Institutions, Macroeconomics, And The Global Economy (Casebook)

All managers face a business environment where international and macroeconomic phenomena matter. Understanding the genesis of financial and currency crises, stock market booms and busts, and social and labor unrest is a crucial aspect in making informed managerial decisions. Adverse macroeconomic phenomena can have a catastrophic impact on firm performance witness the strong companies destroyed by the Mexican tequila crisis. Yet, at the same time, such episodes also create business opportunities and not just for the hedge funds and speculators that profit from them. Managers that have and use a coherent framework for analyzing these phenomena will enjoy a competitive advantage.This book presents a series of case studies taught in the Harvard Business School course Institutions, Macroeconomics, and the Global Economy. The course addresses the opportunities created by the emergence of a global economy and proposes strategies for managing the risks that globalization entails.