Mayrhofer, U., Management of Multinational Companies: A French Perspective.
| Verfasser | Agha-Alikhani, Barbara |
| Posten | Ulrike Mayrhofer - Book review |
Mayrhofer, U., Management of Multinational Companies: A French Perspective, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013
1 A Capsule Summary of the Book and Its Review
Management of Multinational Companies: A French Perspective is the collaborative work of junior and senior researchers from IAE Lyon (Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University). At the same time, it is the English version of Le management des firmes multinationales, published in 2011 at Editions Magnard-Vuibert.
Edited by Ulrike Mayrhofer, Professor of Management at IAE Lyon, this volume treats questions of how Multinational Companies (MNCs) deal with increasing complexity and rapid changes in today's global economy. While these aspects are relevant for any MNC, this book adds a contextual perspective, particularly focusing on French multinationals and MNCs operating in France. This combination reflects the authors' awareness "that the management of MNCs remains highly contextualized, and that it is necessary to renew concepts and tools likely to guide managers" (p. xvii). It thus grants insights into current challenges of international management as well as into the often-omitted group of French global players.
This review is supposed to provide the information and critique necessary for judging the adequacy, usefulness and value of the proposed object of investigation-the modern MNC--and the French perspective on it.
2 Objective and Targeted Audience
As stated in Alan Rugman's foreword and Ulrike Mayrhofer's introduction, it is the declared goal of this book to analyze the nature, strategies, practices and future plans of multinational companies active in the French economy. Focusing on the MNC as the central unit of analysis, this volume aims at putting forward an object of study that has not yet attracted exuberant attention in French academic research. It is the main objective of this book to fill this gap by providing empirically grounded insights from a variety of corporate contexts.
The targeted audience is not explicitly stated. However, due to its "French perspective" and interest in MNCs' strategies and practices, Management of Multinational Companies addresses all those studying international management (IM) with special interest in France. By means of its contextual perspective, cross-cultural management students and researchers are equally targeted. Compared to its prior French edition, the English version of this "'journey' to the heart of French MNCs and foreign MNCs located in France" (p. 248) makes its reflections accessible to an even larger audience.
3 Structure and Contents
Management of Multinational Companies: A French perspective starts with a foreword by Alan Rugman and an introduction by the editor, Ulrike Mayrhofer. The main part of the book contains three chapters of approximately the same length: part I discusses New challenges of Multinational Companies in a Rapidly Changing Global Environment, part II contains articles regarding The Complexity of International Management: Headquarters-Subsidiaries Relationships, and part III focuses on Management of Multiple Partnerships Formed By Multinational Companies. Each of those parts contains five contributions. The compilation ends with a conclusion also written by Ulrike Mayrhofer, the editor.
3.1 Part I
The first part of the book focuses on the new challenges MNCs face in today's global economy. It deals with a variety of meta-trends (e.g...
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