Analytic Narratives or Handbook of Global Management

Analytic Narratives

Author: Robert H Bates

Students of comparative politics have long faced a vexing dilemma: how can social scientists draw broad, applicable principles of political order from specific historical examples? In Analytic Narratives, five senior scholars offer a new and ambitious methodological response to this important question. By employing rational-choice and game theory, the authors propose a way of extracting empirically testable, general hypotheses from particular cases. The result is both a methodological manifesto and an applied handbook that political scientists, economic historians, sociologists, and students of political economy will find essential.

In their jointly written introduction, the authors frame their approach to the origins and evolution of political institutions. The individual essays that follow demonstrate the concept of the analytic narrative--a rational-choice approach to explain political outcomes--in case studies. Avner Greif traces the institutional foundations of commercial expansion in twelfth-century Genoa. Jean-Laurent Rosenthal analyzes how divergent fiscal policies affected absolutist European governments, while Margaret Levi examines the transformation of nineteenth-century conscription laws in France, the United States, and Prussia. Robert Bates explores the emergence of a regulatory organization in the international coffee market. Finally, Barry Weingast studies the institutional foundations of democracy in the antebellum United States and its breakdown in the Civil War. In the process, these studies highlight the economic role of political organizations, the rise and deterioration of political communities, and the role of coercion, especially warfare, in politicallife. The results are both empirically relevant and theoretically sophisticated.

Analytic Narratives is an innovative and provocative work that bridges the gap between the game-theoretic and empirically driven approaches in political economy. Political historians will find the use of rational-choice models novel; theorists will discover arguments more robust and nuanced than those derived from abstract models. The book improves on earlier studies by advocating--and applying--a cross-disciplinary approach to explain strategic decision making in history.

Go to: Pickles and Relishes or Thomas Kinkade Cookbook

Handbook of Global Management: A Guide to Managing Complexity

Author: Henry W Lan

This book provides an overview of current approaches and research in the field of international organizations with a focus on implementation issues in a globalized context.

• Written by a team of recognized leaders in the field, associated with the growing and influential International Organizations Network (ION).

• Covers topical issues such as managing virtual teams and globalization.

• Makes a cohesive statement about the field of international organizations.

• Is written with a focus on implementation issues.

• Offers a solid contribution to the closing of the gap between researchers and practitioners.

Table of Contents:

	List of Figures
	Notes on the Contributors
	Preface
Pt. I	Introduction: understanding people and context	1
1	Globalization: Hercules Meets Buddha	3
2	People in Global Organizations: Culture, Personality, and Social Dynamics	26
Pt. II	Global competencies	55
3	Global Competencies: An Introduction	57
4	The Crucial Yet Illusive Global Mindset	81
5	Mindful Communication	94
6	Creating and Building Trust	109
7	Boundary Spanning	121
8	Building Community through Change	134
9	Making Ethical Decisions	152
Pt. III	Leading and teaming	171
10	Leading in a Global Context: Vision in Complexity	175
11	Designing and Forming Global Teams	199
12	Effective Team Processes for Global Teams	227
13	Performance Management in Global Teams	250
Pt. IV	Executing strategic initiatives globally	273
14	Managing Knowledge in Global Organizations	275
15	External Sourcing of Knowledge in the International Firm	289
16	Seeking Global Advantage with Information Management and Information Technology Capabilities	300
17	Global Account Management: New Structures, New Tasks	322
18	Barriers and Bonds to Knowledge Transfer in Global Alliances and Mergers	342
19	Managing Complexity in the Global Innovation Process: A Networks and Social Capital Solution	362
Pt. V	Special issues in developing and transitioning economies	379
20	The Developing World: Toward a Managerial Understanding	387
21	Leadership and Teamwork in the Developing Country Context	406
22	Gaining Legitimacy: Management's Challenge in Developing and Transitioning Economies	423
23	Management in Action in Developing Countries	442
	Index	461