Multinational Management

Abstract

In this book, we want to emphasize that hundreds of emerging Asian companies will reach out to the world and enter the globalmarketinthe next decade. Atthismoment, these new companies are rather unknown in the West. The message of this book is that this will rapidly change. After they have firmly established themselves in their vast home markets in China, India, Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries, they will be knocking at many Western doors. And then the central question arises: are we in the West ready for this development unprecedented in economic history? This book, with its case studies of 13 Asian companies and its explanation of their hidden strategies and successes, contains an incitement to prepare ourselves in the West for the coming era dominated by East Asia. These preparations should consist of serious attempts to understand the cultural identity of major Asian countries. In addition, we should study the corporate culture and business strategies of those Asian companies which will appear in the Western market rather soon. We have selected the most relevant and important companies in this respect. This book results from a research project completed by members of the research group belonging to the chair Asian Business Strategies of the International Business School of Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Groningen, The Netherlands). The editor wishes to thank all institutions and persons who made this book possible. First of all, I would like to thank the members of my research team for their great investment in time and thinking. Filip Vedder and Karen Prowse again have proven to be excellent assistants. The Investment and Development Agency for the Northern Netherlands (NOM) financially facilitated the research done by the members of the research group. The International Business School of Hanze University made the publication of this book possible. I am also grateful to the International Business School and the Institute of Marketing and Management of Hanze University for having granted me a leave of absence to serve as visiting professor at UMBC (University of Baltimore). I thank my colleague Professor Constantine Vaporis for his invitation to teach and do research at his Asian Studies Program and for his warm hospitality during a cold winter semester in Baltimore.