Paradoxes of Globalisation

World economy globalisation is a complex phenomenon driven by multiple interactive forces. They interconnect and interweave giving rise to a number of paradoxes that impact, to a varying degree, the functional and developmental characteristics of firms. Focusing on the paradoxes appearing in the process of globalisation, this book offers for the first time an in-depth study of the logical contradictions that stream from economic integration on the supranational level. The paradoxes identified and analysed here concern all the fields of management sciences. * In strategy, the progressive elimination of countries' trade boundaries enables more opportunities to be seized, but simultaneously causes a loss of managerial autonomy at company level. * In marketing, the relative uniformity of commercial responses to international market conditions encourages prospective clients to turn back to products firmly anchored in local culture. * In accounting, the financialisation of the accounting model, the pursuit of fair value and the need for transparent information, are closely linked to various problems such as those of the legitimacy of the International Accounting Standards (IAS) and thus of the political governance of accounting standards. * In finance, after having invited banks to diversify, globalisation is brutally pushing these establishments to refocus on their original line of work. * In matters of social responsibility, many multinationals unknowingly supply and reinforce mafia and criminal organisations. These different paradoxes, and many others besides, are being studied by a group of research professors representing more than ten academic institutions.