International Business

Reviewed by Ashley Beleny, Instructor, Virginia Tech on 4/11/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The textbook covers a range of issues; however, it goes into areas that are beyond the scope of international business and increases the large about of information to be covered in one semester.

Content Accuracy rating: 2

The book is overall accurate, but it needs to be updated. Case studies, information about the current status of China, the WTO and international trade agreements all are out of date.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Trade agreements have changed, such a the RCEP being negotiated, and those changes have affected a number of geopolitical elements that should be acknowledged.

Clarity rating: 4

The book is written in a very conversational tone which is easy to read.

Consistency rating: 5

It is very consistent throughout in its organization.

Modularity rating: 5

The book is divided into sections that can be moved around and organized as is desired for the course.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The structure is a little awkward in the order I would put things and the emphasis I would put on different areas. It skips from one area to another, but overall that makes it more modular if the course is organized in a way that just necessitates readings or sections that can be inserted into the course.

Interface rating: 5

The book is laid out clearly.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are not a significant number of grammatical errors to skew the understanding or flow of the textbook.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Culture is a key issue for international business. The cultural section of the book doesn't continue to go into how culture affects how businesses operate to the point appropriate for this course.

Comments

The highlighted words that are emphasized in the book are not the keywords in the situation.

Reviewed by Samira Hussein, Professor, Business Administration, Johnson County Community College on 5/30/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

I currently use a textbook from a major publisher which is an introductory text in international business, much like this one. I find that the topics in both texts are comparable. I would not need another text to supplement the material. However, as others have mentioned in their review, the examples seem dated. As long as I emphasized the theoretical part, I would be fine with adopting the textbook. Also, each sub heading is organized with "key takeaways", discussion questions, and a summary. All of this provides reader friendly pedagogy.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

No inaccuracies were noted. The examples provided throughout the textbook provide multiple perspectives, due to which this textbook will enjoy broad appeal to many instructors.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

As long as instructors use the book to provide a framework of international business, the textbook will provide the foundation in a comprehensive manner. In the digital world where newsletters to supplement the textbook also become dated, instructors can always add currency to this textbook by providing examples that are current. The book is very relevant to a foundational course since it covers all aspects of international business.

Clarity rating: 5

The prose is written in a manner that creates interest in the topics. I found myself drawn to the several topics and sub topics because of the interesting examples given from not just one part of the globe, but all over. The points made in these headings and sub-headings are summarized, and also practical tips are given quite often. All this provides clarity for the reader.

Consistency rating: 5

Consistency is the biggest appeal of this textbook. By the second or the third chapter the reader knows what to expect, and how terminology will be understood through examples, and practical applications.

Modularity rating: 4

Although, I am used to chunking the chapters into sections, I believe that instructors can easily divide the various chapters into broader themes. The author provides each sub-heading as a comprehensive reading assignment. Bibliography is provided at the end of each section which can be assigned as further reading and research for the students.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

I would rearrange the topics differently since there are some chapters that would logically flow better next to each other. Sub themes can be created by re-arranging the chapters differently.

Interface rating: 3

I found the blue text within the chapter distracting since they are not hyperlinked. Also, many of the hyperlinks at the end of the section are not functional. The text does not offer many images that may enhance the explanation provided. This creates lack of interest for the reader. However, the images that are provided are relevant within the context of the discussion.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The very fact that the book provides examples from all over the world rather than certain economies demonstrates cultural sensitivity to me. Furthermore, the examples are interesting and create curiosity for the different regions of the world.

Comments

I found the textbook to be relevant, user friendly, and fairly comprehensive. However, with all the bells and whistles provided by textbook publishers, the accuracy of working links, and superior supplements provided for the textbooks a strong draw towards sticking with the publishers. This by no means implies that this text cannot be used as is. If power points, testbanks and other supplements can be added, some of the negatives of this textbook can be easily overlooked. The price is just right ($0)!!

Reviewed by Trunnis Goggins, Adjunct Instructor of Business, Trine University on 4/16/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This textbook does a great job at providing the basics and foundation of international business. However based on the ever dynamic and changing world of international business, some information is a little dated.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The author does a great job at presenting well-founded and peer reviewed facts. Again due to the rapidly changing laws and trade agreements, it is rather difficult to maintain accuracy in a book like this even from one semester to the next.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This book does a great job at presenting the fundamentals. There are only some aspects of this textbook that may deem to be obsolete. However, the foundational approach of this textbook does give the student a clear and concise description of the inner workings of international business.

Clarity rating: 4

The book is well written and does provide real-world scenarios. These scenarios can be extremely helpful in understanding the technical and academic aspects of international business.

Consistency rating: 5

The author does a fantastic job of providing a consistent message.

Modularity rating: 5

This textbook is written in a way that builds from one chapter to the next. It is easy to follow and its sequence allows the student to continually build on prior learning from prior chapters.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This textbook is very organized and very well planned.

Interface rating: 5

Extremely manageable interface.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I found no grammatical errors

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book was written in a fashion that was sensitive to all cultures. It also gave very valuable insight to the ethical values and cultures of many other economic systems throughout the world.

Reviewed by Ruby Lee, Professor, Florida State University on 11/5/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text covers a wide range of topics that are important and timely to international business. Instructors who teach international marketing should also find the text helpful. Nonetheless, the text does not provide index or glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is absolutely unbiased and accurate at the time of writing. Many examples and cases discussed in the text are real companies and their issues are continuing.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text is highly relevant and up-to-date. Examples are well used. The theory and most concepts will not be obsolete within a short period of time. However, the challenge of teaching international business is that companies are consistently changing, revising their strategies, and making various adaptations to stay afloat, and therefore some of the examples (e.g., Google in China) might need to get updates more frequently than others. But it should be relatively easy and straightforward to implement.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is easy to understand and follow. Examples are abundant to adequately illustrate various concepts or terminology used in the text. But it would be better if a glossary was included.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is highly consistent. Examples (opening cases), contents, and exercises to reinforce students' learning are in order.

Modularity rating: 5

The book's modularity follows most mainstream IB textbooks. So, it should not be a problem for instructors to switch from their current text to this one. Each chapter is well organized with smaller reading sections. This definitely allows instructors to pick and choose the topics that fit into their curriculum.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The topics in the text are well organized and presented. Examples (opening cases), contents, and exercises to reinforce students' learning are in order. It would be very helpful if the beginning of each chapter has a table of content.

Interface rating: 4

The text does not have many images and charts. So, I don't see any interface issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is written in plain English. I do not spot any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is very culturally sensitive indeed. It uses examples from different parts of the world. It further includes real company examples from various countries across the globe to demonstrate the challenge of conducting international business. It's really a nice text.

Comments

The text is wonderful overall. Please include a table of content of the text, a table of content for each chapter, a chapter summary, a glossary. More tables and figures to illustrate some of the contents would be helpful too.

Reviewed by Barry Hawkey, Adjunct Faculty, Portland Community College on 6/19/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This is a massive text, and seems to cover everything I’d need in my International Marketing course. Without a table of contents or an index, however, it is difficult to understand the complete flow of this 730-page text! Any instructor using this text would need to begin by constructing their own.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This text seems to be very professionally written, and I have found no errors or evidence of bias. I would recommend it to college-level instructors

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

International Marketing is a rapidly changing topic, so it is difficult to write a text with examples that will not seem out of date in a few years. Examples in this text include Coca-Cola, DeBeers, and Google, which seem unlikely to be rendered obsolete any time soon.

The text is well-organized by section and subsection, but the lack of a table of contents or index makes it very difficult to find every reference to a particular topic. Without those, future updates will be very hard to integrate.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is very professionally written. Sentence structures and explanations are easy to follow, and should be easily accessible to college-level students.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is professionally written, and appears well laid-out. I do not see much evidence of language or concepts building on themselves, or of early topics being referenced in later chapters, however. There is also no glossary, and key words do not seem to be given highlighted definitions in the text. Still, the overall voice of the text is very consisent.

Modularity rating: 4

The case studies and matching exercises given in every chapter are a huge help, and make the massive text much more approachable to readers.

While the case studies, “amusing anecdotes” and exercises are very helpful, in some areas they seem to overwhelm the actual text. For example, Section 5.3, on The United Nations and the Impact of Trade, begins on page 252 and continues for 9 pages. If you remove all of the ‘asides,’ however, you are left with only 4 pages! More than half of the section is spent on asides.

The lack of any pictures or illustrations hinders reader understanding in some places. For example, the ‘6 Steps of Scenario Planning’ on page 397 would greatly benefit from a flowchart or diagram.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

The text does not have a table of contents or index! This makes it very hard to use as a reference, and they should definitely be added. At 730 pages, the lack of a table of contents even makes it hard for an instructor to get a handle on what the book offers.

Interface rating: 2

Blue, underlined text of chapter and section headings are not working hyperlinks, although they seemed designed to look like them.

The lack of pictures and illustrations make these text tiring to read. It always makes the text ‘feel’ unprofessional, although the content itself is great.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

This text is very professionally written. I have not found any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This text appears to be very professionally written. I have not found any evidence of cultural insensitivity, and the examples appear to come from many different countries. It is a large text, however, and I have not read all 730 pages.

Comments

While I understand that intellectual property rights somehow must require this book be published with the phrase “Author’s Name retracted as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee,” it is disconcerting to see that phrase appear again and again. That phrase is given 15 times in total, and I expect it will cause readers to question the quality of the content, unfortunately.