Quality control

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Allyn Enderlyn, Oliver C. Dziggel

"You can profit from the economic revolution taking place in Latin America!" "The hottest economic growth is occurring in the southern part of the western hemisphere. For businesses to compete in a global economy they must explore opportunities beyond their own borders, and the biggest boom is occurring in Latin America. There are abundant opportunities throughout the region for marketing products and services, establishing joint ventures and investing. Identifying and comparing opportunities are the key challenges, and Allyn Enderlyn and Oliver C. Dziggel have compiled all the details you'll ever need to carry out successful business ventures. Assembling this information on your own from scratch would cost thousands of dollars and take months to accomplish. Cracking Latin America is the most comprehensive resource available for identifying new markets and investment opportunities in Latin America. Filled with information on developing markets, investment climate, financing, licensing and other practical information, Cracking Latin America is the most complete, authoritative resource on attractive opportunities in the region." "Cracking Latin America offers a step-by-step approach to market entry and positioning for those eager to expand their business horizons."--Jacket.

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Paul Midler

"An insider reveals what can--and does--go wrong when companies shift production to China In this entertaining behind-the-scenes account, Paul Midler tells us all that is wrong with our effort to shift manufacturing to China. Now updated and expanded, Poorly Made in China reveals industry secrets, including the dangerous practice of quality fade--the deliberate and secret habit of Chinese manufacturers to widen profit margins through the reduction of quality inputs. U.S. importers don't stand a chance, Midler explains, against savvy Chinese suppliers who feel they have little to lose by placing consumer safety at risk for the sake of greater profit. This is a lively and impassioned personal account, a collection of true stories, told by an American who has worked in the country for close to two decades. Poorly Made in China touches on a number of issues that affect us all"--

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Fumio Kodama

Kodama uses the concept of a techno-paradigm shift to express the radical changes in the way technology has been and continues to be developed, applied, and commercialized over time. In analyzing data gathered over ten years of intensive research and study of Japanese firms, he distinguishes six dimensions along which the shift is occurring: manufacturing, business diversification, R&D competition, product development, innovation pattern, and societal diffusion of technology. He illuminates his discussion of each dimension with a profile of specific technologies and the companies that have advanced them, including consumer electronics (Sony and Toshiba), fiber optic cables (Sumitomo Electric), computers and communications equipment (NEC), machine tools (Fanuc), and automobile parts (Honda, Toyota, and Nissan). The concepts presented in Emerging Patterns of Innovation not only have implications for the competitive strategies of non-Japanese firms and the economic policies of their corresponding nations, but could also help promote important international alliances in technological development at both the business and the national levels. In particular, Kodama describes his vision of option sharing, through which it is possible to resolve the tensions between international cooperation and national autonomy as well as to promote a nonprotectionist, "plus-sum game" in technological innovation that would benefit the world as a whole.

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David Grigg

Employing nearly one half of the world's workforce, agriculture is clearly of great economic and social importance. An incredible variety of methods is used globally; the Western world has the latest scientific and industrial advancements at its disposal, yet in some parts of the Third World a living is made using tools that have hardly changed in two thousand years. David Grigg provides a comprehensive introduction to agriculture in both the First and Third Worlds, describing both human and environmental issues. Covering the physical environment, economic behaviour and demands, institutional, social and cultural influences, and the impact of farming upon the environment, the book explores the wide range of factors which influence how agriculture and agricultural practice differ from place to place. For this new edition, the text, statistics, artwork and bibliography have been entirely updated and revised. In addition, two new chapters have been incorporated, on modernization and on the environment.