Carry a Chicken in Your Lap: Or Whatever It Takes to Globalize Your Business - Hardcover

Ayres, R. William; Johnson, Bruce Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312565534 ISBN 13: 9780312565534

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2009

Synopsis

Recession-hit American companies are sending people overseas in record numbers in search of new business. But sadly around 75 percent of these expats fail, costing an estimated two billion dollars a year. CEOs, vice presidents of international marketing, and HR departments must learn how to choose and educate the right people to send overseas. Beyond helping companies to save money, this book will help save their reputations in foreign markets, strengthen their relations with partners and governments, and increase their sales and brand loyalty. Dotted with dozens of real-life stories gleaned from the authors’ globe-trotting experiences, Carry a Chicken in Your Lap answers these questions:

· Why do major corporations keep choosing the wrong people for jobs overseas?

· What should they do differently, and how should they do it?

·  In addition to the billions of dollars lost, what does it cost a company in terms of public standing in a foreign market when it sends the wrong people?

· What specific damage do the wrong people do and can any of it be corrected? (The answer may surprise you.)

Bruce Alan Johnson's Carry a Chicken in Your Lap: Or Whatever It Takes to Globalize Your Business is the resource you need to ensure success overseas.

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Alan Johnson has run his own businesses worldwide since 1985, helping clients such as Hewlett-Packard, BMW, and Eli Lilly solve their international problems. 

R. William Ayres Ph.D., has been a professor of international relations at various colleges and universities for more than a dozen years. 

Review

“In a word, this book is outstanding. It presents basic but not usually well-known information in a delightfully interesting way, laced with the authors’ personal experiences. Carry a Chicken in Your Lap should be required reading for every person contemplating an overseas assignment, as well as anyone who is contemplating an overseas business. Senior executives who will make the final critical decision regarding the person(s) best suited for this assignment will undoubtedly benefit from this fine book. . . . A most worthy addition to the current storehouse of knowledge regarding the underlying difficulties in doing business outside of North America. [This] book sums it up in an easy-to-read but fascinating style.”—Richard Zimmerman, former CEO of Hershey Foods

 “Too many firms look at foreign markets as just another trip to MacDonald’s—same stuff, just a different location. And they pay for that misperception with failure, over and over. What these authors have done is to take much of the guesswork and all those bad ideas out of the effort of starting up in a new place where more is different than just the language and the scenery. Local customs, traditions and long-established work habits, family structures, and even diet all play a role in success and therefore in failure of any endeavor in a new place. If you think foreign markets are for you, this book is both tour guide and key; what they have done is to turn the lights on to that new and sometimes thorny path. Plus, it’s a great read!”—Greg Garrison, former CBS News legal analyst and host of The Greg Garrison Show

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0312565534
• ISBN 13: 9780312565534
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240