Annotated Bibliography
Deresky, H. 2011. International management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures. New
Jersey: Pearson Education.
Deresky looks at the concept of business management from an international perspective. The book is an important source of information for the strategies that businesses should adapt when conducting their business in the international market. The main challenge in the international markets, according to Deresky (2011), is that it exposes businesses to diverse cultures. The markets present businesses with more challenges than the local ones, and businesses must adopt the right strategies for the markets.
Deresky studies different theoretical approaches that formulate the entry strategies for Multi National Corporations (MNCs). MNCs are businesses that operate in different countries. The countries present dynamic markets with different cultures. The first strategy that Deresky analyzes is the scanning of the environment. After a business has decided to enter into the international market, it is important select the geographic regions that are suitable for its products by analyzing their environments. A business should eliminate the geographic regions with unsuitable environments for its operations (Deresky, 2011, p.216). When scanning an international market, the author explains that the focus of an international manager should be the economic and political risks, and the major technological, legal, and physical constraints. The manager should also evaluate the infrastructural constraints to understand how they will affect his business. After conducting the analysis, the business can select the target international market (Deresky, 2011, p.117).
The source provides information on the essence of conducting an internal analysis and a competitive analysis. An internal analysis focuses on the operational areas of a business to find the strengths and weaknesses of the business. The business also analyzes its resources in relation to how they will help or limit its operations in the international market. Deresky points three important issues in internal analysis. A business should consider the difficulty of obtaining market information in the international market, the poorly developed financial markets in the international market, and the complexities of the exchange rates and government control (2011, p.217). A competitive analysis assists the business to determine its competitive strength in relation to other businesses operating in the international market. The focus of a business should be on its distinctive competencies that enable it compete other businesses effectively. A SWOT analysis is an important tool for competitive analysis.
The source shall also provide important theoretical information about the models of strategic decision making for the international market. The author discuses three theories, the institution-based theory, the industry based theory, and the resource-based theory as important theories of international management. The theories guide international managers to understand issues in their institutions, production industry, and their resources while formulating their entry strategies for the international markets.
Deresky uses different theoretical approaches for analyzing the international markets. The advantage of the approach is that the author draws his findings and conclusions from different theories, making his findings objective and highly applicable to different scenarios. The author also uses different cases, for example, the case of Wal-Mart, to analyze the management strategies for the international markets. However, since the cases are limited to a few businesses, the author’s findings do not represent the entry strategies for international businesses.
The method that the author uses combines business cases with theory. Deresky’s approach is different from the approaches that other authors use. Deresky approaches international management from a general perspective without focusing on any specific issue. Rodriguez (2009) is a source that solves the limitation in Deresky (2011). Rodriguez analyzes international management while focusing on the challenge of culture. Understanding culture and its effects on international business is important, yet Deresky does not give a special attention to it.
Rodriguez, C. 2009. International Management: A Cultural Approach (Third edition). Los
Angeles: Sage Publications.
Rodriguez’s book is an important source of information for international management, especially on how to approach the management from a cultural perspective. Rodriguez develops a theoretical framework that explains why international culture is important and the necessity of international business managers understanding the culture. In his argument, Rodriguez (2009, p.132), explains that there a strong global consensus that MNCs must understand the international culture due to its effect on the success of international companies.
The cultural aspects in the international market include religion, attitudes, values, language, customs, and norms of an international society (Rodriguez, 2009, p.132). The theoretical framework for international management and market entry strategy, according to Rodriguez, must focus on achieving cultural intelligence in an organization. Businesses should not only get international cultural intelligence but also include the intelligence in their corporate culture. The employees of an international business must show a corporate culture that reflects the beliefs, attitudes, and values of the international society in which they operate their business.
Rodriguez’s theoretical framework analyzes international culture at two levels. International culture exists at the psychological and institutional levels, according to Rodriguez (2009, p.136). When a business analyzes the cultural intelligence of an international society at the psychological level, it should understand the people’s internalized norms, behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes. It should also determine the psychic distance, which is the cultural gap between different groups in the society. At the institutional level, the management analyzes the culture in a country’s institutions, for example, the government, schools, health facilities, and business institutions, among others. The framework that the author develops is powerful because it enables international managers to understand international culture at the individual and institutional levels.
Furthermore, the strength of Rodriguez’s theoretical approach to international management and culture is that he researches different models of international culture. The author uses Hofstede’s four dimensions model, Trompenaar’s seven dimensions model, and the GLOBE project’s nine dimensions model. The use of different models means that the author draws his conclusions and findings on international culture from diverse theoretical models. The method increases the applicability and accuracy of Rodriguez’s findings. The limitation of his approach, however, is that the findings do not include the assumptions of other models of international culture.
Rodriguez’s research findings shall provide important theoretical guidance. The findings, however, focus on culture only. The author’s findings cannot assist in other areas on international management apart from culture. Rodriguez does not discuss issues of international management like competition analysis, internal analysis, and environmental analysis. The factors are part of Deresky’s findings on international management. An individual does not, therefore, understand how to approach international management in a wholesome manner when he relies on Rodriguez’s findings. The findings are appropriate for studying international culture. Issues such as market information, production volume, adequate finance, and the profitability of the international market, which are in Deresky’s findings, do not form part of Rodriquez’s findings. The source, however, remains important for the researcher as it analyzes cultural issues in international business management.
