The Management and Organisation of Firms in the Global Context [antikvár]

Introduction This is a timely book for two reasons. Firstly, it is now ten years ago that the Berlin Wall came tumbling down and the Soviet Bloc began to disintegrate. Secondly, as the end of the century approaches there is much discussion and debate about a global shift in the world's economy. Both generál developments in that economy and particular, related developments in Hungary, as well as other former Soviet Bloc countries, are examined in the collection of contributions offered here. The intention is to explore the dynamic social, economic and political global context within which the management and organisation of firms is embedded. In 1989, the disintegration of the Soviet Bloc was seen in the West as a vindication of the superiority of the free markét capitalism of the West. The triumph of the West was an argument vigorously prosecuted by Fukuyama (1989a) in particular. The collapse of the Soviet Bloc halted a '150 year detour' (p.23) that diverted the evolutionary progress of history towards economic and political liberalism and with the reinstatement of that progress the 'End of History' was heralded with the culmination of humán social development (Fukuyama, 1989b). Fukuyama's thesis was no doubt simplistic, and for many reasons - somé of which can be found in, for example, McCarney (1993) and Steele, Mortimer and Stedman Jones (1989). Here it is suffice to note that somé Soviet Bloc economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were already integrated into the international economy before 1989 via both trade and manufacturing and that, in addition, somé of these economies had been in the process of economic as well as organisational transformation for a number of decades prior to 1989, as Hungary exemplifies. Nevertheless, the integration of CEE economies into the world economy, through foreign direct investment (FDI) has accelerated over the past decade as Makó and Ellingstad íllustrate in this volume. Indeed, current levels of FDI around the world are at a record high. The economic integration resulting from this internationalisation of manufacturing capacity has led somé commentators to argue that the world's economy is now 'globalised', and there can be no doubt that the term 'globalisation' has become a recurring feature in the language of the public and politicians, academics and management consultants. Its acceptance now shapes debates and discussion about corporate and national governance as organisations and economies are deterministically exhorted to transform as a response to a consequential 'hypercompetition'. Somé of these resulting organisational developments are outlined in the chapter by Dittrich and Kühl in this collection. In this context, management exhort workers to become flexible in response to globalisation, national independence movements decry it for threatening cultural diversity, politicians blame it for sparking economic crises and individuals of every developed economy are exhorted to become networked into it or miss out on the shopping revolution. FDI then represents a key analytical focus for many of the contributions here, and for different reasons. For example, Kerekes hints at the effect that FDI might have on the Hungárián environment. Makó and Ellingstad examine its effects on management prac-