This book aims to satisfy the needs of upper-level and/or graduate classes in international business. It can be a `platform` for more specialized classes, like international marketing, international business law, multinational business research or special topics in international business. The book deals with the societal player `business` which in the last century took new roles and is now responsible for economic growth and social betterment. We use the title `global business` assuming that today all business is global. In addition, we assume that this book relates to every type of human enterprise and, though most business has a profit motive, to a great extent, the presented material applies to non-for-profit enterprises, as well as to any type of organization, including the governmental and the non-governmental ones. The book has two parts. In the first part, the `environment` of international (global) business, it discusses the uncontrollable by the enterprise variables, such as geography, culture, law, politics and economy. It also presents global organizations ranging from the United Nations and its agencies, to the European Union, to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The second part deals with the controllable by the enterprise variables, in other words, its `structure`. Specifically it discusses elements of international accounting, international finance, international business research, international marketing, and international management. The final chapter of this part is a capstone one that summarizes the five, according to this author, most important variables for any enterprise, namely about the creative, the consumer-based, the human resource-centered, the information technology and the ethical business. The `challenges` that the environment and the structure of any global company faces are addressed throughout this text. (...)
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