Book excerpt: The focus of the book is understanding international influences that affect international business, and relevant aspects of the world environment. These aspects are economic, physical, sociocultural, political, legal and technological and include the cultures of foreign business organizations. Each chapter is written by an expert in the field who has been involved in international business in that area. The purpose of each chapter is to enable effective performance in the international business arena. An integrated system view of the country or region and how managers can obtain success in that area is provided. Global in its coverage this book provides information on global trends, different regions and their consumer cultures and business customs, as well as methods of entry and global strategies.