Transnational Management: Text, Cases and Readings in Cross‐border Management, 3rd edition

Citation

Shiel, C. (2001), "Transnational Management: Text, Cases and Readings in Cross‐border Management, 3rd edition", Personnel Review, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 119-126. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr.2001.30.1.119.1

International business management, the authors imply, presents practitioners and researchers with a paradox. They argue that the field is rapidly changing and there is a need to develop new strategies to address constantly evolving global imperatives and new organisational demands. However, they also suggest that the basic tasks of international business management never change and the continuing challenges are to:

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  ensure sensitivity to cross cultural differences; and

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  address the specific operational contingencies of distance, language, time and culture.

The authors do little to explore this paradox. They simply accept the validity of both viewpoints and this, in large measure, provides the justification (weak in my view) for the limited revisions to the text. While their pragmatism is partly understandable, the foreclosing of such an important debate represents for this reviewer a missed opportunity. Are developments in e‐business simply a case of “plus ça change plus c’est la même chose”, or do they represent a radically new challenge to cross border management? This present edition has virtually nothing to say on these issues and in a text which claims to be “leading edge”, this is surely a serious omission. As for acknowledging the “old hands” view of international management, the treatment of culture, cross‐cultural differences and the management of change are sketchy and ignore some important advances in this area.

So how much is new? This third edition retains 12 case studies and ten articles from the previous edition adding 17 new cases and only eight new articles. There is only one additional chapter, on border innovation. This would suggest that the focus of revisions has been largely in the area of collating more recent case material and if you are looking for cases of multi‐national corporations (MNCs), then this is a book to get because it is exclusively devoted to MNCs.

In the introductory chapter the authors present the historical background outlining the management opportunities and challenges that run through the rest of the text. They explore the “motivation and mentalities” of MNCs rather than management in domestic companies or the macro approach to countries and industries. Macro issues are picked up in the second chapter, which highlights the “environmental challenge” and the need to respond to adverse forces simultaneously. Subsequent chapters are also presented as a series of “challenges” with case material and readings following the introductory discussion by the authors. Ikea, Lincoln Electric and Jollibee Foods Corporation thus support the opening chapter while the Russian Oil Industry, Gerber Products, Toys ‘R’ Us and Philips and Matsushita provide examples of the environmental challenge. Readings by Perlmutter (“The tortuous evolution of the multinational corporation”), and Ohmae (“Managing in a borderless world”) are included in chapter one, while chapter two includes the classic work of Levitt on globalization, Schneider and Barsoux on culture, and the familiar work of Porter.

Chapter three explores the “competitive challenge” of building strategic capabilities. The authors present a broad framework highlighting issues that need consideration for world‐wide competitive advantage. This is very much a “traditional” strategy text so there is scant reference to advantages accruing through the effective development and deployment of personnel and nothing that addresses the issues of the “full‐utilisation of the human resource” (Guest, 1987) in the context of transnational business. Five cases and four readings make this a really tough chapter. I felt that students would dismiss a case such as Caterpillar Tractor Co. (1985) as “well out of date”. The addition of an update to Komatsu Ltd will interest students and with Canon and S.A. Chupa Chups, we arrive in the 1990s, however, by this point there is a feeling of case overload and a strong sense that the HRM issues are under‐developed.

Perhaps as a result of wading through the previous cases chapter four, “Managing across boundaries: the collaborative challenge”, seemed an easier read. It sets out the rationale for collaboration and strategic alliances and offers some practical advice, drawing attention to strategic risk and costs. However, the supporting cases are not new: Xerox and Fuji Xerox (1991); Swissair’s Alliances (1994); Star TV (1994); and again I was left with the feeling that students would regard these as passé. The readings by Ohmae and Hamel, Doz and Prahalad on strategic alliances might be regarded as classics but are we saying that we have learned nothing new about these issues since the end of the 1980s?

With a chapter heading “Developing co‐ordination and control” which is seen as “the organisational challenge” (isn’t this a challenge for every organisation?), one would be entitled to expect an extensive exploration of HRM issues. This is not the case. The chapter is disappointing, saying little on structuring the organisation that has not been covered in more detail elsewhere. The section, less than a page, on “Developing the organisational psychology” seems oblivious to the critical literature on culture, and treats the role of symbolic behaviour and personnel policies and systems in a way that is superficial. Managing the “process of change” merits two pages and then we are into more cases, with the first example drawn from the early 1980s.

“The world‐wide learning challenge”, chapter six, describes the challenge of developing a “portfolio of innovative processes to drive world‐wide learning” – all very “sexy” material, or so you might think!However, the chapter did little to excite; co‐ordinating information flows and stimulating innovations are hardly new topics and the discussion did not add anything that would be particularly helpful in practical or theoretical terms.

New strategic demands mean managers need the capabilities to interpret and manage complex and dynamic environments. The authors suggest that little attention has been given to those who manage MNCs. They use titles to help us conceptualise role requirements, starting with those managers who have a “world‐wide perspective”. I found the idea of being a “cross‐pollinator of best practices” slightly amusing but no more so than the imagery conjured by being either a “bicultural interpreter” or a “national defender and advocate”. Again this material is not particularly inspiring for readers from an HRM perspective.

In the final chapter the authors suggest that the death of MNCs is exaggerated and that the capabilities that the MNC has developed in surviving thus far will ensure its survival in a complex and dynamic environment. The concluding case is the ever popular Asea Brown Boveri, firmly lodged in my students’ minds as the “paperless organisation”.

Overall, the book is a heavy read and for me, failed to capture the vibrancy of the challenges of cross‐border management. The text, despite the focus on transnational case studies, is clearly set within a particular culture, the North American way. As a consequence, I found the style and lack of critical reflection quite irritating. The perspective is very much a top management view. There is little genuine consideration of cultural or ethical issues, the HRM content is limited, and employee relations hardly gets a mention. I suspect that this uncritical, ethnocentric stance is unlikely to find favour with European practitioners and students. HRM specialists with a particular research interest in one of the organisations or industries referred to in the case studies may, however, find a useful point of reference. I do not wish to detract from the general value of some of the cases, particularly the newer ones, nor from “classical” readings, however, since these are available from other sources I do not think that this new edition will be regarded as good value for money.