This book is the first to cover marketing management issues in geographically remote industrial clusters (GRICs). The phenomena of GRICs have increased in importance, especially in the Nordic countries, due to changes in industry structures as well as political ambitions. The practice of marketing and marketing management is not singular to industry clusters in Nordic countries. Remote areas in parts of the United States, South and Central America, and South East Asia exhibit similar tendencies.The problems faced by many entrepreneurial managers managing start-up or even existing enterprises are complex and require an in-depth understanding not only of the problems themselves, but also of the contextual framework in which these problems need to be solved. This book contains original cases that cover issues like cluster formation, information gathering, marketing strategies and operations, and information-technology. Examples come from industries like textile & furniture, automobile, agro-machinery, food, wine, software, and management consulting.

This book focuses on strategies for developing consumer markets in Africa using concepts and techniques from marketing, entrepreneurship, and project management. The authors argue that entrepreneurial activity in Africa is rapid, but limited, and requires a structured approach to drive success. Beginning with an introductory chapter that frames the socio-economic and technological developments in Africa, readers are introduced to the conceptual model that provides this structured approach in four logical parts: The creative stage Entrepreneurial and enterprise activities Understanding consumer behavior and market segments A project management-based framework. This multidisciplinary approach is supplemented with many examples and cases from a variety of sectors including health care, wind and solar power, and mobile technology. Through these, readers are able to understand how the model is implemented in reality to drive innovative economic and social development. Marketing Management in Africa will prove a valuable companion to any student of marketing or entrepreneurship with a particular interest in Africa.

Interest in generally expanding the understanding of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially understanding their strategies and operations to enter international markets, is growing rapidly among researchers and academics globally. Government officials, regional and economic specialists, and international trade advisers are directly involved in assisting small and medium-sized enterprises in developing their international marketing expertise. Motivating SMEs to Cooperate and Internationalize consists of research studies, cases, and experiences obtained by researchers and academics from managers of small and medium-sized enterprises in Northern Europe as they worked closely with managers on issues and problems leading to internationalization of enterprises. This book will map not only the attempts of small and medium-sized enterprises in Northern Europe to enter foreign markets, but also to understand how researchers and academics can help small and medium-sized Northern European enterprisers achieve their objectives. This compilation of approaches, perspectives, and experiences will serve as a resource tool for researchers and academics active in international management training programs worldwide and help illustrate how to close the gap between publishing results of their findings and efforts to disseminate their findings among managers of small and medium-sized enterprises in their domains. This book is the first attempt to integrate results of research studies and practices as an illustration of how knowledge of small and medium-sized enterprises has evolved since the 1980s with the contributions of individual researchers and academics in Northern Europe. It will be of relevance to academics and researchers interested in working closely with small and medium-sized enterprises to meet their goals in entering international markets.

The internationalization of emerging economies has brought new perspectives to international business development. Focusing on the extensive impact these emerging economies and firms have had, this volume covers the strong players, such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, as well as dynamically developing economies such as Mexico and the Philippines. The contributors review topics such as the role of institutions and resource dependency on outward foreign direct investment from emerging economies, and the role of the global mindset and psychic distance on the performance of subsidiaries of firms originating from emerging economies. It explores new horizons in international business development and addresses challenging perspectives.

The existence and persistence of regional disparities between European regions require context-tailored policies to promote structural change. This book explores the congruence between place-based development and regional competitiveness in the EU context. Drawing on a range of social science disciplines, this book unpicks the complexity of regional transformation processes, aiming to enhance the applicability and transferability of theoretical approaches to innovation and place-based regional development in diverse European territorial settings. The contributors have a particular focus on less-favoured regions and on the application of Smart Specialisation – a strategic approach to innovation-based regional development – to the issues at hand. The book comes at a critical moment, meeting the growing demand of academics, practitioners and policymakers with an interest in promoting regional economic growth and well-being.

This remarkable volume highlights the importance of Production and Operations Management (POM) as a field of study and research contributing to substantial business and social growth. The editors emphasize how POM works with a range of systems—agriculture, disaster management, e-commerce, healthcare, hospitality, military systems, not-for-profit, retail, sports, sustainability, telecommunications, and transport—and how it contributes to the growth of each. Martin K. Starr and Sushil K. Gupta gather an international team of experts to provide researchers and students with a panoramic vision of the field. Divided into eight parts, the book presents the history of POM, and establishes the foundation upon which POM has been built while also revisiting and revitalizing topics that have long been essential. It examines the significance of processes and projects to the fundamental growth of the POM field. Critical emerging themes and new research are examined with open minds and this is followed by opportunities to interface with other business functions. Finally, the next era is discussed in ways that combine practical skill with philosophy in its analysis of POM, including traditional and nontraditional applications, before concluding with the editors’ thoughts on the future of the discipline. Students of POM will find this a comprehensive, definitive resource on the state of the discipline and its future directions.

The book aims to identify key issues and developments in ASEAN-5 that illustrate the transition of this region towards a knowledge-based economy. The book contributes to understanding the opportunities and challenges faced by emerging economies. It explains the transition process from a knowledge based perspective, showing how knowledge creation and innovation contribute to the competitiveness of companies and sectors in this region. The book takes a distinctly ASEAN perspective by discussing examples of the transition process from all ASEAN 5 nations that show how this region is attempting to link up to the global knowledge economy of the 21st Century. To achieve these aims the book is divided into three parts, preceded by an introductory chapter explaining the logic, objectives and contributions of the book. Part I discusses ASEAN-5 as an emerging hub in the global economy. Part II discusses the global links of the ASEAN region. Part III highlights innovation support in the ASEAN region. Each part identifies key developments and discusses relevant challenges and opportunities regarding the economic transition process based on examples for the various ASEAN-5 nations. The book contributes to the literature on emerging economies by explaining their challenges and opportunities of the catching-up process from a knowledge-based perspective. It is definitely a must-read.

In recent years an extensive range of new research has been revisiting the topic of the location of international business activities, from a variety of different perspectives and background interests. This work has been inspired in part by two apparently quite different but actually related contemporary trends: on the one hand, an emergence or revitalization of clusters of activities co-located in or around selected global city regions or fast growing metropolitan areas; and on the other hand, an increased global dispersion of activities conducted within the value chains managed or coordinated by many large multinational enterprises and their business partners. The former trend has given rise to discussions of how the elite of the cultural-cognitive economy of the 21st century (in Allen Scott's terminology) or the creative class (Richard Florida's term) are now being drawn or brought back to major urban centers; while the latter trend is associated with debates over outsourcing, and the economic and social consequences of shifts in the ownership and location of distinct nodes of value chains once production systems become more fragmented and the component parts of such systems become more geographically dispersed. An increased interest in the subject of international business location has been shown by scholars in Strategic Management, in Economic Geography, and in Regional Science, as well as in our own interdisciplinary field of International Business Studies. However, as is often the case in academic research communities, these bodies of scholarship have tended to develop at something of a distance from one another, each conversing internally more than they have with one another. Location of International Business Activities aims to promote a greater conversation between those interested in the topic of Location from various different backgrounds or starting points. The articles are taken from a special issue on the theme of the Multinational in Geographic Space which was published by The Journal of International Business Studies in 2013.

This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Geo-Informatics in Resource Management and Sustainable Ecosystem, GRMSE 2015, held in Wuhan, China, in October 2015. The 101 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 321 submissions. The papers are divided into topical sections on Smart City in Resource Management and Sustainable Ecosystem; Spatial Data Acquisition Through RS and GIS in Resource Management and Sustainable Ecosystem; Ecological and Environmental Data Processing and Management; Advanced Geospatial Model and Analysis for Understanding Ecological and Environmental Process; Applications of Geo-Informatics in Resource Management and Sustainable Ecosystem.

Real-world strategic management practice in an interactive micro-case format The Strategy Pathfinder presents an innovative, dynamic guide to strategic thinking and practice. Using real-world case examples from companies like Apple, the BBC, Hyundai, LEGO, McDonalds, Nike and SpaceX to illustrate critical concepts, this book enables readers to actively participate in real-world strategy dilemmas and create their own solutions. Strategy Pathfinder’s ‘live’ micro-cases provoke discussion about business models, value creation, new ventures and more, while its complimentary instructional content introduces you to the best ‘classic’ and new tools of strategic management. Rather than passively reproducing past and current ideas, Strategy Pathfinder encourages strategic thinkers to learn by doing. The book is designed to help the reader to develop a clear understanding of key concepts while shifting your thought processes towards real strategic action and innovation by enabling you to: Use strategy theories and frameworks to engage in analytical and creative discussions about key strategic issues facing real companies today Form strategic views for yourself, and test them against the views of others Effectively make and communicate recommendations based on solid strategic analysis that stand up to scrutiny from multiple stakeholders Become an active producer of new strategic ideas rather than a passive receiver of past wisdom This third edition has been updated with new chapters and cases to reflect the latest, cutting-edge issues in strategic thinking and practice. And the updated companion website offers students, instructors and managers more resources to facilitate understanding, interaction and innovation. As an active learning experience, The Strategy Pathfinder 3rd Edition engages the reader in the work of strategy practitioners. By arming you with the empirical research you need, and the best strategic management theories and frameworks to better analyse situations you're likely to encounter or already facing in your career, The Strategy Pathfinder teaches you how to improve your strategic thinking and practice, and develop your own strategic pathways for the future.