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THE NEXT BATTLEGROUND

JAPAN, AMERICA, AND THE NEW EUROPEAN MARKET

A journalist's savvy appraisal of how corporate America and Japan, Inc., measure up against a more or less united European Community in the trilateral struggle for economic ascendancy in Europe. A sometime Tokyo correspondent for The Economist who now heads the Brussels bureau of The Independent, Jackson reviews the implications as well as the realities of stiffer EC competition. He points out, for example, that while the hitherto fragmented Continent has long been a lucrative source of profits for many US companies (which often use them to offset shortfalls in their stateside operations), it's unlikely to remain so. The author casts a cold eye on the rivalry in key arenas. For openers, he dismisses Japan's overextended banks and brokerage firms as an immediate threat. By contrast, however, Jackson believes that Old World car- makers (whose mass markets are still dominated by Ford and GM) could be in for further shocks at the hands of Japanese manufacturers that have been building a European infrastructure since the mid-1980's. Noting that entertainment goods (CD players, tape recorders, TV sets, etc.) have long since become the virtually private preserve of Asian suppliers, he concedes American producers of computer hardware and software a substantive edge. The author goes on to outline the perils of industrial policy as ineptly practiced by EC technocrats, closing with a lucid analysis of why European and US concerns should test themselves in the demanding environment of Japan's domestic market. While Jackson covers much the same ground as did Daniel Burstein in Euroquake (1991) and Lester Thurow in Head to Head (p. 313), he does so with a reporter's appreciation for anecdotal detail that brings big-picture perspectives to life. A perceptive overview, then, of a consequential clash among the world's economic superpowers.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-395-61594-1

Page Count: 318

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1992

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THINKING, FAST AND SLOW

Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...

A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.

The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.

Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1

Page Count: 512

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011

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THE CULTURE MAP

BREAKING THROUGH THE INVISIBLE BOUNDARIES OF GLOBAL BUSINESS

These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.

A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.

“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.

These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.

Pub Date: May 27, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1

Page Count: 288

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014

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