exchange

Get ready to take any book with "How to Buy Technology Stocks" in the title OFF your bookshelf and get ready to replace it with books like this one. You'd be crazy not to. And when you read it, you'll also get great advice from the author about the foreign market investment strategies you'd be crazy not to adopt.

This book satisfies its promise of being a clearly-written introduction to investing in overseas markets. I've read a lot of investing books recently which claim to offer contrarian investment strategies that will allow you to beat the market by going against the crowd. No other book has made it easier to understand how country funds operate, where they are traded, and what your best choices will be.

This book delivers sound and practical advice, but still manages to keep the reader entertained through the use of humor and analogy. I liked it because it appealed to my common sense with just the right blend of technical language and simple terminology. It should appeal to investors at just about every level. I haven't seen many books on this topic (which is sure to become a hot one)...but I expect the style and clarity of this book will make it a standard item on the smart investor's bookshelf.

This book is essential reading on the Asian financial crisis. It contains a judicious overview of alternative interpretations of the origins of the crisis. It then uses a computable general equilibrium model to analyze the impact of the crisis on different regions of the world, with special emphasis on the United States.

Global monetary economics deals with a key subject in the study of economics. It is written in a clear and concise style, and it covers a complete course in international monetary economics. The emphasis on the connections between exchange rates and the real economy of a country is unique in a text book of this level. Sections in this book are including: treatment of governmental stabilization and adjustment policies to developing countries and transitional economies, as well as analysing the role of policy in industrialized nations and within monetary unions.

Roger Fisher, Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project and author of Getting to Yes, has written for the book jacket that The Global Negotiator "...is the best book I know to help business negotiators expand their skills to meet the needs of negotiating internationally." It is high praise and well deserved.

The author, Jeswald W. Salacuse, is the Henry J. Braker Professor of Law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and a member of the Steering Committee of the Harvard Program on Negotiations. Professor Salacuse has an extensive background in international negotiations. He has participated in negotiations involving persons from over forty countries, spent years living abroad and explored the field of global negotiations through research and teaching involving hundreds of international executives, lawyers and officials.

This is a guidebook about "making, managing, and mending international business transactions" (p.viii). Its aim, Professor Salacuse tells his reader, "...is to equip business executives, students, lawyers and government officials to navigate each of these stages effectively" (p.3).

Unlike most books on the art of negotiating, Professor Salacuse goes far beyond making the deal and gives careful attention to managing and repairing deals once made. It is, therefore, a work with special insight and value for the negotiator. Let us examine some of these insights.

The central issue in global negotiations, Professor Salacuse tells the reader, is about the nature of the deal itself. "Is it a contract or a relationship?" (p. 20).

The answer to this seemingly simple issue should be at the heart of the preparation for any negotiation. Alas, far too often, it is a topic casually addressed by negotiators. Ideally, it should be both a relationship and a contract in most deals.

In fact, however, in American practice the contract often takes the central focus. As unfortunate as this approach may be, its problems are amplified in an international arena in which the goal of a potential partner in a negotiation may be a relationship and the contract is secondary. Neglecting that core difference in expectations may not only destroy the possibility of reaching a deal, but also imperil the success of future fulfillment of any agreement reached by the parties. Without clarity on this matter, any agreement may be founded on the most fatal of flaws: the failure of the parties to have a meeting of the minds.

"A deal is a prediction. A negotiation is always about the future," Professor Salacuse states (p.62). It is a true statement about all deals whether local or global, but particularly significant in the cross-cultural environment.

The wise negotiator recognizes that negotiators are "inherently incapable of predicting all of the events and conditions that may affect their transactions in the future" (p.65). Additionally, due to resource constraints and cultural differences, the understandings and expectations of the parties are rarely capable of being fully captured in the written contract. Given these factors, Salacuse concludes, may be "more realistic to think of the transaction as a continuing negotiation" rather than a deal fixed in time. (pp.185-186).

"Various studies," Professor Salacuse writes, " have found that between 33 percent and 70 percent of international alliances surveyed eventually broke up" (p.194). Given this record, the author approaches international negotiations and agreements as encompassing three distinct, but closely related essential areas: making the deal, managing the deal and mending the deal. His approach is cross-cultural, practical and insightful.

The global negotiator will find a lengthy and thorough guide to preparing and negotiating international agreements. The author takes the reader through such matters as selecting the place for the negotiations to recognizing and managing the many cultural differences that will be encountered and need to be overcome in an international deal. We find advice on handling cultural barriers ranging from concepts of time and differences in styles to the structure of the deal itself.

Additionally, the author examines such critical matters as who's law will apply, dealing with foreign government officials at the table, and the complexities as moving money and sharing risk among the parties. It is a wide-ranging and complete exploration of the field.

Importantly, Professor Salacuse moves from negotiating the deal to examinations of managing and mending international agreements. Treated for clarity as separate sections, these topics are intended as elements to be explored and included in the negotiation of the basic agreement itself. How will the parties manage the relationship is a critical question. There is valuable advice on planning for this process in the second section of his work.

In the last section of his work, the author turns to the third vital area of global negotiations: deal mending and dispute resolution. If we know that disputes and changed circumstances are probable, then prudent negotiators need to include methods of handling these matters in their original agreement.

Professor Salacuse explores three types of renegotiations that are expectable in the life cycle of the deal: post deal, intra deal, extra deal (p.229). He then turns his attention to the need for the parties to plan and incorporate into the deal method for resolving disputes. Here, the author again provides a thorough discussion of the operation, benefits and disadvantages of the international dispute resolution options along a continuum ranging from negotiation through mediation to arbitration and finally to adjudication. It is a valuable review.

Readers will find a rich appendix section, including a top-notch global negotiator's checklist, a detailed primer on international business transactions and an extensive bibliography of suggested further reading.

Truly, as Roger Fisher concluded, "this is the best book" in its field.

My highest recommendation.

John D. Baker, Ph.D.
Editor, The Negotiator Magazine

Dick Locke, founder of the San Francisco-based Global Procurement Group, is a leading authority in the field of international purchasing. He shares his expertise in his new book, Global Supply Management. His clear and concise writing demystifies the topic of international purchasing and presents it as a manageable business process.

Locke concludes each chapter with a summary of key points and includes a number of "tests of understanding" throughout the book, both of which serve to reinforce the topic he has just covered. I also found Locke's practice of including references and resources at the end of each chapter to be more useful than a general compilation appearing in an appendix.

That's enough about style; let's talk content. The book begins with an outline of some of the challenges that face international purchasers - challenges that even experienced domestic buyers may not be aware of. Locke then takes his readers through a detailed explanation of the cultural differences that affect international purchasing. In his approach to this topic, he doesn't provide a collection of cultural cliches, but rather draws upon the work of well-known researchers and applies their findings to real-life business situations.

After identifying the cultural differences and their potential impact upon international commerce, Locke offers practical advice for overcoming these differences, and cautions about the dangers of stereotyping countries. He includes useful communication tips concerning the use of language, such as the importance of checking for understanding throughout meetings with others whose native language is not English. The book also covers the differences in legal systems and contracting practices that the international buyer should understand. The author explains how cultural issues will affect both the form and the content of international purchasing agreements.

I found one of the book's real strengths to be its very thorough coverage of foreign exchange issues. Back in the early '80s, I was buying industrial parts from Germany and Italy and was using a French freight forwarder to handle the shipping details. In each case, we had contracted to pay in the seller's currency. Things worked out well, and we generally benefited from these arrangements. I would like to be able to tell you that we did so as part of a carefully crafted plan to manage our financial resources. However, the fact is that we were simply lucky due to the relative strength of the dollar at the time. By agreeing to pay in the sellers' currencies, we had assumed the "exchange risk," a concept that I understand much more fully after having read Locke's book. He dedicates a full seven chapters to foreign exchange issues and does so in such a way-with liberal use of his tests of understanding-as to make the topic understandable to even a nonfinancial manager.

Customs and logistics matters also present their own sets of challenges to the international purchaser. As the book explains, a purchaser does not have to be an expert in these areas to be successful in global supply management. However, buyers do need to know the factors that are involved and be able to communicate with the experts. Three chapters of the book address these issues and give pointers that are designed to minimize the costs as well as the hassles and delays that an inexperienced international buyer might encounter.

The book also provides solid advice on other choices that the international buyer must make, such as: paying the supplier (letters of credit vs. documents against credit vs. credit terms); purchasing channels (international purchasing offices vs. U.S. sales offices of foreign companies vs. buying direct from the factory); and supplier selection and management.

The book concludes with three appendices that give answers to the tests of understanding, provide a supplier survey that can be used in the supplier selection process, and supply buyers' guides containing key information about 14 countries that are, or are about to become, major exporters to the United States.

Locke has managed to pack a wealth of useful information about international purchasing into his book. I highly recommend Global Supply Management to anyone who is, or should be, involved in international purchasing. It is an excellent addition to a purchasing professional's strategic tool kit.

-Brian Caffrey is president of Solutions Consulting Group, a Jackson Heights, N.Y., consulting practice that specializes in re-engineering and continuous improvement of purchasing and supply management processes. Contact him at bcaffrey@solcon.com.

As published in Electornic Buyers' News, CMP Media Inc. June 10, 1996

This book is probably one of the most cogent books on the doctrine of justification written from a traditional Protestant perspective. Unfortunately, this book is not as well-known within evangelical circles compared to other books written on the same subject by faithful evangelicals (e.g., R. C. Sproul, James R. White, and John Piper). Eveson's book is neatly laid out in four main sections: 1) the biblical evidence of justification by faith alone; 2) the ecumenical debates surrounding this doctrine; 3) modern revisions on justification (i.e., the New Perspective); and 4) the true meaning of justification and its relationship to other doctrines. Eveson's presentation of the biblical basis of justification by faith alone is very good and gives ample scriptural support for the traditional Protestant perspective. He also gives a very insightful and scathing critique of ecumenical approaches to this doctrine. Also, Eveson provides a very good overview of the New Perspective understanding of law and justification (particularly Wright's view) and devastatingly crushes the arguments presented by Wright and those who follow him. Finally, Eveson tells us why the right doctrine of justification is essential for practical Christian living and correctness of other doctrines (i.e., sin, man, Christ, etc.). This is absolutely one of the most insightful books on this very important doctrine. The section on N. T. Wright's view of the law and justification is a gem (chapters 9 and 10). He convincingly critiques the idea that Paul was combatting Jewish nationalism rather than explicating individual sinfulness in Galatians and Romans. He also destroys the idea that justification is relational rather than judicial. Considering that many professing evangelicals today have compromised on this doctrine for the sake of unity and combatting alleged antinomian tendencies in Evangelical/Reformational/Protestant circles, Eveson's book is a spring of fresh water in a desert. Eveson writes in an irenic and humble tone, even though he does not pull back punches when the truth must be defended. In today's theological climate where many unorthodox "evangelical" ministers and theologians cry like babies because they think they are being "slandered" because more faithful ministers of the Word tell it like it is against them, books like these need to be more in circulation to get the message across on what justification really is. It is books like these that will bring the church back to the place it once had in society. Use this book as an evangelistic tool for an unbelieving friend or use it to deliver a fellow believer who is caught in the deadly trap of legalism and bondage. Every Christian interested in this very important doctrine must have a copy of this book.

A great book to have to hand if part or all of your financial portfolio is or is likely to be in the Hong Kong Equity markets.

Although this book was written in 1984 it is still, in my opinion, one of the best and clearest descriptions of options trading ever published. All later books have taken passages from this book. It also contains many formula for calculating Fair Price, days to reach a certain price, probability of reaching a price, and many more. I just cannot understand why it has not been republished given the interest in trading options. Stan Graham

This book is excellent if you are a project manager that is about to implement exchange in your enterprise. The book is very process oriented and will help you develop a strong project plan for the roll out of Exchange

Peter Sterling has edited a wonderful collection of essays, stories and poems all spun out of the observations of a number of American Fulbright scholars living far from the familiarity of the Golden Arches and supermarkets and Jiffy Lubes. Experiencing the world out of sync with the cognitive prompts one can only believe have always been this way and always will be this way only to find that, well, no, they don't have to be that way and, in fact, aren't that way at all. Some of the scholars had ephinanies that you know you'll never have or understand. Others got bonked on the road to Damascus like St.Paul and nothing was ever going to be the same for them ever. I think about that guy who woke up holding a Ladino headstone in his hands from the old Jewish cemetary in Salonika destroyed by the Nazis in WWII. Or the poems of the woman who's so carefully chosen words which were meant to distance herself out of a sense of self-protection, are the same words that bind her to her lover. People laugh, people cry and people are pretty much the same in Siberia as there are in northern Maine, but the differences can profound. But we humans seemed cursed by "them or us" attitudes until us includes them. Thank God for Senator William Fulbright.