دانلود کتاب شبکه های غیررسمی در تجارت بین المللی

Networking is widely regarded as an activity managers should do, simply speaking, to get things done and to meet corporate goals, to get ahead professionally or stay informed about opportunities. Networking is not solely a management technique. It is about meeting people and developing relationships as for many activities we are better off when we collaborate, receive and give help, and offer goodwill and support to others. This in turn is important for our social well-being and personal growth. As some people engage more in networking than others, in principle we all network for different reasons. While we all have a pretty good idea what networking is and how it works – like it or not – how networking works abroad, in countries or regions unfamiliar to us, is not so clear to most of us. Meeting people and developing relationships, i.e., networking, is usually based on shared values and behavioral norms. Commitment to relationships plays a role, as do the ideals of altruism and norms of reciprocity, to name just a few features. As values, norms, and ideals relevant to relationship building differ around the globe, the ways in which people network can be assumed to differ too. This is where this edited volume seeks to contribute. Managers working abroad but being socialized in a different environment, i.e., expatriates, as well as business travelers, traveling executives, country representatives at headquarters and others, are among those who need to integrate and connect to informal networks abroad for several reasons. The rise of China, and accordingly the influx of businesspeople from all over the world, has made the Chinese way of networking, known as guanxi, the most prominent example of informal networking to date. While every expatriate manager knows the central importance of developing and maintaining guanxi in China, the characteristics and structures of other informal networks, for instance, yongo (Korea), wasta (Arab world), jeitinho (Brazil), blat/ svyazi (Russia), sifarish (Pakistan), jaan-pehchaan (India), and many others, remain largely unknown, underestimated, or misunderstood by many expatriate managers. Most of the named network constructs are featured in this edited volume. Informal networks are often reflections of societal structures and deeply engrained into the respective cultural environment. Hence, understanding them and developing informal network competence is pivotal for successfully managing locally. Informal networks can be an influential factor in day-to-day operations in leadership and human resources management (recruitment, selection, promotion), in sales, project acquisition and business development, or in any functions relating to relationship management at large. Understanding informal networks helps in better managing risks and opportunities in business, including those difficult to formally enforce. Before we can think of how to network effectively abroad, we need to understand what networking is about, what ideals prevail, and what structures possibly preexist that make up networks. While informal networks come in different shapes, in this book we predominantly discuss informal network constructs, outlining the characteristics and their relevance to international business activities from theoretical and practical perspectives. Given the intertwinement of theories, concepts, and constructs surrounding informal networks, it is difficult to clearly separate them from each other. While some contributions in this book focus more on general aspects of informal networks, others inform about their distinct nature respectively. Following this idea, the book is divided into three parts. Each part is diverse, reflecting the current nature of the field. While contributions in the first part present emerging theories, concepts, and observations about informal networks, works in the second part contribute to construct knowledge. A further, final part features contributions pointing out potential future areas of research on informal networks.