A career in the early limbo of international business: policy, research and education
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ESSAY
A career in the early limbo of international business: policy, research and education Jack N Behrman University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA Correspondence: Jack N Behrman, 750 Weaver Dairy Road, Apt 223, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-1467, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract Colleagues have characterized my place in the early days of international business (IB) studies and my later contributions as ‘in limbo’, ‘at the interfaces’, ‘a synthesis’, ‘focusing on linkages’ and ‘iconoclastic’. The ‘limbo’ placed me outside the usual functional disciplines in business schools, which in the 1950s seldom included ‘international business’. The ‘interfaces’ and ‘linkages’ of IB were focused on the interdependence of politics, government and business; the ‘synthesis’ was an effort to see IB as a ‘whole’ involving many cultural, social, economic and public elements; while ‘iconoclastic’ reflected an effort to break through restrictive models used in the academic mainstream and to embrace as many facets of IB and foreign economic policy as were relevant to such issues as the growing significance of foreign direct investment in international economic integration, the increasing importance of technology transfers, and the emergence of transnational corporations and of a global economy – all of which were concerns of host and home governments, leading to a focus on IB and governments. Journal of International Business Studies (2006) 37, 432–444. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400201 Keywords: multinational enterprises; investment; integration; cross-cultural
transnationals;
technology;
foreign
direct
Opportunities As international business (IB) was increasingly embraced by US and European corporations, academia, governments and public service organizations followed. My career developed in response to pressing foreign economic policy and IB issues, rather than following the typical paths for academic course development, research and publication; its audiences and outlets were, therefore, not typical of academia. And this outreach opened new research and teaching opportunities, including issues wider than IB, which are not part of the picture presented here. My IB research was frequently sponsored by government agencies, companies, associations, or foundations concerned with current policies. Government service offered useful contacts and a wider understanding of how business and government are related – both at home and abroad. Direct business experience was garnered through multiple interviews, consulting and board memberships. Both my research and career positions in government and business were carried into the classroom, especially with executive programs.
Online publication date: 4 May 2006
Obstacles In the 1950s and 1960s, little attention was given in the leading scholarly business journals to international issues, and faculty gave
Career in the early limbo of internati
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