever. You would look utterly ridiculous giving someone a pen. We actually have a subway, cars, shopping malls....its not like we live up in trees.
The author made CZ look like some third-world hunger stricken country. I do not trust him owith other countries since my country is so mis-judgingly described in the book.

The basis of this wonderful book is to show the customs, protocol and laws in societies that may be vastly different from the society in which you live.

The book is categorized according to country, and includes cartoon type illustrations of face gestures, hand and arm gestures, and what they mean. In some countries the same gesture has a completely different meaning, which anyone who uses a lot of body language would do well to learn.

The section on Graceful Gift Giving brings valuable insight so as not to insult anyone from different lands, as gift giving is viewed in different ways according to different cultures.

Whether you are going on a business trip, or are traveling for academics or adventure overseas, it is important to learn the customs of each country.

On a personal note, if you ever go to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, do NOT sit on the rock from which Mohammed Ascended (as I innocently did to pray for world peace) because you can be murdered or jailed for that alone - unless you happen to have a professor who is fluent in Arabic that saves you from harsh penalties, which I was fortunate enough to have. ASK about the Sacred sites in Sacred lands BEFORE you attempt to touch or sit on anything.

Do's and Taboos also provides commonly used terms spelled out phonetically from many lands, so that you can converse among the locals graciously.

Highly recommended for all international travelers.

Barbara Rose, Ph.D. author of Stop Being the String Along: A Relationship Guide to Being THE ONE and If God Was Like Man
Editor, inspire! magazine

Do�s and Taboos Around the World was written in the mid-eighties for American businessmen who regularly traveled abroad meeting foreign clients. I bought this book to help teach culture shock to my Japanese EFL students, and, by and large, I am quite pleased that I have it on my shelf. Even though there is a lot less information about women than men, and some information, such as gift giving, appears to be specifically for business people, there is enough general information about many different countries� cultures to make interesting reading. The chapter on body language and gestures appeared to be well researched, and my students were able to learn many things from teaching material that I made using the book as a reference. There may be some people who would read Do�s and Taboos and say that the author has distilled a nation�s people to a simple stereotype, and to a point I wouldn�t be able to disagree with that. However, if I ever found myself in the company of people whose culture I were ignorant of, it would be nice to be able to scan this book for do�s, taboos, likes and dislikes, and give myself a reasonable introduction on what I might be likely to encounter. This book is most useful for business travelers, but it is also useful for tourists and travelers, or anyone living in a culture other than their own.

Overall, this book could use some updating. I think if I'd looked at the date of publication I might have thought twice about putting it on my wish list. It was published in 1997 - in other words, pre-9/11, and before it was common to use websites as resources. There are several chapters that are just plain common sense.

The climate towards Americans has changed world-wide, the risks have increased.... and this book lacks links to Internet sites for the resources and agencies listed as helpful.

It is, however, good for listing general customs and things to watch for in various countries. It isn't bad - it would just be a lot better if they did an updated version.

Interesting for young very unexperienced women.

This book was published awhile ago, and needs to be updated. I was particularly interested in the Middle East section, which this book called, "The Lands of Islam." The language was ethnocentric, with an orientalist attitude (see Edward Said for an explanation of orientalism). I do not recommend this for anyone interested in info for this region of the world; I have lived there and the information presented in this book is now incorrect, as the book is outdated.

"Do's and Taboos Around the World for Women in Business" is a highly interesting book, and one that is likely to prove useful for women who need to travel abroad for business reasons. Moreover, it is quite engaging, due to the fact that the authors combine practical advice with funny anecdotes about women working in international business.

I recommend you to read the whole book, if you can, because at least some of the tips it gives might help to you. On the other hand, if you are pressed for time, just read the parts that interest you more. The book is neatly divided into chapters according to subjects:

-Part one: Survival "over there" (it includes -> 1: Sex, dating, discrimination and harassment; 2: Know your product, know the culture; 3: Protocol for women; 4: Safety when traveling; 5:Healthy traveling; 6: Luggage and packing; chapters 1 to 6).
-Part two: Advice country by country (it analyzes some countries in particular, but most are grouped and studied by regions; chapters 7 to 22).
-Part three: Women in the world of work (it includes -> 23: Women in international business: past, present and future; 24: How I got my first job in international business; 25: Profiles of three successful women; chapters 23 to 25).
-Part four: The international assignment (it includes -> 26: To go or not to go; 27: Preparing for your life abroad; 28: Family matters; 29: On-the-job challenges; 30: Culture shock; 31: Repatriation and reverse culture shock; 32: Cross-cultural and language training; chapters 26 to 32).
-Part five: Help for the independent businesswoman who wishes to work abroad (it includes -> 33: Tips for the independent career search).
-Part six: Additional resources.

Personally, I found some chapters more practical than others, for instance I took great advantage of the tips on what to pack ("You don't need more clothes, more colors, more combinations. You need fewer things, carefully chosen"), but I guess that depends on what each of us needs more.

On the other hand, bear in mind that even though the advice that the writers give is right on the spot in most occasions, that is not always the case. For example, they point out that punctuality isn't overly important in Latin American countries, but I'm from Argentina and I can say that many think that arriving late is rude, so if you were to arrive late to a business meeting just to "follow local custom", you would be giving a bad impression.

Notwithstanding that, I can tell you that I really liked this book. I specially enjoyed the fact that the authors take into account that "international business tends to be uncomfortable for most North American managers -men as well as women. Many have yet to develop cross-cultural experience, skills, perspective, and confidence". Their recipe for success?. Well, according to them "You can allay your doubts by taking action. To overcome negative attitudes toward women in international business you must assume the initiative and thoroughly prepare yourself".

On the whole, I found this book very useful, and I believe that it can be valuable not only for women in international business but also to those who need to travel abroad with their families due to their spouses' job. "Do's and Taboos Around the World for Women in Business" isn't a perfect book, but it is a very good one, and the kind of book you will want to carry with you around the world.

Belen Alcat

I thought that this book while touching on many areas of do's and taboos was very basic in it's approach...perhaps even juvenile or youngsterish...While I was looking for actual do's and don't this book often offered situational issues...rarely stating DON"TS and offering multiple choices instead of stating the real Do's in many cases. Good for young adults and young persons going into new countries. Older people probably want a guide that states the facts like: In this country..cover your head in public at all times..instead of choice 1-go buy a head scarf.....2 tear a part off your dress and make one ...3 go scarfless...4 scream loudly I'm an American and don't need it.
I was really looking for more depth and coverage from a experienced traveled business person on exactly what to do. Still a starting point for a new business traveler.

The status of the book is alright, nothing to mention about that. About the shipping either, since it came all the way from oversea. This book gives just basic information and only usefull literature for the US, but still I estimate it's value as quite usefull especially for the first steps of your non profit org. Though it lacks of the connection between small, very local and nation wide operating n.p.o. First steps are wonderfully described, then nothing till you have your own board of directors and couple of departments under you. Therefore i can truely recommand this book of Hummel for beginners, for organisations in their childhood, because when you grow the rest will come anyway with your own experiences and a little help of this book's literature.

I found the book useful, particularly for larger foundation type organizations with a mainstream charitable mission. Not as useful for smaller charities that do not have a large board of directors or advocacy\education types of nonprofits. I felt I got my money's worth, but had to read between the lines a bit to apply the information to my particular organization.

This was an interesting little guide book written with nonprofit founders and executive directors in mind. The first edition was written back in 1980, and the current edition was written back in 1996. I think the time has come to put this book out to pasture - or write a new edition. The book just doesn't cut it in 2007. It really surprises me that Amazon still sells copies of it. The book is comprised of the following chapters:

1. Introduction
2. Startup checklist
3. The nonprofit Board
4. Organization bylaws
5. Legal issues
6. Mission, vision, and strategic goals
7. Financial intelligence
8. Bookkeeping
9. Raising funds (donations)
10. Staff and volunteers
11. Community relations
12. Resources that can help
13. Bibliography

Chapter 2 was a simple checklist of 37 items. I found many of the items to be pretty well thought out. In fact, I think the checklist is the high point of the book. However, it was deficient in my humble opinion. Small nonprofits are not all that different from small businesses. Both need to be conceptualized. Someone starting a small business needs to document a sound business model or profit model. And then a business plan must be written to explain how the person is going to create the business over a period of 3 months to a year. Instead of a business model nonprofits need an operations model. And instead of a business plan they need what is called a Financial and Operations Plan. Nowhere in the book's second chapter is there mention of the need for an Operations Model. Nor is there any mention of a Financial and Operations Plan. This is a serious flaw in the book.

Chapter 3 failed to mention that Board members should be wealthy and financially able and willing to make sizeable gifts to the organization. And it failed to properly highlight the duty of EVERY Board member regarding donating funds to their organizaton and soliciting funds from donors. This problem was made worse in Chapter 9 because there was no mention made of Board member duties regarding personal financial contributions and solicitation responsibilities. Furthermore, Chapter 9 on fundraising could have covered lots more material about fundraising and it didn't. There was way too much emphasis placed on grant fundraising and corporate donations, and not enough coverage on soliciting gifts from individuals.

Chapter 11 probably should have been entitled Marketing and Promotion instead of Community Relations. So much more could and should have been discussed that wasn't. Topics that come to mind are advertising, direct mail, public relations, and special events. It wouldn't be fair to add Internet and Web sites here since the book was written in 1996. So I won't.

Chapters 12 and 13 are out of date and pretty much worthless to a reader in 2007.

It is stated in this book that many nonprofits fail to reach their goals because they were not put together well in the first place. Many books fail to get high ratings because they are not put together well in the first place. Unfortunately that is the case with this book. 3 stars!

I thought this was a great book for introducing the basic steps involved in starting a non-profit organization. It clarified some simple issues for me. I have ZERO experience in starting a non-profit organization and wanted to get an idea of what it takes to do so, and this book was a great starting point, although you will clearly want to move on to more "meaty" books if you actually get your organization off the ground. After a few hours, I had solid drafts of my mission statement, articles of incorporation, and bylaws, and I knew what I needed to do next. It might be too simplistic for large organizations, but it was perfect for my itty bitty dream!

Talk about restating the obvious! The author reminds you that when you're about to hire somebody it would be a good idea to interview them rather than rely on their resume. Under the subtitle "goals" of the organization we are told that goals are the intended outcomes of what you intend to do. Gosh, that's a pithy insight! I should have known not to buy a book by an academic, as opposed to somebody who actually ran a non-profit in the real world!

This is not the most interesting read in the world, but it contains good information. If you have an import business, this is a must have for your reference library.

This is like the dictionary not good reading but a must have when you need to look up a word. Only a fraction of the material will be about your specific situation or product. Most if not all this info is available at the customs service website but is good to have it in one place.

Wow! What a useful book it is! It is an essential reference that provides concise, accurate, and informative expertise especially on importing. If you are looking for a reliable resource about importing regulations and entry procedures, this is the one that you should consider!!!

It is not a user-friendly book, but it supplies a lot of guidelines fot the beginning importer. I recommend you to buy it, but supplement it with specific info on the article(s) you intend to import (food, clothing, machinery, etc.).

All of the information in this book is available through the US customs website. Don't waste your money.

Not at all written in a user friedly manner either, just lists all sorts of rules.

"in Asia" is a bit limiting/misleading.
The book is a great read and thoroughly explains the concepts behind 360 Branding. It presents a clear vision of where branding has been, and how branding anywhere must evolve and expand right now for the future. The Asia aspect comes at the end of each chapter with a short 1-3 page application/case study of that chapter's material "in Asia." It basically says, "Hey, this stuff works. Look what happened in Asia."

Yes, your communications need to be "integrated." But this shows book shows what that concept will mean in the future.

I really enjoyed the book, and thought that it was a very easy to read, easy to understand book about branding in Asia. It's examples are entertaining and sometimes surprising, and what has been achieved in the Asian market is a good example of the future of world-wide branding. If anyone is even vaguely interested in branding, and not just in Asia, I recommend you read this book.

The book is a really easy reading and the best thing is about its understanding of Asians. The 360 degree branding concept is especially good at simulating readers to think about the unlimited possibilities of what a brand can do. Being an Asian, I am tired of reading books from Westeners who actually don't recognize the characteristics of people living here. This book, on the contrary, impresses me by discussing some interesting differences of Asians against Western people in the first chapter. The observations are deep and valid. And I truly believe that this understanding is crucial to every one working in the Asian branding industry.

This book is the literary equivalent of an Ikea coffee table: looks great on the surface, but underneath it's nothing but cheap filler.

Leave it to a group of advertising types to fill an entire book with marketing jargon, case studies and puffery that accomplishes nothing save prop up the ad agency the authors work for and fill each author's own lungs with air. This book is pure nonsense. Save your money.

The book's main premise: 360 degree branding. Translation: integrated communications. By the way, there is no secret to branding in Asia which the authors lead you to believe SEE TITLE. Integrated branding, applied correctly, in any part of the world works. It just so happens the authors' live and work in Asia and are trying to build business in that region.

If you are in marketing and don't understand that your company's website must have the same personality as its pr as its marcom as its advertising, you shouldn't be in marketing.

Save your money. Use your common sens.

This book is the literary equivalent of an Ikea coffee table: looks great on the surface, but underneath it's nothing but cheap filler.

Leave it to a group of advertising types to fill an entire book with marketing jargon, case studies and puffery that accomplishes nothing save prop up the ad agency the authors work for and fill each author's own lungs with air. This book is pure nonsense. Save your money.

The book's main premise: 360 degree branding. Translation: integrated communications. By the way, there is no secret to branding in Asia which the authors lead you to believe SEE TITLE. Integrated branding, applied correctly, in any part of the world works. It just so happens the authors' live and work in Asia and are trying to build business in that region.

If you are in marketing and don't understand that your company's website must have the same personality as its pr as its marcom as its advertising, you shouldn't be in marketing.

Save your money. Use your common sense.