ENVIRONMENT, STRUCTURE AND CHALLENGES

In my more than thirty years of academic experience, I have collected hundreds of books on international business, but also on philosophy, history, sociology, and so on. It fascinates me that most of the international (or global) business concepts we perceive as brand-new were thoroughly discussed ten, twenty, thirty years ago-even more. In writing, therefore, this book I aimed to present the environment and structure of today's global business, but also to address challenges that the globalization of business has brought. I welcome your comments, especially whether or not I was daring enough to outline global business challenges and their repercussions for the future of our societal fabric.

From the outset, allow me to clarify a few definitional elements. This book deals with business. We use interchangeably all related nouns, such as enterprise, corporation, organization, or firm. In a parallel sense and although most business has a profit motive, to a great extent, the presented material applies also to non-for-profit enterprises, as well as to any type of organization, including the governmental and the non-governmental ones. Business is perceived as the societal player that now takes new roles and is responsible for economic growth and social betterment, and operates within a practically borderless global environment.