J. Michael Geringer is a professor of strategy and international management at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo. He earned a BS in business at Indiana University and MBA and PhD degrees at the University of Washington. He has authored or edited 14 books and monographs, over 110 published papers, and over 35 case studies; he serves on the editorial boards of several leading international academic journals; he served as the Saastamoinen Foundation Chair at the Helsinki School of Economics in Finland; he was the founding chair of the Strategic alliances Committee of the Licensing Executives Society; he served as the chair of both the International Business and the Strategy and Policy divisions of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada; and he is past chairperson of the Academy of Management�s International Management division. His research has appeared in the Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of International Management, Columbia Journal of World Business, Management International Review, Journal of Management Studies, Human Resource Management Journal, Long Range Planning, Organisation Studies, and Journal of Applied Psychology, among others. He has received 11 �best paper� awards for his research, including the Decade Award for most influential article from the Journal of International Business Studies. His teaching performance has earned numerous awards in the U.S., Canada, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe, including the University Distinguished Teacher Award. He was the first recipient of the International Educator Award from Cal Poly, and he endowed a scholarship for students to work and study internationally. He has been active in a range of charitable and service activities, including spearheading the adoption of a school in Soweto, South Africa, and fund-raising for public radio. In addition to his working teaching with universities around the world, Geringer is active in consulting and executive development for multinational corporations and executives from six continents. His clients have included Nokia; Lucent; Eastman Kodak; Sonera; Northern Telecom; Rautaruukki; Eastman Chemical; UPM Kymmene; Industry, Science & Technology Canada; Jiangsu Telecom Industrial; California Highway Patrol; Economic Council of Canada; Perlos; YIT; California Department of Transportation; and Okobank, among others. For relaxation, he enjoys daily Stairmaster workouts, along with hiking, camping, gardening, cooking spicy vegetarian foods, and music.

Michael S. Minor is professor of marketing and international business at the University of Texas, Pan American. He was educated at the University of North Carolina, American University, and Cornell and holds a PhD from Vanderbilt University. His research focuses on comparative consumer behavior, international marketing strategy, political risk, and the consumption of high-technology experiential products. He has published in the Journal of International Business Studies, the Journal of Consumer Marketing, International Studies of Management and Organization, the Journal of Services Marketing, International Business Review, Journal of Interactive Advertising, and elsewhere. He has written for business and popular media from PCWeek to Tennessee Business Magazine. He is past chairperson of the Consumer Behavior Special Interest Group, and past vice chair of the Technology and Marketing Special Interest Group of the American Marketing Association, as well as a former member of the Global Marketing SIG�s board of directors. He is active in DOCNET, the association of business doctoral program administrators. He serves on multiple editorial advisory boards and is the coauthor with John C. Mowen of several consumer behavior books. He has won multiple master�s-level teaching awards and was recently the doctoral program professor of the year. His consulting experience includes work for UNCTAD�s Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development and several U.S. and state government agencies. He has reviewed grant proposals for the Research Council of Norway as well as several U.S. agencies. He lived in Asia for a number of years, and speaks Chinese. He relaxes by playing the mandolin and harmonica for the country/classic rock groups RiverRock and Coastlands.

Jeanne M. McNett is a professor of management at Assumption College, in Worcester, Massachusetts. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MBA at the Cass School of Business, City University, London. She has had expatriate assignments in Germany, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Korea. Her interests include the role of culture in international business and the pedagogy of international management. Her publications include The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management. Vol. VI: International Management, 2nd ed., Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing (2005); and The Blackwell Handbook of Global Management, Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing (2004). Her teaching, research and presentations have received many awards, including The Roethlisberger Best Paper of the Year Award from the Journal of Management Education and the Alpha Phi Alpha Teacher of the Year Award. Her articles have been included in journals and collections focused on teaching in the area of international business. She is an avid master rower and enjoys running, reading, and gardening.

International Business: The Challenge of Global Competition, 12th Edition, by Ball, Geringer, Minor and McNett continues to be the most current, objective and thorough treatment of International Business available for students. Enriched with maps, photos, and the most up-to-date world data, this text boasts the collective expertise of four authors with firsthand international business experience, specializing in international management, finance, law, global strategy, and marketing ' a claim no other text can make. In addition, each new copy of International Business, 12e includes access to CESIM ' an interactive IB simulation developed for industry professionals. Ball, et. al. is the only textbook on the market which features access to CESIM. Only Ball, Geringer, Minor and McNett can offer a complete view of International Business as diverse as the backgrounds of business students.

Table of Contents

Part I: The Nature of International Business
Chapter 1 The Rapid Change of International BusinessChapter 2 International Trade and Foreign Direct InvestmentChapter 3 Theories of International Trade and InvestmentChapter 4 International Institutions from an International Business Perspective
Part II: International Environmental ForcesChapter 5 Sociocultural ForcesChapter 6 Natural Resources and Environmental SustainabilityChapter 7 Economic and Socioeconomic ForcesChapter 8 Political ForcesChapter 9 Intellectual Property and Other Legal ForcesChapter 10 Understanding the International Monetary System and Financial ForcesChapter 11 Labor Forces
Part III: The Organizational EnvironmentChapter 12 International Competitive StrategyChapter 13 Organizational Design and ControlChapter 14 Assessing and Analyzing MarketsChapter 15 Entry ModesChapter 16 Export and Import PracticesChapter 17 Marketing InternationallyChapter 18 Global Operations and Supply Chain ManagementChapter 19 Human Resource ManagementChapter 20 International Accounting and Financial Management