Book excerpt: "This is a significant book... for a multitude of audiences, including scholars, practitioners, students, expatriates, travelers, and those who are simply interested in culture... This book is also an ideal reference tool, since the metaphors are easy to remember yet rich in contextual value and are presented in a logical structure for quick consultation. Overall, this book is enormously appealing, genuinely useful, and a worthy addition to any collection." -Thunderbird International Business Review (2002) In Understanding Global Cultures, Fourth Edition, authors Martin J. Gannon and Rajnandini Pillai present the cultural metaphor as a method for understanding the cultural mindsets of individual nations, clusters of nations, and even continents. The fully updated Fourth Edition continues to emphasize that metaphors are guidelines to help outsiders quickly understand what members of a culture consider important. This new edition includes a new part structure, three completely new chapters, and major revisions to chapters on American football, Russian ballet, and the Israeli kibbutz. New and Continuing Features: Emphasizes clusters of national cultures and variations within each cluster, as well as both topic-oriented (authority-ranking cultures, market-pricing cultures, etc.) and cluster-focused descriptions Includes three new parts: India, Shiva, and Diversity; Scandinavian Egalitarian Cultures (Sweden, Denmark, and Finland); and Other Egalitarian Cultures (including Canada and Germany) Provides three completely new chapters: Finnish Sauna, Kaleidoscopic India and Diversity, and a final integrative summary chapter Integrates chapters through the frameworks of the GLOBE study, the Hofstede study, Hall, and Kluckholn and Strodbeck Highlights religious and ethnic diversity throughout Ancillaries Instructor Resources are available on a password-protected website at www.sagepub.com/gannon4instr. These include applications, discussion questions, model examinations,100 exercises, and suggested syllabi. Qualified instructors may contact Customer Care to receive access to the site. Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 29 Nations, Clusters of Nations, Continents, and Diversity is appropriate for courses in International Business and Management, Strategic Management and Planning, and Cultural Studies.