The title of this book is fundamentally misleading. The book has very little to do with strategic planning, and the only chapter which addresses strategic planning explicitly can only be described as superficial. A more appropriate title would be “(Almost) Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Multinational Trading Blocs – But Were Afraid to Ask, in Case the Answer Bored You Rigid”. This is a topic that in many authors’ hands could very easily lapse into the soporific, but it is a tribute to the author’s writing skills that this book is consistently lively and engaging. There is a “lightness of touch” about the writing, which is a model of clarity, and in which there is always an interesting example or fact to illustrate the discussion. The overall impression created is that this is a book in which not a single word has been wasted. The corollary to this is that some readers may find that this book lacks depth. It covers a great deal of territory, both geographically and intellectually, in around 200 pages, and although the rapid progress between regions and ideas ensures that the discussion never becomes tedious, it will leave readers who really do want to know everything about multinational trading blocs rather tantalised. For readers who are looking for a lively introduction to the subject, I think this book would be hard to better.
The book is very tightly focussed on trading blocs themselves, and although I think a clear focus is a sign of a good book, the effect here is almost to give an impression that trading blocs exist in something of a vacuum. After only seven pages of discussion on the general principles of trade blocs, the focus is on the actualities of the world’s main trading blocs. Personally I would have liked a broader initial discussion, which analysed issues like the relationship between trade blocs and MNCs, the political dimensions of trade blocs, the role of the World Trade Organisation and the impact of the process of globalisation. These issues are often illustrated or dealt with by implication during the text, but it would have been far more satisfying to see them pulled together initially to provide a stronger foundation for later discussion.
After the initial chapter introducing the principles of trading blocs and the main blocs themselves, the next six chapters become something of a travelogue of trading blocs around the world’s regions. As the discussion develops, so the very strong American bias of the book becomes apparent. In the chapter covering the European Union, the background to the EU is covered in about a page (a miracle of summarisation in itself) which is followed by 11 pages on the implications of the EU for American corporations and marketers. The EU’s impact on world trade, by comparison, is covered in three and a half pages. So, if you do not happen to be an American marketer, or have a stake in an American corporation, the discussion of the EU’s significance is a little unsatisfying. As the geographic focus shifts between chapters, it is difficult not to feel that the depth of the discussion dwindles the further it moves, geographically and psychologically, from America and America’s interests. These chapters read very much like briefing notes prepared for American managers. One can imagine a manager who is being sent to distant lands, being handed 25 pages from this book to “get them up to speed on local trade issues”, to accompany several other similarly sized documents covering local politics, local culture, the local economy and so forth.
Once the world tour has been completed, there are three chapters covering more general principles and management issues. The first covers the thorny issues of dumping and anti‐dumping measures. Although a dozen pages scarcely allow room to delve into the full complexities of these issues, it is an excellent summary, and would be difficult to better without expanding it radically. I could not say the same about the next chapter entitled “Global Strategic Planning: Guidelines for Cultural Analysis” which is so superficial and checklist‐oriented that it seems out of place and out of character compared to the rest of the book. Disappointingly it was the only chapter lacking further reading suggestions, and it is on this issue that readers new to the subject really would need to be pointed towards further guidance. The next chapter considers the role of quality standards and ISO 9000 in particular. Here again, I would say that the author demonstrates exceptional skill in his ability to put a complex subject into an extremely informative nutshell. I was however disappointed to note that the ISO 14000 series was not mentioned, particularly given the brewing controversies over the role of environmental standards as a surrogate trade barrier. The logic of including this essentially practical chapter, when so many other practicalities of international business and trade are not considered, I was not entirely clear about, but it is a useful chapter nonetheless.
The book ends with a brief summary looking ahead at the future of multinational trading blocs, but overall this book felt very firmly rooted in the Twentieth Century in its view of the World. I was reminded of Kenichi Ohmae’s criticism of the tendency of economists and governments to continue viewing world trade as though it still involved exchanging Yorkshire wool for Portuguese wine. In an age when so many transactions can be accomplished within companies and alliances of companies that span the globe, or conducted in cyberspace where geographical boundaries have little meaning, the importance and role of conventional trading blocs seems bound to change in the new century. The recent protests against the WTO also suggest that the future of world trade may be influenced as much by social issues, as by economic and political issues.
For readers seeking an exceptionally clear, informative and tightly focussed introduction to multinational trading blocs I would recommend this book highly. Readers seeking greater depth, a more global focus, or a more analytical and future‐orientated approach may need to look elsewhere; but the excellent bibliography included within this book could prove a useful starting point.
