Preface. 1. A Remarkable Convergence. 2. Moral Purpose. 3. Understanding Change. 4. Relationships, Relationships, Relationships. 5. Knowledge Building. 6. Coherence-Making. 7. The Hare and the Tortoise. References. Index. About the Author.

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Leading in a Culture of Change

For the last 30 years a growing number of scholars and practitioners have been experimenting with concepts and models that facilitate our understanding of the complexities of today’s business challenges. Among these, “stakeholder theory” or “stakeholder thinking” has emerged as a new narrative to understand and remedy three interconnected business problems—the problem of understanding how value is created and traded, the problem of connecting ethics and capitalism, and the problem of helping managers think about management such that the first two problems are addressed. In this article, we review the major uses and adaptations of stakeholder theory across a broad array of disciplines such as business ethics, corporate strategy, finance, accounting, management, and marketing. We also evaluate and suggest future directions in which research on stakeholder theory can continue to provide useful insights into the practice of sustainable and ethical value creation.

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Stakeholder Theory: The State of the Art

Theory suggests and results show that firm performance is initially positive but eventually levels off and becomes negative as international diversification increases. Product diversification moder...

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International Diversification: Effects on Innovation and Firm Performance in Product-Diversified Firms

We examine organizational legitimacy in the context of the multinational enterprise (MNE). After discussing three types of complexity (of the legitimating environment, the organization, and the process of legitimation) that MNEs typically face, we explore their effects on MNE legitimacy. In particular, we distinguish between the legitimacy of the MNE as a whole and that of its parts, and we develop propositions that include issues of internal versus external legitimacy and positive and negative legitimacy spillovers.

Organizational Legitimacy Under Conditions of Complexity: The Case of the Multinational Enterprise

Proactive Behavior in Organizations

In Chapters 2 and 3, we painted a reasonable but somewhat simplified picture of the path to borderless globalization and discussed the success of Japanese companies in the first two stages of our model—domestic focus and exports. We now can dive deeper into the keys to making the leap from export to the regional and from regional to the global stages. This in turn sets the stage for why we believe Japanese firms will continue to struggle in a global future.

A Brave New World

Having a large and homogeneous population seems to have facilitated Japan’s rise throughout the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s It created a cohesive workforce that increased both the production and quality of products that enabled success at home and exports abroad However, as Japanese firms tried to move from a domestic plus export oriented business platform toward regional and global platforms, the homogeneous workforce of Japan and lack of experience with foreigners relative to other major economic powers such as the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom turned a former advantage into a disadvantage

Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink

In Chapter 1, we highlighted how far Japanese MNCs have fallen. But to fall you first have to rise. As a consequence, you naturally wonder, “How did Japanese MNCs rise so high?” You might also wonder, “Even if Japanese MNCs have fallen, can they get up?” In order to answer these key questions, we need to step back and view things from a broader perspective. That is, we need to look at Japanese MNCs within a common pattern of global corporate evolution and strategy.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road, Part 1

It is natural and empirically the case that as companies move out of the export stage and put more direct investment into foreign operations that they send expatriate managers from their home country, whether that home country is the United States, Germany, France, Japan, or wherever.1 However, if firms are going to be successful in the regionalization stage, they need to tap into local and regional knowledge and leadership talent to make the adjustments in product, processes, services, solutions, etc. that fit the needs of the local environment. And as firms move from the regionalization into the globalization stage, they need to tap into the best and brightest talent regardless of passport. This is because no nationality has cornered the market on global leadership talent in general, let alone specific global talent in design, marketing, HR, strategy, or manufacturing. Thus, for companies to move from the export to the regional stage, when it comes to critical human capital, they must overcome their home country national bias. urthermore, in order to move beyond the regional stage to the borderless global stage, they must become passport blind.

J. Stewart Black

Papers

A Brave New World

Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink

Follow the Yellow Brick Road, Part 1

Barbarians At The Gate