Posts Tagged ‘Globalization’

Book Reviews: As China Goes, On China

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

images courtesy amazon.com

Gerth, Karl. As China goes, so goes the world : how Chinese consumers are transforming everything. Hill and Wang, 2010.

Kissinger, Henry. On China. Penguin Press, 2011.

In 1980, a group of educators from China came for a tour of my research library at Ohio State.  At that time, three massive databanks, Dialog, BRS and SDC comprised the online environment, and librarians with technical training searched them using “dumb terminals” and acoustic couplers.  As the Chinese visitors stood there with stony faces, the American translator struggled to explain the mechanics of database searching when there was no word for “computer” in Chinese. When Elizabeth J., a PhD student from Taiwan, dropped by, the visitors crowded around her, showering her with questions.

A generation later, Shanghai is among the most advanced cities in the world and China is rapidly developing an American-style consumer culture, due in part to their close association with Taiwan.  Karl Gerth in As China Goes, So Goes the World explains that after 1987, a shared history and common interests between China and Taiwan enabled a rapid flow of capital, products and people between the two countries.  China offered market opportunities for entrepreneurs and lower prices for consumers.  Shanghai accommodated immigrating Taiwanese leaders and visionaries with luxury condos, popular restaurants and international schools.

Today Americans and Europeans see China as a gigantic market for consumer products, yet the choices made by these ordinary citizens have profound implications  for labor, human rights, social inequality, the environment, and competition for resources.   This vivid portrait of China is both enlightening and entertaining, with topics such as China’s transformation into a car culture, the creation of a new aristocracy, and the marketing of counterfeit brands.

A dense yet remarkable new book is Henry’s Kissinger’s On China, part history, part memoir by the first American emissary to communist China.  Kissinger engineered the U.S.’s 1971 opening to Beijing, after decades of separation.  Eventually he made more than 50 trips to China and met with four generations of Chinese leaders.

To understand China is to understand its long history.  Kissinger provides a historical perspective as he analyzes the philosophical differences between China and the US.  He draws on personal experience as he analyzes the country’s approach to diplomacy, strategy and negotiation.  He reflects on the future of this global power in the 21st century.  This important book is destined to be a best-seller for years.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Duke India Business Forum – Sun, March 28th

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

India Forum March 28thThis year’s 2010 Duke MBA India Business Forum will be held on Sunday, March 28th. It is titled “India: Turning the Lens on Tomorrow” and will address important economic forces impacting Asia’s third largest economy in global business. Please see the following books from the Ford Library or check out our India display in the Economics section. Click on a link to check availability or to place a hold.

Breaking Ground in Kunshan

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Architectural Rendering of the Kunshan Campus

The Duke-Kunshan campus, a partnership between the university and the municipal government, will include a five-building teaching, research and residential center built by the municipal government.

Duke’s Fuqua School of Business will lead the first phase, which will focus on executive MBA and non-degree executive education programs, a pre-experience management training master’s degree, training of Ph.D. students and the recruitment of top faculty.

Duke’s educational partner in this venture is Shanghai Jiao Tong University, one of the leading universities in China.

Breaking Ground in Kunshan (watch video of the ceremony)

Learn more at Laying the Foundation for The Duke Campus in China.

Book Review: Travel as a Political Act

Friday, November 13th, 2009

image courtesy amazon.com

Steves, Rick. Travel as a political act. Nation Books, 2009.

Best selling travel writer and PBS host Rick Steves inspires readers to travel more purposely. In Travel as a Political Act, Steves encourages international travelers to remain open to new experiences and to seek options to get out of their comfort zone by becoming a temporary “local.”

Steves says that the best vacations are both fun and intensely educational. The goal is to relax and have fun, while learning and broadening one’s perspectives. Thoughtful travel comes with powerful lessons and an American traveler can learn about US society by observing with an open mind and by connecting with people that one would never meet at home.

This book is an easy read with only 200 heavily illustrated pages. Steves lays out his framework for travel and then takes the reader to seven different locations inclusing Iran, El Salvador and Denmark. The last chapter describes how travel has changed his political views and encourages the reader to put a global perspective into action at home.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Book Review: Imagining India

Monday, September 21st, 2009

images courtesy Amazon.com

Nilekani, Nandan. Imagining India : the idea of a renewed nation. Penguin Press, 2009.

Software entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani is proud of the economic progress made by India in the last 25 years, but senses that the inequities that remain are limiting India’s ability to take full advantage of global opportunities. The challenges must be resolved before India can rise to a new level of prosperity, yet within India, there is resistance.

Nilekani posits that ideas lead economic and social policy. He explains the evolution of ideas in India, including core beliefs among the population. He discusses changes in attitudes that are the heart of India’s success, some of which have been implemented and others that have yet to see results. He sees India’s human capital, English proficiency and information technology as huge advantages in a globalized world.

The most important driver for growth lies in expanding access to resources and opportunity. Nilekani charts a new way forward for a young and impatient nation.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

The Director’s Picks

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

director's picks

The Director’s Picks

Fuqua School Dean Blair Sheppard asked Ford Library Director, Meg Trauner to select 5 recent business books that should “be on his nightstand”.

Click the titles below for information on location and availability.

 

 

Duke India Business Forum

Friday, March 20th, 2009

duke india business forum

Ford Library would like to invite you to attend the inaugural Duke India Business Forum, which is being held on Sunday, March 22nd at the Fuqua School of Business.

Below please find just some of the new, exciting titles that Ford Library has on India and business. Please browse the library for even more choices. Click on the titles to place a hold or check availability.

India

Book Review: Superclass, the Global Power Elite

Monday, February 16th, 2009

images courtesy Amazon.com

Rothkopf, David. Superclass : the global power elite and the world they are making. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.

The superclass is comprised of the 6000 most influential people worldwide. Included in the group are top government leaders, military generals, key executives and shareholders from giant corporations, Arab sheikhs, influential artists and scientists, and leaders of the world’s religions.
Membership in the superclass is transitory and lasts only as long as someone has the power to influence millions of people internationally. Overrepresented are people who trace their cultural roots to Europe, who attended an elite university in the US, and who are men who work in business and finance. People from Africa and women are seriously underrepresented.

The superclass redirects massive assets among markets; creates, dislocates or eliminates jobs around the globe; determines the viability of governments; and plays a vital role in shaping the global era. As a group the superclass helps define the tenor of our times and decides what our priorities are. The superclass possesses a disproportionate amount of power in the world.

Author Rothkopf discusses relationships among these global leaders and their implications. He addresses the nature of inequality of wealth and power and questions whether national borders are still relevant. He discusses trends in global power and makes some predictions about the future.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business. All rights reserved.

Book Reviews: Negotiating Globally

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

images courtesy Amazon.com

How to negotiate anything with anyone anywhere around the world by Frank L. Acuff, Amacom, 3rd ed., 2008.

After a brief discussion of the basics of negotiation, this book discusses how to greet, communicate and negotiate with people in 62 countries worldwide. This book also includes a brief summary of the business climate in 7 regions of the world.

Global negotiation : the new rules by William Hernandez Requejo and John L. Graham, Palgrave, 2008.

In this practical book, Requejo and Graham lay the groundwork for sustainable business relationships worldwide. The first part of this book discusses the multiple ways cultural differences in values and communication styles can cause misunderstandings between otherwise positively disposed business partners. The authors then discuss their model of global negotiation that includes intelligence gathering, communication and creativity. The last part of the book focuses on Indian, Chinese and Mexican negotiation styles.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business. All rights reserved.

Book Review: When Markets Collide

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

image courtesy Amazon.com

When markets collide : investment strategies for the age of global economic change by Mohamed A. El-Erian. McGraw-Hill, 2008.

This book is about the fundamental changes that are occurring in global economic and financial systems. Existing financial infrastructures and systems are under pressure. Economic power is shifting from mature to emerging financial markets. Global growth is now influenced by former debtor nations that are building unforeseen wealth and facing unusual challenges. For investors, the transformation in the global economy has significant consequences.

Author El-Erian, CIO of PIMCO and former CEO of Harvard Management Company presents a diagnosis of the present financial turmoil and offers explicit investment advice to readers on how to exploit new opportunities and minimize exposure to changing patterns of risk.

El-Erian sees four trends: 1) Realignment in global growth 2) Return of inflation 3) Structured finance has diminished the barriers to entry 4) The transfer of wealth. He recommends that firms retool risk management and pay more attention to the middle and back-office activities that are less glamorous. He recommends that investors invest more internationally and less in the US.

This lucid explanation of the credit crisis won the 2008 Financial Times and the Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year awards.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business. All rights reserved.