The diffusions of work processes across countries through foreign direct investment and technological collaborations is an increasingly important practice in the global economy. Here, Ayse Saka explores this process both by focusing on the role of actors in appropriating different ways of operating and by examining the effects of the institutional environment in the host country. how the diffusion of work systems occurs in practice. She finds that institutional, organizational and group characteristics, have great influence on the degree to which Japanese work systems are put to practice and accepted by UK adopter companies. The degree to which alternate work systems are accepted depends in part on the flexibility of the institutional setting and on social patterns of interaction in organzations.

The contributors to this book focus on collage and appropriation art, exploring the legal ramifications of such practices in an age when private companies can own culture using copyright and trademark law.

'...there is... no lack of ambition in this book. And yet, unlike much of what today comes as sociology, it is fun to read, written in a way that combines the very abstract and the very concrete, the principles of general theories and the anecdotes of specific histories, in ways that are enlightening and entertaining at the same time. Those who take the book to heart will find themselves in possession of a language that can speak about 'globalization' in a non-sensationalist manner without, however, in any way detracting from its significance - in fact, quite to the contrary. They will much better and more systematically understand the lasting significance of the local in a world whose horizons of action are expanding.' From the Foreword by Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne The rhetoric of internationalization and globalization often suggests an inexorable move away from domestic cultural and institutional differences. Yet the development of internationalization within individual nations has been shaped by those very domestic institutions and cultures, as 'best practice' or other kinds of international learning have been translated into established practice and knowledge. In this important study, Arndt Sorge presents a sociological theory of the development of human societies to explain how business systems evolve and change, and how internationalization works to specify and change societal identities within nations. Examining changes in work, organization, corporate governance, and human resources, Sorge shows how this interaction is a pattern that has been followed over centuries. Indeed, amongst the cases Sorge presents, he concentrates on the example of Germany, a supposedly highly homogeneous and closed society, as evidence for the universality of shifting borders, expanding horizons, local adoption and adaptation of global practices, and the hybridization of systems and standards, as the normal course of social evolution. Arndt Sorge's analysis of globalization combines rigorous theoretical reasoning with empirically-grounded analysis, and deliberately adopts a general social science approach, drawing on research from Business and Management Studies, Sociology, Political Science, and History.

This book presents the findings of the Japanese Multinational Enterprise Study Group and offers the 'Application-adaptation' framework as a means of measuring the degree to which Japanese parent systems are transferred to the subsidiary. It proposes this as a model for assessing the transferability of systems in any multinational enterprise.

This volume explores Western attitudes towards the phenomenon of Easternization, drawing upon Eastern perspectives and examining the impact upon contemporary culture to argue that Easternization is another type of globalization.

Since the bursting of Japan’s bubble economy, from 1990 onwards, its multinational companies (MNCs) have faced new competitive challenges, and questions about the management practices on which they had built their initial success in global markets. Japanese engagement in the international economy has undergone a number of phases. Historically, Japanese MNCs learnt from foreign companies, frequently through strategic alliances. After the post-war ‘economic miracle’, Japanese manufacturers in particular converted themselves into MNCs, transferred their home-grown capabilities to overseas subsidiaries, and made an impact on the world economy. But the period after 1990 marked declining Japanese competitiveness, and asked questions about the ability of Japanese MNCs to be more responsive and global in their strategies, organization, and capabilities. It has been argued that the established management practices of Japanese MNCs inhibited adaptation to recent demands of global competition. This volume presents new case evidence on how Japanese MNCs have responded to the new challenges of the global market place, and it provides examples of how they have transformed strategies and competitive capabilities. This book was originally published as a special issue of Asia Pacific Business Review.

Over the past decade, politics perspectives in international business have moved into the mainstream repertoire of research, theory development and teaching about the organisational behaviour of multinational corporations (MNCs). Politics perspectives contribute substantially to understanding the behaviour in and of MNCs in their different contexts and environments but so far these burgeoning perspectives have not been systematically and comprehensively reviewed. This book offers the first detailed overview of the theoretical foundations, methodologies and empirical applications of politics perspectives in MNCs. A group of international authors discuss twelve seminal contributions to the study of politics, power and conflict in MNCs, followed by a summary and synthesis of the literature into a comprehensive analytical framework. The book closes with a discussion of future directions in the field. This is a thorough introduction to political behaviour in MNCs written for scholars and graduate students in the fields of organisation studies and international business.