Global Business & Culture

How can managers promote consistent ways of working among team members from diverse cultural backgrounds who are based all over the world? And how can leaders help workers develop solid relationships with their colleagues even though they may not meet them regularly — if ever? Darden Professor Yo-Jud Cheng sheds light on those questions.

What does it take to transform? What if the challenges are huge: globalization, economic uncertainty, technological disruption, market innovations, changes in customer expectations, new competition — maybe all of the above? Here’s how luxury goods distributor and retailer The Chalhoub Group is responding to a changing world.

China’s marketing landscape is a different machine than Western companies may be accustomed to. How a country evolves impacts consumer habits — which, in turn, should impact marketing practice. Western multinational firms seeking to expand need to shift their strategies — and might find they can apply some lessons to other markets.

Famous for producing pork products, Smithfield Foods had a history of aggressive growth. But when that growth stalled for a matter of years, it was time to consider acquisition by ShuangHui International. This case in point discusses the pros and cons and strategic considerations that went into the international deal.

How do you learn to conduct international business effectively? Professor James Clawson shares the 11 key characteristics of a global business leader.

Competition is defined by the relationship between its constituent parts: action and response. The two are as interdependent as day and night; they exist within the context of one another, together creating one totality.

To thrive in a global economy, managers need to be aware not only of linear analytics and Western economics, but also aspects of Eastern philosophy, like letting go of desire and control — perhaps unexpected lessons at a business school.

Multicultural teams are rightly extolled for their creative and world-wise solutions. But they also come with a unique set of challenges.

An ambicultural mindset applied to business, or to any enterprise, embraces the possibility for long-term relationships among multiple parties, from managers and policymakers to industries and customers, from organizations to societies and nations.

Darden Professor June West discusses The Economist Intelligence Unit’s “Foresight 2020” research report that outlines five key trends in business for the next 15 years.