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International Page i
Business
Competing in the Global Marketplace
13e
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright © 2021 by McGraw-Hill
Education. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education, including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or
broadcast for distance learning.
Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the
United States.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LWI 21 20
ISBN 978-1-260-57586-6
MHID 1-260-57586-1
All credits appearing on page or at the end of the book are considered to be an extension of the copyright page.
The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does not
indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill Education, and McGraw-Hill Education does not guarantee the
accuracy of the information presented at these sites.
mheducation.com/highered
Page iii
Charles W. L. Hill is the Hughes M. and Katherine Blake Professor of Strategy and International Business in the Foster
School of Business at the University of Washington. Professor Hill has taught in the Management, MBA, Executive
MBA, Technology Management MBA, and PhD programs at the University of Washington. During his time at the
University of Washington, he has received over 25 awards for teaching excellence, including the Charles E. Summer
Outstanding Teaching Award.
A native of the United Kingdom, Professor Hill received his PhD from the University of Manchester, UK. In
addition to the University of Washington, he has served on the faculties of the University of Manchester, Texas A&M
University, and Michigan State University.
Professor Hill has published over 50 articles in top academic journals, including the Academy of Management
Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, and Organization Science. Professor Hill has
also published several textbooks, including International Business (McGraw-Hill) and Global Business Today (McGraw-
Hill). His work is among the most widely cited in international business and strategic management.
Professor Hill works on a private basis with a number of organizations. His clients have included Microsoft, where
he taught in-house executive education courses for two decades. He has also consulted for a variety of other large
companies (e.g., AT&T Wireless, Boeing, BF Goodrich, Group Health, Hexcel, Philips Healthcare, Philips Medical
Systems, Seattle City Light, Swedish Health Services, Tacoma City Light, Thompson Financial Services, WRQ, and
Wizards of the Coast). Additionally, Dr. Hill has served on the advisory board of several start-up companies.
For recreation, Professor Hill enjoys skiing and competitive sailing!
Page v
brief CONTENTS
part one Introduction and Overview
Chapter 1 Globalization 2
Glossary 656
Indexes 666
Page vii
Chapter 1: Globalization
• New opening case: How the iPhone is made: Apple’s Global Production System
• Updated statistics and figures to incorporate the most recent data on global trade flows and foreign direct
investment
• Discussion of the implications of recent political trends (Brexit and the Trump Presidency) and what this might
mean for cross border trade and investment
• New closing case: General Motors in China
Integrated Cases
All of the 20 integrated cases are new for International Business 13e. Many of these cases build on previous opening and
closing chapter cases that have been revised, updated, and oftentimes adopted a new angle or focus. A unique feature of
the opening and closing cases for the chapters as well as the integrated cases at the back-end of the text is that we cover
all continents of the world and we do so with regional or country issues and large, medium, and small company
scenarios. This makes the 60 total cases we have included in International Business 13e remarkably wealthy as a
learning program.
• Globalization of BMW, Rolls-Royce, and the MINI
• The Decline of Zimbabwe
• Economic Development in Bangladesh
• The Swatch Group and Cultural Uniqueness
• Woolworths’ Corporate Responsibility Strategy
• The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is Dead: Long Live the CTPP!
• Boeing and Airbus Are in a Dogfight over Illegal Subsidies
• FDI in the Indian Retail Sector
• Free Trade in Africa
• The Mexican Peso, the Japanese Yen, and Pokemon Go
• Egypt and the IMF
• Alibaba’s Record-Setting IPO
• Sony Corporation: Still a Leader Globally?
• Organizational Architecture at P&G
• Cutco Corporation--Sharpening Your Market Entry
• Tata Motors and Exporting
• Alibaba and Global Supply Chains
• Best Buy Doing a Turnaround Again
• Sodexo: Building a Diverse Global Workforce
• Tesla, Inc.--Subsidizing Tesla Automobiles Globally
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the key issues to be addressed and explains the plan of the book. Globalization of
markets and globalization of production is the core focus.
Part Two
Chapters 2 through 4 focus on country differences in political economy and culture, and Chapter 5 on ethics, corporate
social responsibility, and sustainability issues in international business. Most international business textbooks place this
material at a later point, but we believe it is vital to discuss national differences first. After all, many of the central issues
in international trade and investment, the global monetary system, international business strategy and structure, and
international business functions arise out of national differences in political economy and culture.
Part Three
Chapters 6 through 9 investigate the political economy of global trade and investment. The purpose of this part is to
describe and explain the trade and investment environment in which international business occurs.
Part Four
Chapters 10 and 11 describe and explain the global monetary system, laying out in detail the monetary framework in
which international business transactions are conducted.
Part Five
In Chapters 12 and 13, attention shifts from the environment to the firm. In other words, we move from a macro focus to
a micro focus at this stage of the book. We examine strategies that firms adopt to compete effectively in the international
business environment.
Part Six
In Chapters 14 through 17, the focus narrows further to investigate business functions and related operations. These
chap t er s expl ain how f ir ms can per f ormthei r key f uncti ons —expor ti ng, importing, and counter tr ade; gl obal produ ct i on;
global supply chain management; global marketing; global research and development (R&D); human resource
management—to compete and succeed in the international business environment.
Throughout the book, the relationship of new material to topics discussed in earlier chapters is pointed out to the
students to reinforce their understanding of how the material comprises an integrated whole. We deliberately Page xiii
bring a management focus to the macro chapters (Chapters 1 through 12). We also integrate macro themes in
covering the micro chapters (Chapters 13 through 20).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Numerous people deserve to be thanked for their assistance in preparing this book. First, thank you to all the people at
McGraw-Hill Education who have worked with us on this project:
Second, our thanks go to the reviewers who provided good feedback that helped shape this book:
A special thanks to David Closs and David Frayer for allowing us to borrow elements of the sections on Strategic Roles
for Production Facilities; Make-or-Buy Decisions; Global Supply Chain Functions; Coordination in Global Supply
Chains; and Interorganizational Relationships for Chapter 15 of this text from Tomas Hult, David Closs, and David
Frayer (2014), Global Supply Chain Management, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Page ivx
Page xv
Page xvi
CONTENTS
part one
Introduction and Overview
CHAPTER 1
Globalization 2
Opening Case
How the iPhone Is Made: Apple’s Global Production System 3
Introduction 4
What Is Globalization? 6
The Globalization of Markets 6
The Globalization of Production 7
Management Focus
Boeing’s Global Production System 8
The Emergence of Global Institutions 9
Drivers of Globalization 11
Declining Trade and Investment Barriers 11
Role of Technological Change 13
The Changing Demographics of the Global Economy 15
The Changing World Output and World Trade Picture 15
Country Focus
India’s Software Sector 17
The Changing Foreign Direct Investment Picture 17
The Changing Nature of the Multinational Enterprise 19
Management Focus
The Dalian Wanda Group 20
The Changing World Order 21
Global Economy of the Twenty-First Century 22
The Globalization Debate 22
Antiglobalization Protests 23
Country Focus
Protesting Globalization in France 24
Globalization, Jobs, and Income 24
Globalization, Labor Policies, and the Environment 26
Globalization and National Sovereignty 28
Globalization and the World’s Poor 29
Managing in the Global Marketplace 31
Key Terms 33
Summary 33
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 34
Research Task 34
Closing Case
General Motors in China 35
Endnotes 36
part two
National Differences
CHAPTER 2
National Differences in Political, Economic, and Legal Systems 38
Opening Case
Kenya: An African Lion 39
Introduction 40
Political Systems 41
Collectivism and Individualism 41
Democracy and Totalitarianism 43
Country Focus
Putin’s Russia 44
Economic Systems 46
Market Economy 46
Command Economy 47
Mixed Economy 48
Legal Systems 49
Different Legal Systems 49
Differences in Contract Law 50
Property Rights and Corruption 51
Country Focus
Corruption in Brazil 53
Management Focus
Did Walmart Violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act? 54
The Protection of Intellectual Property 55
Management Focus
Starbucks Wins Key Trademark Case in China 56
Product Safety and Product Liability 57
Focus on Managerial Implications: The Macro Environment Influences Market Attractiveness 57
Key Terms 58 Page xvii
Summary 58
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 59
Research Task 59
Closing Case
Transformation in Saudi Arabia 59
Endnotes 61
CHAPTER 3
National Differences in Economic Development 62
Opening Case
Poland: Eastern Europe’s Economic Miracle 63
Introduction 64
Differences in Economic Development 64
Map 3.1 GNI per Capita, 2018 65
Map 3.2 GNI PPP per Capita, 2018 66
Map 3.3 Average Annual Growth Rate in GDP (%), 2009–2018 67
Broader Conceptions of Development: Amartya Sen 68
Map 3.4 Human Development Index, 2017 69
Political Economy and Economic Progress 69
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Are the Engines of Growth 69
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Require a Market Economy 70
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Require Strong Property Rights 70
The Required Political System 71
Economic Progress Begets Democracy 71
Country Focus
Property Rights in China 72
Geography, Education, and Economic Development 72
States in Transition 74
The Spread of Democracy 74
Map 3.5 Freedom in the World, 2019 74
The New World Order and Global Terrorism 76
The Spread of Market-Based Systems 77
Map 3.6 Index of Economic Freedom, 2019 79
The Nature of Economic Transformation 79
Deregulation 79
Country Focus
India’s Economic Transformation 80
Privatization 81
Legal Systems 81
Implications of Changing Political Economy 82
Focus on Managerial Implications: Benefits, Costs, Risks, and Overall Attractiveness of Doing Business Internationally 83
Key Terms 87
Summary 87
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 87
Research Task 88
Closing Case
Brazil’s Struggling Economy 88
Endnotes 90
CHAPTER 4
Differences in Culture 92
Opening Case
Singapore: One of the World’ Most Multicultural Places 93
Introduction 94
What Is Culture? 95
Values and Norms 96
Culture, Society, and the Nation-State 98
Determinants of Culture 99
Social Structure 99
Individuals and Groups 100
Social Stratification 102
Country Focus
Determining Your Social Class by Birth 103
Religious and Ethical Systems 105
Map 4.1 World Religions 106
Christianity 106
Islam 107
Country Focus
Turkey: Its Religion and Politics 110
Hinduism 111
Buddhism 112
Confucianism 113
Management Focus
China and Its Guanxi 114
Language 115
Spoken Language 115
Unspoken Language 116
Education 116
Culture and Business 117
Cultural Change 120
Focus on Managerial Implications: Cultural Literacy and Competitive Advantage 122 Page xviii
CHAPTER 5
Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Sustainability 132
Opening Case
Ericsson, Sweden, and Sustainability 133
Introduction 134
Ethics and International Business 135
Employment Practices 136
Human Rights 137
Management Focus
“Emissionsgate” at Volkswagen 138
Environmental Pollution 139
Corruption 140
Ethical Dilemmas 142
The Roots of Unethical Behavior 143
Personal Ethics 143
Decision-Making Processes 144
Organizational Culture 144
Unrealistic Performance Goals 145
Leadership 145
Societal Culture 145
Philosophical Approaches to Ethics 146
Straw Men 146
Utilitarian and Kantian Ethics 148
Rights Theories 149
Justice Theories 150
Focus on Managerial Implications: Making Ethical Decisions Internationally 151
Management Focus
Corporate Social Responsibility at Stora Enso 156
Key Terms 157
Summary 158
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 159
Research Task 159
Closing Case
Sustainability Initiatives at Natura, The Body Shop, and Aesop 160
Endnotes 161
part three
The Global Trade and Investment Environment
CHAPTER 6
International Trade Theory 164
Opening Case
A Tale of Two Nations: Ghana and South Korea 165
Introduction 166
An Overview of Trade Theory 166
The Benefits of Trade 167
The Pattern of International Trade 168
Trade Theory and Government Policy 169
Mercantilism 169
Country Focus
Is China Manipulating Its Currency in Pursuit of a Neo-Mercantilist Policy? 170
Absolute Advantage 170
Comparative Advantage 172
The Gains from Trade 173
Qualifications and Assumptions 175
Extensions of the Ricardian Model 175
Country Focus
Moving U.S. White-Collar Jobs Offshore 179
Heckscher–Ohlin Theory 180
The Leontief Paradox 181
The Product Life-Cycle Theory 182
Product Life-Cycle Theory in the Twenty-First Century 183
New Trade Theory 183
Increasing Product Variety and Reducing Costs 184
Economies of Scale, First-Mover Advantages, and the Pattern of Trade 184
Implications of New Trade Theory 185
National Competitive Advantage: Porter’s Diamond 186
Factor Endowments 187
Demand Conditions 188
Related and Supporting Industries 188 Page xix
Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry 188
Evaluating Porter’s Theory 189
Focus on Managerial Implications: Location, First-Mover Advantages, and Government Policy 189
Key Terms 191
Summary 191
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 192
Research Task 193
Closing Case
“Trade Wars Are Good and Easy to Win” 193
Appendix: International Trade and the Balance of Payments 195
Endnotes 197
CHAPTER 7
Government Policy and International Trade 200
Opening Case
American Steel Tariffs 201
Introduction 202
Instruments of Trade Policy 202
Tariffs 202
Subsidies 203
Country Focus
Are the Chinese Illegally Subsidizing Auto Exports? 204
Import Quotas and Voluntary Export Restraints 205
Export Tariffs and Bans 206
Local Content Requirements 206
Administrative Policies 207
Antidumping Policies 207
The Case for Government Intervention 207
Management Focus
Protecting U.S. Magnesium 208
Political Arguments for Intervention 209
Economic Arguments for Intervention 211
The Revised Case for Free Trade 213
Retaliation and Trade War 213
Domestic Policies 214
Development of the World Trading System 214
From Smith to the Great Depression 215
1947–1979: GATT, Trade Liberalization, and Economic Growth 215
1980–1993: Protectionist Trends 215
The Uruguay Round and the World Trade Organization 216
WTO: Experience to Date 217
The Future of the WTO: Unresolved Issues and the Doha Round 218
Country Focus
Estimating the Gains from Trade for the United States 221
Multilateral and Bilateral Trade Agreements 222
The World Trading System under Threat 222
Focus on Managerial Implications: Trade Barriers, Firm Strategy, and Policy Implications 223
Key Terms 225
Summary 225
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 226
Research Task 226
Closing Case
The United States and South Korea Strike a Revised Trade Deal 227
Endnotes 228
CHAPTER 8
Foreign Direct Investment 230
Opening Case
Starbucks’ Foreign Direct Investment 231
Introduction 232
Foreign Direct Investment in the World Economy 232
Trends in FDI 232
The Direction of FDI 233
The Source of FDI 234
Country Focus
Foreign Direct Investment in China 235
The Form of FDI: Acquisitions versus Greenfield Investments 236
Theories of Foreign Direct Investment 236
Why Foreign Direct Investment? 236
Management Focus
Burberry Shifts Its Entry Strategy in Japan 237
The Pattern of Foreign Direct Investment 240
The Eclectic Paradigm 241
Political Ideology and Foreign Direct Investment 242
The Radical View 242
The Free Market View 243
Pragmatic Nationalism 243
Shifting Ideology 244
Benefits and Costs of FDI 244
Host-Country Benefits 245
Host-Country Costs 247
Home-Country Benefits 248 Page xx
Home-Country Costs 249
International Trade Theory and FDI 249
Government Policy Instruments and FDI 249
Home-Country Policies 249
Host-Country Policies 250
International Institutions and the Liberalization of FDI 251
Focus on Managerial Implications: FDI and Government Policy 252
Key Terms 254
Summary 254
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 255
Research Task 256
Closing Case
Geely Goes Global 256
Endnotes 257
CHAPTER 9
Regional Economic Integration 260
Opening Case
The Cost of Brexit 261
Introduction 262
Levels of Economic Integration 263
The Case for Regional Integration 265
The Economic Case for Integration 265
The Political Case for Integration 265
Impediments to Integration 266
The Case against Regional Integration 267
Regional Economic Integration in Europe 267
Evolution of the European Union 267
Map 9.1 Member States of the European Union in 2019 268
Political Structure of the European Union 269
Management Focus
The European Commission and Google 270
The Single European Act 271
The Establishment of the Euro 272
Enlargement of the European Union 275
Country Focus
The Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis 276
British Exit from the European Union (BREXIT) 277
Regional Economic Integration in the Americas 278
The North American Free Trade Agreement 278
Map 9.2 Economic Integration in the Americas 279
The United States–Canada–Mexico Agreement (USCMA) 281
The Andean Community 282
Mercosur 282
Central American Common Market, CAFTA, and CARICOM 283
Regional Economic Integration Elsewhere 284
Association of Southeast Asian Nations 284
Regional Trade Blocs in Africa 284
Map 9.3 ASEAN countries 285
Other Trade Agreements 286
Focus on Managerial Implications: Regional Economic Integration Threats 286
Key Terms 288
Summary 288
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 289
Research Task 290
Closing Case
NAFTA 2.0: The USCMA 290
Endnotes 291
part four
The Global Monetary System
CHAPTER 10
The Foreign Exchange Market 294
Opening Case
Managing Foreign Currency Exposure at 3M 295
Introduction 296
The Functions of the Foreign Exchange Market 297
Currency Conversion 297
Insuring against Foreign Exchange Risk 299
Management Focus
Embraer and the Gyrations of the Brazilian Real 301
The Nature of the Foreign Exchange Market 301
Economic Theories of Exchange Rate Determination 302
Prices and Exchange Rates 303
Country Focus
Quantitative Easing, Inflation, and the Value of the U.S. Dollar 307
Interest Rates and Exchange Rates 308
Investor Psychology and Bandwagon Effects 309
Summary of Exchange Rate Theories 309 Page xxi
Exchange Rate Forecasting 310
The Efficient Market School 310
The Inefficient Market School 310
Approaches to Forecasting 310
Currency Convertibility 311
Focus on Managerial Implications: Foreign Exchange Rate Risk 312
Key Terms 315
Summary 315
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 316
Research Task 317
Closing Case
The Fluctuating Value of the Yuan Gives Chinese Businesses a Lesson in Foreign Exchange Risk 317
Endnotes 318
CHAPTER 11
The International Monetary System 320
Opening Case
Pakistan Takes Another IMF Loan 321
Introduction 322
The Gold Standard 323
Mechanics of the Gold Standard 323
Strength of the Gold Standard 324
The Period between the Wars: 1918–1939 324
The Bretton Woods System 325
The Role of the IMF 325
The Role of the World Bank 326
The Collapse of the Fixed Exchange Rate System 327
The Floating Exchange Rate Regime 328
The Jamaica Agreement 328
Exchange Rates since 1973 328
Fixed versus Floating Exchange Rates 331
The Case for Floating Exchange Rates 331
The Case for Fixed Exchange Rates 332
Who Is Right? 333
Exchange Rate Regimes in Practice 333
Country Focus
China’s Exchange Rate Regime 334
Pegged Exchange Rates 335
Currency Boards 335
Crisis Management by the IMF 336
Financial Crises in the Post–Bretton Woods Era 337
Country Focus
The IMF and Iceland’s Economic Recovery 337
Evaluating the IMF’s Policy Prescriptions 338
Focus on Managerial Implications: Currency Management, Business Strategy, and Government Relations 341
Management Focus
Airbus and the Euro 342
Key Terms 344
Summary 344
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 345
Research Task 345
Closing Case
Can Dollarization Save Venezuela? 346
Endnotes 347
CHAPTER 12
The Global Capital Market 348
Opening Case
Chinese IPOs in the United States 349
Introduction 350
Benefits of the Global Capital Market 350
The Functions of a Generic Capital Market 350
Attractions of the Global Capital Market 351
Management Focus
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Taps the Global Capital Market 353
Growth of the Global Capital Market 355
Global Capital Market Risks 357
Country Focus
Did the Global Capital Markets Fail Mexico? 358
The Eurocurrency Market 359
Genesis and Growth of the Market 359
Attractions of the Eurocurrency Market 359
Drawbacks of the Eurocurrency Market 361
The Global Bond Market 361
Attractions of the Global Bond Market 362
The Global Equity Market 362
Foreign Exchange Risk and the Cost of Capital 363
Focus on Managerial Implications: Growth of the Global Capital Market 364
Key Terms 364
Summary 365
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 365
Research Task 366
Closing Case Page xxii
Saudi Aramco 366
Endnotes 368
part five
The Strategy and Structure of International Business
CHAPTER 13
The Strategy of International Business 370
Opening Case
International Strategy in the Sharing Economy 371
Introduction 372
Strategy and the Firm 373
Value Creation 374
Strategic Positioning 375
Management Focus
AB InBev, Beer Globally, and Creating Value 377
The Firm as a Value Chain 378
Global Expansion, Profitability, and Profit Growth 380
Expanding the Market 381
Location Economies 382
Experience Effects 384
Leveraging Subsidiary Skills 386
Profitability and Profit Growth Summary 386
Cost Pressures and Pressures for Local Responsiveness 387
Pressures for Cost Reductions 387
Management Focus
IKEA’s Global Strategy 388
Pressures for Local Responsiveness 388
Choosing a Strategy 392
Global Standardization Strategy 393
Localization Strategy 393
Management Focus
Unilever’s Responsiveness to Its Dutch–British Roots 394
Transnational Strategy 395
International Strategy 396
The Evolution of Strategy 396
Key Terms 397
Summary 397
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 398
Research Task 398
Closing Case
Red Bull: A Leader in International Strategy 399
Endnotes 400
CHAPTER 14
The Organization of International Business 402
Opening Case
Bird, Lime, and Organizing Globally 403
Introduction 404
Organizational Architecture 405
Organizational Structure 406
Vertical Differentiation 406
Horizontal Differentiation 408
Management Focus
Dow—(Failed) Early Global Matrix Adopter 414
Integrating Mechanisms 415
Control Systems and Incentives 420
Types of Control Systems 420
Incentive Systems 421
Control Systems and Incentives 422
Processes 424
Organizational Culture 425
Creating and Maintaining Organizational Culture 425
Organizational Culture and Performance 427
Management Focus
Lincoln Electric and Culture 428
Synthesis: Strategy and Architecture 429
Localization Strategy 429
International Strategy 430
Global Standardization Strategy 430
Transnational Strategy 431
Environment, Strategy, Architecture, and Performance 431
Organizational Change 432
Organizational Inertia 432
Implementing Organizational Change 433
Key Terms 434
Summary 435
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 435
Research Task 436
Closing Case Page xxiii
Walmart International 436
Endnotes 438
CHAPTER 15
Entering Developed and Emerging Markets 440
Opening Case
Volkswagen, Toyota, and GM in China 441
Introduction 442
Basic Entry Decisions 443
Which Foreign Markets? 443
Management Focus
Tesco’s International Growth Strategy 444
Timing of Entry 445
Scale of Entry and Strategic Commitments 446
Market Entry Summary 447
Entry Modes 448
Exporting 448
Turnkey Projects 449
Licensing 450
Franchising 451
Joint Ventures 452
Wholly Owned Subsidiaries 453
Selecting an Entry Mode 454
Core Competencies and Entry Mode 454
Pressures for Cost Reductions and Entry Mode 456
Greenfield Venture or Acquisition? 456
Pros and Cons of Acquisitions 456
Pros and Cons of Greenfield Ventures 458
Which Choice? 459
Strategic Alliances 459
Advantages of Strategic Alliances 460
Disadvantages of Strategic Alliances 460
Management Focus
Gazprom and Global Strategic Alliances 461
Making Alliances Work 461
Key Terms 464
Summary 464
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 465
Research Task 465
Closing Case
IKEA Entering India, Finally! 466
Endnotes 467
part six
International Business Functions
CHAPTER 16
Exporting, Importing, and Countertrade 470
Opening Case
Higher-Education Exporting and International Competitiveness 471
Introduction 472
The Promise and Pitfalls of Exporting 473
Management Focus
Embraer and Brazilian Importing 476
Improving Export Performance 476
International Comparisons 477
Information Sources 477
Management Focus
Exporting Desserts by a Hispanic Entrepreneur 478
Service Providers 479
Export Strategy 480
Management Focus
Two Men and a Truck 481
The globalEDGETM Exporting Tool 482
Export and Import Financing 483
Lack of Trust 483
Letter of Credit 485
Draft 485
Bill of Lading 486
A Typical International Trade Transaction 486
Export Assistance 488
The Export-Import Bank 488
Export Credit Insurance 489
Countertrade 489
The Popularity of Countertrade 490
Types of Countertrade 490
Pros and Cons of Countertrade 491
Key Terms 492
Summary 492
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 493
Research Task 493
Closing Case
Spotify and SoundCloud 494
Endnotes 495
Page xxiv
CHAPTER 17
Global Production and Supply Chain Management 498
Opening Case
Blockchain Technology and Global Supply Chains 499
Introduction 500
Strategy, Production, and Supply Chain Management 501
Where to Produce 504
Country Factors 504
Management Focus
IKEA Production in China 505
Technological Factors 505
Production Factors 508
The Hidden Costs of Foreign Locations 511
Management Focus
Amazon’s Global Supply Chains 512
Make-or-Buy Decisions 513
Global Supply Chain Functions 516
Global Logistics 516
Global Purchasing 518
Managing a Global Supply Chain 519
Role of Just-in-Time Inventory 519
Role of Information Technology 520
Coordination in Global Supply Chains 521
Interorganizational Relationships 522
Key Terms 523
Summary 523
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 524
Research Task 525
Closing Case
Procter & Gamble Remakes Its Global Supply Chains 525
Endnotes 526
CHAPTER 18
Global Marketing and Business Analytics 528
Opening Case
Marketing Sneakers 529
Introduction 530
Globalization of Markets and Brands 531
Market Segmentation 533
Management Focus
Global Branding, Marvel Studios, and the Walt Disney Company 534
Business Analytics 535
International Marketing Research 536
Product Attributes 540
Cultural Differences 540
Economic Development 541
Product and Technical Standards 541
Distribution Strategy 542
Differences between Countries 542
Choosing a Distribution Strategy 544
Communication Strategy 545
Management Focus
Burberry’s Social Media Marketing 546
Barriers to International Communication 547
Push versus Pull Strategies 548
Global Advertising 549
Pricing Strategy 550
Price Discrimination 550
Strategic Pricing 552
Regulatory Influences on Prices 553
Configuring the Marketing Mix 554
Product Development and R&D 554
The Location of R&D 555
Integrating R&D, Marketing, and Production 556
Cross-Functional Teams 557
Building Global R&D Capabilities 558
Key Terms 559
Summary 560
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 561
Research Task 561
Closing Case
Fake News and Alternative Facts 562
Endnotes 563
CHAPTER 19
Global Human Resource Management 566
Opening Case
Evolution of the Kraft Heinz Company 567
Introduction 568
Strategic Role of Global HRM: Managing a Global Workforce 569
Staffing Policy 570 Page xxv
Types of Staffing Policies 571
Expatriate Managers 574
Management Focus
AstraZeneca and Global Staffing Policy 577
Global Mindset 578
Training and Management Development 579
Training for Expatriate Managers 580
Repatriation of Expatriates 580
Management Development and Strategy 581
Management Focus
Monsanto’s Repatriation Program 582
Performance Appraisal 582
Performance Appraisal Problems 583
Guidelines for Performance Appraisal 583
Compensation 583
National Differences in Compensation 583
Expatriate Pay 584
Management Focus
McDonald’s Global Compensation Practices 585
Building a Diverse Global Workforce 586
International Labor Relations 588
The Concerns of Organized Labor 588
The Strategy of Organized Labor 589
Approaches to Labor Relations 589
Key Terms 590
Summary 590
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 591
Research Task 591
Closing Case
Global Mobility at Shell 592
Endnotes 593
CHAPTER 20
Accounting and Finance in International Business 596
Opening Case
Pfizer, Novartis, Bayer, and GlaxoSmithKline 597
Introduction 598
National Differences in Accounting Standards 599
International Accounting Standards 600
Country Focus
Chinese Accounting 601
Accounting Aspects of Control Systems 602
Exchange Rate Changes and Control Systems 603
Transfer Pricing and Control Systems 604
Separation of Subsidiary and Manager Performance 605
Financial Management: The Investment Decision 605
Capital Budgeting 606
Project and Parent Cash Flows 606
Management Focus
Black Sea Oil and Gas Ltd. 607
Adjusting for Political and Economic Risk 607
Risk and Capital Budgeting 608
Financial Management: The Financing Decision 609
Financial Management: Global Money Management 610
Minimizing Cash Balances 610
Reducing Transaction Costs 611
Managing the Tax Burden 612
Management Focus
Microsoft and Its Foreign Cash Holdings 614
Moving Money across Borders 614
Key Terms 618
Summary 619
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 620
Research Task 620
Closing Case
Shoprite: The Financial Success of a Food Retailer in Africa 621
Endnotes 622
part seven
Integrative Cases
Globalization of BMW, Rolls-Royce, and the MINI 625
The Decline of Zimbabwe 627
Economic Development in Bangladesh 629
The Swatch Group and Cultural Uniqueness 630
Woolworths’ Corporate Responsibility Strategy 632
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Is Dead: Long Live the CPTPP! 634
Boeing and Airbus Are in a Dogfight over Illegal Subsidies 636
FDI in the Indian Retail Sector 637
Free Trade in Africa 639
The Mexican Peso, the Japanese Yen, and Pokémon Go 641
Egypt and the IMF 642
Alibaba’s Record-Setting IPO 643
Sony Corporation: Still a Leader Globally? 644
Organizational Architecture at P&G 646 Page xxvi
Cutco Corporation—Sharpening Your Market Entry 647
Tata Motors and Exporting 649
Alibaba and Global Supply Chains 650
Best Buy Doing a Turnaround Again 651
Sodexo: Building a Diverse Global Workforce 653
Tesla, Inc.—Subsidizing Tesla Automobiles Globally 654
Glossary 656
Indexes 666
International Page 1
Business
Competing in the Global Marketplace
13e
part one Introduction and Overview Page 2
Globalization
1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
LO1-1 Understand what is meant by the term globalization.
LO1-2 Recognize the main drivers of globalization.
LO1-3 Describe the changing nature of the global economy.
LO1-4 Explain the main arguments in the debate over the impact of globalization.
LO1-5 Understand how the process of globalization is creating opportunities and challenges for management practice.
OPENING CASE
In its early days, Apple usually didn’t look beyond its own backyard to manufacture its devices. A few years after Apple Page 3
started making its Macintosh computer back in 1983, Steve Jobs bragged that it was “a machine that was made in America.”
As late as the early 2000s, Apple still manufactured many of its computers at the company’s iMac plant in Elk Grove, California.
Jobs often said that he was as proud of the Apple’s manufacturing plants as he was of the devices themselves.
By 2004, however, Apple had largely turned to foreign manufacturing. The shift to offshore production and assembly reached its
peak with the iconic iPhone, which Apple first introduced in 2007. The iPhone contains hundreds of parts, an estimated 90 percent of
which are manufactured abroad. Advanced semiconductors come from Germany and Taiwan, memory from Korea and Japan, display
panels and circuitry from Korea and Taiwan, rare metals from Africa and Asia, and the gyroscope used for tracking the iPhone’s
orientation comes from Switzerland. Apple’s major subcontractor, the Taiwanese multinational firm, Foxconn, assembles half of all
the iPhones sold in the world today at a huge factory in China. Foxconn also has factories devoted to iPhone assembly at several other
locations, including Brazil and India. Another Taiwanese-based company, Pegatron, also assembles iPhones for Apple at a factory in
China.
Apple still employs some 80,000 people in the United States, and it has kept important activities at home, including product
design, software engineering, and marketing. Furthermore, Apple claims that its business supports another 450,000 jobs at U.S.-based
suppliers. For example, the glass for the iPhone is manufactured at Corning’s U.S. plants in Kentucky, Analog Devices in
Massachusetts produces chips that enable the iPhone’s touch display, and a Texas Instruments plant in Maine makes electronic
components that go in the iPhone. However, over 1.5 million people are involved in the engineering, building, and final assembly of
its products outside of the United States, many of them working at subcontractors like Foxconn.
When explaining its decision to assemble the iPhone in China, Apple cites a number of factors. While it is true that labor costs
are lower in China, Apple executives point out that labor costs only account for a small portion of the total value of its products and
are not the main driver of location decisions. Far more important, according to Apple, is the ability of its Chinese subcontractors to
respond very quickly to requests from Apple to scale production up and down. In a famous illustration of this capability, back in 2007
Steve Jobs demanded that a glass screen replace the plastic screen on his prototype iPhone. Jobs didn’t like the look and feel of plastic
screens, which at the time were standard in the industry, nor did he like the way they scratched easily. This last-minute change in the
design of the iPhone put Apple’s market introduction date at risk. Apple had selected Corning to manufacture large panes of
strengthened glass, but finding a manufacturer that could cut those panes into millions of iPhone screens wasn’t easy. Then, a bid
arrived from a Chinese factory. When the Apple team visited the factory, they found that the plant’s owners were already constructing
a new wing to cut the glass and were installing equipment. “This is in case you give us the contract,” the manager said. The plant also
had a warehouse full of glass samples for Apple, and a team of engineers available to work with Apple. They had built onsite
dormitories so the factory could run three shifts seven days a week to meet Apple’s demanding production schedule. The Chinese
company got the bid.
Another critical advantage of China for Apple was that it was much easier to hire engineers there. Apple calculated that about
8,700 industrial engineers were needed to oversee and guide the 200,000 assembly-line workers involved in manufacturing the
original iPhone. The company had estimated it would take as long as nine months to find that many engineers in the United States. In
China, it took 15 days.
Also important is the clustering together of factories in China. Many of the factories providing components for the iPhone are
located close to Foxconn’s assembly plant. As one executive noted, “The entire supply chain is in China. You need a thousand rubber
gaskets? That’s the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need a screw made a little bit
different? That will take three hours.”*
All this being said, there are drawbacks to outsourcing to China. Several of Apple’s subcontractors have been targeted for their
poor working conditions. Criticisms include low pay of line workers, long hours, mandatory overtime for little or no additional pay,
and poor safety records. Some former Apple executives say there is an unresolved tension within the company: Executives want to
improve working conditions within the factories of subcontractors, such as Foxconn, but that dedication falters when it conflicts with
crucial supplier relationships or the fast delivery of new products. In addition, Apple’s outsourcing decisions have been criticized by
President Trump, who argues that the company is guilty of moving U.S. jobs overseas. While Apple disagrees with this assessment, it
has responded by increasing its investment in U.S. facilities. In 2018, for example, the company announced it would invest $30
billion over five years to create 20,000 new Apple jobs in the United States. Most of these jobs, however, are expected to be in
software development and data center operations, not manufacturing and assembly.
*C. Duhigg and K. Bradsher, “How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work.” The New York Times, January 22, 2012.
Sources: Sam Costello, “Where Is the iPhone Made?" Lifewire, July 14, 2018; David Barboza, “How China Built iPhone City with Billions in Perks for Apple’s Partner,” The
New York Times, December 29, 2016; Gu Huini, “Human Costs Are Built into iPad in China,” The New York Times, January 26, 2012; Chuck Jones, “Apple’s $350 Billion US
Contribution Was Already on the Cards,” Forbes, January 19, 2018. Page 4
Introduction
Over the past five decades, a fundamental shift has been occurring in the world economy. We have been moving away
from a world in which national economies were relatively self-contained entities, isolated from each other by barriers to
cross-border trade and investment; by distance, time zones, and language; and by national differences in government
regulation, culture, and business systems. We have moved toward a world in which barriers to cross-border trade and
investment have declined; perceived distance is shrinking due to advances in transportation and telecommunications
technology; material culture is starting to look similar the world over; and national economies are merging into an
interdependent, integrated global economic system. The process by which this transformation is occurring is commonly
referred to as globalization.
At the same time, recent political events have raised some questions about the inevitability of the globalization
process. The exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit), the renegotiation of the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the Trump Administration, and trade disputes between the United States and many
of its trading partners, including most notably China, have all contributed to uncertainty about the future of globalization.
While the world seems unlikely to pull back significantly from globalization, there is no doubt that the benefits of
globalization are more in dispute now than at any time in the last half century. This is a new reality, albeit perhaps a
temporary one, but it is one the international business community will have to adjust to.
The opening case illustrates how one company, Apple, has taken advantage of globalization. Apple has created a
global supply chain to efficiently produce its icon iPhone. While product design and software development are
undertaken in California, component parts are manufactured all over the world, and the final product is assembled for
Apple by Foxconn in factories in China, Brazil, India, and elsewhere. In configuring the production system of the iPhone
in this manner, Apple is trying to partner with the most efficient subcontractors, wherever in the world they might reside.
Apple could not have configured its production system in this manner had it not been for the systematic reductions in
barriers to cross-border trade and investment that have occurred over the last half century.
At the same time, Apple has been criticized by President Trump for placing too much productive activity outside of
the United States. Moreover, trade disputes between the United States and China have raised the possibility that China
may at some point not be the optimal location for assembling the iPhone. Apple has started to adjust its strategy to
account for the potential risks here, establishing assembly operations outside of China (in India, for example), increasing
its investment in the United States (in 2018, Apple announced it would invest $30 billion over five years in U.S.
facilities, creating 20,000 new jobs in the process), and working with U.S.-based suppliers to help them become efficient
Apple partners (Apple has established a $5 billion fund to help those suppliers upgrade their capabilities). Thus, Apple is
taking advantage of globalization, and simultaneously hedging against any possible pullback from the level of
globalization that existed in 2016, which for now at least may have been a high-water mark, albeit a temporary one.
Proponents of increased global trade argue that cross-cultural engagement and trade across country borders is the
future and that returning back to a nationalistic perspective is the past. On the other hand, the nationalistic argument rests
in citizens wanting their country to be sovereign, self-sufficient as much as possible, and basically in charge of their own
economy and country environment. We will touch on many aspects of this debate throughout this text’s 20 integrated
chapters.
Globalization now has an impact on almost everything we do. For example, an American medical doctor—let’s call
her Laurie—might drive to work at her pediatric office in a sports utility vehicle (SUV) that was designed in Stuttgart,
Germany, and assembled in Leipzig, Germany, and Bratislava, Slovakia, by Porsche from components from parts
suppliers worldwide, which in turn were fabricated from Korean steel and Malaysian rubber. Laurie may have filled her
car with gasoline at a Shell service station owned by a British-Dutch multinational company. The gasoline could Page 5
have been made from oil pumped out of a well off the coast of Africa by a French oil company that transported it
to the United States in a ship owned by a Greek shipping line. While driving to work, Laurie might talk to her
stockbroker (using a hands-free, in-car speaker) on an Apple iPhone that was designed in California and assembled in
China using chip sets produced in Japan and Europe, glass made by Corning in Kentucky, and memory chips from South
Korea. Perhaps on her way, Laurie might tell the stockbroker to purchase shares in Lenovo, a multinational Chinese PC
manufacturer whose operational headquarters is in North Carolina and whose shares are listed on the New York Stock
Exchange.
This is the world in which we live. In many cases, we simply do not know, or perhaps even care, where a product
was designed and where it was made. Just a couple of decades ago, “Made in the USA” or “Made in Germany” had
strong meaning and referred to something. The U.S. often stood for quality, and Germany often stood for sophisticated
engineering. Now the country of origin for a product has given way to, for example, “Made by BMW,” and the company
is the quality assurance platform, not the country. In many cases, it goes even beyond the company to the personal
relationship a customer has developed with a representative of the company, and so we focus on what has become known
as CRM (Customer Relationship Management).
Whether it is still the quality associated with the country of origin of a product, or the assurance given by a specific
company regardless of where they manufacture their product, we live in a world where the volume of goods, services,
and investments crossing national borders has expanded faster than world output for more than half a century. It is a
world in which international institutions such as the World Trade Organization and gatherings of leaders from the
world’s most powerful economies continue to work for even lower barriers to cross-border trade and investment. The
symbols of material culture and popular culture are increasingly global, from Coca-Cola and Starbucks, to Sony
PlayStation, Facebook, Netflix video streaming service, IKEA stores, and Apple iPads and iPhones. Vigorous and vocal
groups protest against globalization, which they blame for a list of ills from unemployment in developed nations to
environmental degradation and the Westernization or Americanization of local cultures. These protesters come from
environmental groups, which have been around for some time, but more recently also from nationalistic groups focused
on their countries being more sovereign.
For businesses, the globalization process has many opportunities. Firms can expand their revenues by selling
around the world and/or reduce their costs by producing in nations where key inputs, including labor, are cheap. The
global expansion of enterprises has been facilitated by generally favorable political and economic trends. This has
allowed businesses both large and small, from both advanced nations and developing nations, to expand internationally.
As globalization unfolds, it is transforming industries and creating anxiety among those who believed their jobs were
protected from foreign competition. Advances in technology, lower transportation costs, and the rise of skilled workers
in developing countries imply that many services no longer need to be performed where they are delivered. As best-
selling author Thomas Friedman has argued, the world is becoming “flat.”1 People living in developed nations no longer
have the playing field tilted in their favor. Increasingly, enterprising individuals based in India, China, or Brazil have the
same opportunities to better themselves as those living in Western Europe, the United States, or Canada.
In this text, we will take a close look at these issues and many more. We will explore how changes in regulations
governing international trade and investment, when coupled with changes in political systems and technology, have
dramatically altered the competitive playing field confronting many businesses. We will discuss the resulting
opportunities and threats and review the strategies that managers can pursue to exploit the opportunities and counter the
threats. We will consider whether globalization benefits or harms national economies. We will look at what economic
theory has to say about the outsourcing of manufacturing and service jobs to places such as India and China and look at
the benefits and costs of outsourcing, not just to business firms and their employees but to entire economies. Page 6
First, though, we need to get a better overview of the nature and process of globalization, and that is the function
of this first chapter.
What Is Globalization?
LO1-1
Understand what is meant by the term globalization.
As used in this text, globalization refers to the shift toward a more integrated and interdependent world economy.
Globalization has several facets, including the globalization of markets and the globalization of production.
globalEDGE™ has been the world’s go-to site online for global business knowledge since 2001. Google typically ranks the site number
1 for “international business resources” from anywhere in the world you access it. Created by a 30-member team in the International
Business Center in the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University under the supervision of Dr. Tomas Hult and Dr. Tunga
Kiyak, globalEDGE™ is a knowledge resource that connects international business professionals worldwide to a wealth of information,
insights, and learning resources on global business activities.
The site offers the latest and most comprehensive international business and trade content for a wide range of topics. Whether
conducting extensive market research, looking to improve your international knowledge, or simply browsing, you’re sure to find what
you need to sharpen your competitive edge in today’s rapidly changing global marketplace. The easy, convenient, and free
globalEDGE™ website’s tagline is “Your Source for Global Business Knowledge.” Take a look at the site at globaledge.msu.edu. We
will use globalEDGE throughout this text for exercises, information, data, and to keep every facet of the text up-to-date on a daily basis!
Page 7
Despite the global prevalence of Citigroup credit cards, McDonald’s hamburgers, Starbucks coffee, and IKEA
stores, for example, it is important not to push too far the view that national markets are giving way to the global market.
As we shall see in later chapters, significant differences still exist among national markets along many relevant
dimensions, including consumer tastes and preferences, distribution channels, culturally embedded value systems,
business systems, and legal regulations. Uber, for example, the fast-growing ride-for-hire service, is finding it needs to
refine its entry strategy in many foreign cities in order to take differences in the regulatory regime into account. Such
differences frequently require companies to customize marketing strategies, product features, and operating practices to
best match conditions in a particular country.
The most global of markets are not typically markets for consumer products—where national differences in tastes
and preferences can still be important enough to act as a brake on globalization. They are markets for industrial goods
and materials that serve universal needs the world over. These include markets for commodities such as aluminum, oil,
and wheat; for industrial products such as microprocessors, DRAMs (computer memory chips), and commercial jet
aircraft; for computer software; and for financial assets, from U.S. Treasury bills to Eurobonds, and futures on the Nikkei
index or the euro. That being said, it is increasingly evident that many newer high-technology consumer products, such
as Apple’s iPhone, are being successfully sold the same way the world over.
In many global markets, the same firms frequently confront each other as competitors in nation after nation. Coca-
Cola’s rivalry with PepsiCo is a global one, as are the rivalries between Ford and Toyota; Boeing and Airbus; Caterpillar
and Komatsu in earthmoving equipment; General Electric and Rolls-Royce in aero engines; Sony, Nintendo, and
Microsoft in video-game consoles; and Samsung and Apple in smartphones. If a firm moves into a nation not currently
served by its rivals, many of those rivals are sure to follow to prevent their competitor from gaining an advantage.5 As
firms follow each other around the world, they bring with them many of the assets that served them well in other national
markets—their products, operating strategies, marketing strategies, and brand names—creating some homogeneity
across markets. Thus, greater uniformity replaces diversity. In an increasing number of industries, it is no longer
meaningful to talk about “the German market,” “the American market,” “the Brazilian market,” or “the Japanese
market”; for many firms, there is only the global market.
MANAGEMENT FOCUS
Boeing’s Global Production System
Executives at the Boeing Corporation, America’s largest exporter, say that building a large commercial jet aircraft like the 787
Dreamliner involves bringing together more than a million parts in flying formation. Half a century ago, when the early models of
Boeing’s venerable 737 and 747 jets were rolling off the company’s Seattle-area production lines, foreign suppliers accounted for
only 5 percent of those parts, on average. Boeing was vertically integrated and manufactured many of the major components that
went into the planes. The largest parts produced by outside suppliers were the jet engines, where two of the three suppliers were
American companies. The lone foreign engine manufacturer was the British company Rolls-Royce.
Fast-forward to the modern era, and things look very different. In the case of Boeing’s super-efficient 787 Dreamliner, 50
outside suppliers spread around the world account for 65 percent of the value of the aircraft. Italian firm Alenia Aeronautica makes
the center fuselage and horizontal stabilizer. Kawasaki of Japan makes part of the forward fuselage and the fixed trailing edge of
the wing. French firm Messier-Dowty makes the aircraft’s landing gear. German firm Diehl Luftahrt Elektronik supplies the main
cabin lighting. Sweden’s Saab Aerostructures makes the access doors. Japanese company Jamco makes parts for the lavatories,
flight deck interiors, and galleys. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan makes the wings. KAA of Korea makes the wing tips. And
so on.
Why the change? One reason is that 80 percent of Boeing’s customers are foreign airlines, and to sell into those nations, it
often helps to be giving business to those nations. The trend started in 1974 when Mitsubishi of Japan was given contracts to
produce inboard wing flaps for the 747. The Japanese reciprocated by placing big orders for Boeing jets. A second rationale was to
disperse component part production to those suppliers who are the best in the world at their particular activity. Over the years, for
example, Mitsubishi has acquired considerable expertise in the manufacture of wings, so it was logical for Boeing to use
Mitsubishi to make the wings for the 787. Similarly, the 787 is the first commercial jet aircraft to be made almost entirely out of
carbon fiber, so Boeing tapped Japan’s Toray Industries, a world-class expert in sturdy but light carbon-fiber composites, to supply
materials for the fuselage. A third reason for the extensive outsourcing on the 787 was that Boeing wanted to unburden itself of
some of the risks and costs associated with developing production facilities for the 787. By outsourcing, it pushed some of those
risks and costs onto suppliers, who had to undertake major investments in capacity to ramp up to produce for the 787.
So what did Boeing retain for itself? Engineering design, marketing and sales, and final assembly are done at its Everett plant
north of Seattle, all activities where Boeing maintains it is the best in the world. Of major component parts, Boeing made only the
tail fin and wing to body fairing (which attaches the wings to the fuselage of the plane). Everything else was outsourced.
As the 787 moved through development, it became clear that Boeing had pushed the outsourcing paradigm too far.
Coordinating a globally dispersed production system this extensive turned out to be very challenging. Parts turned up late, some
parts didn’t “snap together” the way Boeing had envisioned, and several suppliers ran into engineering problems that slowed down
the entire production process. As a consequence, the date for delivery of the first jet was pushed back more than four years, and
Boeing had to take millions of dollars in penalties for late deliveries. The problems at one supplier, Vought Aircraft in North
Carolina, were so severe that Boeing ultimately agreed to acquire the company and bring its production in-house. Vought was co-
owned by Alenia of Italy and made parts of the main fuselage.
There are now signs that Boeing is rethinking some of its global outsourcing policy. For its next jet, a new version of its
popular wide-bodied 777 jet, the 777X, which will use the same carbon-fiber technology as the 787, Boeing will bring wing
production back in-house. Mitsubishi and Kawasaki of Japan produce much of the wing structure for the 787 and for the original
version of the 777. However, recently Japan’s airlines have been placing large orders with Airbus, breaking with their traditional
allegiance to Boeing. This seems to have given Boeing an opening to bring wing production back in-house. Boeing executives also
note that Boeing has lost much of its expertise in wing production over the last 20 years due to outsourcing, and bringing it back
in-house for new carbon-fiber wings might enable Boeing to regain these important core skills and strengthen the company’s
competitive position.
Sources: M. Ehrenfreund, “The Economic Reality Behind the Boeing Plane Trump Showed Off,” The Washington Post, February 17, 2017; K. Epstein and J. Crown,
“Globalization Bites Boeing,” Bloomberg Businessweek, March 12, 2008; H. Mallick, “Out of Control Outsourcing Ruined Boeing’s Beautiful Dreamliner,” The Star,
February 25, 2013; P. Kavilanz, “Dreamliner: Where in the World Its Parts Come From,” CNN Money, January 18, 2013; S. Dubois, “Boeing’s Dreamliner Mess: Simply
Inevitable?” CNN Money, January 22, 2013; and A. Scott and T. Kelly, “Boeing’s Loss of a $9.5 Billion Deal Could Bring Jobs Back to the U.S.,” Business Insider, October
14, 2013. Page 9
Early outsourcing efforts were primarily confined to manufacturing activities, such as those undertaken by Boeing
and Apple. Increasingly, however, companies are taking advantage of modern communications technology, particularly
the Internet, to outsource service activities to low-cost producers in other nations. The Internet has allowed hospitals to
outsource some radiology work to India, where images from MRI scans and the like are read at night while U.S.
physicians sleep; the results are ready for them in the morning. Many software companies, including Microsoft, now use
Indian engineers to perform test functions on software designed in the United States. The time difference allows Indian
engineers to run debugging tests on software written in the United States when U.S. engineers sleep, transmitting the
corrected code back to the United States over secure Internet connections so it is ready for U.S. engineers to work on the
following day. Dispersing value-creation activities in this way can compress the time and lower the costs required to
develop new software programs. Other companies, from computer makers to banks, are outsourcing customer service
functions, such as customer call centers, to developing nations where labor is cheaper. In another example from health
care, workers in the Philippines transcribe American medical files (such as audio files from doctors seeking approval
from insurance companies for performing a procedure). Some estimates suggest the outsourcing of many administrative
procedures in health care, such as customer service and claims processing, could reduce health care costs in America by
more than $100 billion.
The economist Robert Reich has argued that as a consequence of the trend exemplified by companies such as
Boeing, Apple, and Microsoft, in many cases it is becoming irrelevant to talk about American products, Japanese
products, German products, or Korean products. Increasingly, according to Reich, the outsourcing of productive
activities to different suppliers results in the creation of products that are global in nature—that is, “global products.”7
But as with the globalization of markets, companies must be careful not to push the globalization of production too far.
As we will see in later chapters, substantial impediments still make it difficult for firms to achieve the optimal dispersion
of their productive activities to locations around the globe. These impediments include formal and informal barriers to
trade between countries, barriers to foreign direct investment, transportation costs, issues associated with economic and
political risk, and the sheer managerial challenge of coordinating a globally dispersed supply chain (an issue for Boeing
with the 787 Dreamliner, as discussed in the Management Focus). For example, government regulations ultimately limit
the ability of hospitals to outsource the process of interpreting MRI scans to developing nations where radiologists are
cheaper.
TEST PREP
Use SmartBook to help retain what you have learned. Access your Instructor’s Connect course to check out SmartBook
or go to learnsmartadvantage.com for help.
Nevertheless, the globalization of markets and production will probably continue. Modern firms are important
actors in this trend, their actions fostering increased globalization. These firms, however, are merely responding in an
efficient manner to changing conditions in their operating environment—as well they should.
Drivers of Globalization
LO1-2
Recognize the main drivers of globalization.
Two macro factors underlie the trend toward greater globalization.9 The first is the decline in barriers to the free flow of
goods, services, and capital that has occurred in recent decades. The second factor is technological change, particularly
the dramatic developments in communication, information processing, and transportation technologies.
“Mabin!”
“Oh!”
A single syllable hardly conveys the amount of alarm, of horror, of
paralyzing fright which Mabin puts into the exclamation.
And yet the occasion was an ordinary one enough. It had simply
happened that she had taken her work to the old seat at the edge of
the plantation, where the primitive picnics used to take place in the
old days, and that Rudolph had come up softly over the fields without
her hearing his footsteps on the yielding grass.
“I frightened you?”
“N—no, not exactly, but you made me drop my needle. I thought
you were at Portsmouth!”
“So I was. But that isn’t five thousand miles off. I came back this
morning.”
Mabin said nothing. She had not seen him for a fortnight,—not, in
fact, since the morning when he had met her on the seashore, and
when he had applauded her resolution of sleeping in the room in
which Mrs. Dale had had her bad dream. He had been called away
suddenly on the following day, and had therefore heard nothing of
Mabin’s adventure.
“Haven’t you got any news for me? I had rather expected a
budget.”
Now Mabin had a budget for him, and had been looking forward
most anxiously for his return, that she might confide in him some of
the suspicions, the surmises, which filled her brain by day, and even
kept her awake at night. But as usual with events long looked
forward to, this return of Rudolph’s had not taken place as she
expected, and she found herself in a state of unreadiness to meet
him.
In the first place, she felt so ridiculously excited, so absurdly glad,
that all the things she had been storing up in her mind to tell him
dwindled into sudden insignificance. What did they matter, what did
anything matter just now, except that Rudolph had come back, and
that she must try not to let him guess how glad she was?
“Yes,” she said deliberately, after a short pause, looking across the
clover field to the sea, and carefully choosing another needle, “I have
plenty to tell you. I had it all ready, but—but you came up so
suddenly that you have scattered all the threads of the story, and
now I don’t remember where to begin.”
“I’m so awfully sorry. First you say I make you lose your needle,
and then I scatter your threads. I’m afraid you think me in the way.”
No answer.
“Must I go?”
Rudolph got up and drew back a step, standing in the long, rank
grass which bordered the clover field in the shade of the trees of the
plantation.
“If I say yes, I suppose you will say I’m being rude again!” said
Mabin, as she threw up at him, from under her big shady hat, a shy
glance so full of attraction in its unconscious coquetry that Rudolph
also forgot the budget, and thought he had never seen any girl look
half so pretty as she did.
“I should say,” said he, bending his head as he spoke, and looking
with great apparent interest at the work in her hands, “that you were
unkind.”
There was another pause. Never before, even in the days of her
wooden shyness, had Mabin found speech with him so difficult. A
lump seemed to rise in her throat whenever she had a remark ready,
and for fear of betraying the fact she remained silent altogether.
It was odd, too, that Rudolph, who had always been so fluent of
speech himself, and had made her seem so dull, had now become
infected with her own stupid reticence.
“You are a long time finding one,” said he at last.
“Yes. I—I seem to have lost all the fine ones,” replied Mabin,
bending her head still lower than before over her needle case.
“Let me help you. Give me the work first, so that I can judge what
size you want.”
“How can you tell—a man?” asked Mabin with indignation.
And in her contempt she looked up at him again.
“Oh-ho, madam! Don’t you know that we sailors can use a needle
as well as any woman. Here let me show you.”
This was an admirable opportunity for seating himself on the
bench beside her; and Rudolph, who had felt a strange hesitation
about doing so before, now took the plunge, and placed himself on
the end of the wooden seat.
“What is this? An antimacassar?”
“No. A cooking apron.”
“How interesting! Ladies ought not to make such things. They
should do things that want lots of bundles of silks of all sorts of
colors. This isn’t sufficiently decorative.”
“You mean fancy-work!” exclaimed Mabin with an expression of
horror. “I hate fancy-work!”
“Girls who do fancy-work can always give a fellow things they
have made themselves to remember them by. I have a heap of
tobacco pouches, all very pretty and too good to use. Now you
couldn’t give a fellow a cooking apron, to remember you by, could
you?”
“I shouldn’t want anybody to remember me—with a lot of other
girls!” retorted Mabin fiercely.
And then she felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and she thrust the
needle-case quickly into his hands.
“Find one now, find one!” cried she imperiously, “and let me see
what you can do. I believe you are only boasting when you say you
can sew.”
Rudolph took the apron from her, and the needle-case, found a
needle of the size he wanted in half the time she had spent in
searching for one, and took up her hem where she had left off,
working with fine, even stitches which called forth her unwilling
admiration.
“Why,” she cried, in great surprise, “you do it beautifully! It’s better
than mine!”
“Of course it is,” remarked Rudolph calmly. “Whatever the superior
sex does bears, of course, the mark of superiority. The only thing
that women can do really well is to receive prettily the attentions of
the sex, it is useless for them to try to emulate. You used to do it very
well once. I am hoping you haven’t lost the knack.”
“You haven’t lost your old knack of conceit, I see.”
“Oh, no. I have just the same opinion of myself and just the same
opinion of you as when you used to send me wading into the pools
between the rocks to get little crabs for you, and into the hedges for
bird’s eggs, one from each nest, don’t you remember? And when
you used to make me so proud by saying I found them quicker than
anybody else. And then—do you remember what you used to do
then?”
“Break them on the way home, I suppose,” said she, trying to look
as if she had forgotten.
“Come, don’t you really remember any better than that?”
He had finished his needleful of thread, and handed her back the
apron. So that he was at leisure to watch her face as she folded the
big piece of holland, and collected the odds and ends of her work-
bag. And it was quite clear to him that her memory was as true as
his.
“Don’t you remember that you always gave me a kiss when I found
a robin’s nest?”
“No, indeed, I don’t.”
But she did. Eyes, cheeks, and mouth all betrayed the
scandalizing recollection.
“And used to promise to marry me when you grew up? Now, do
you mean to say you’ve forgotten that?”
Evidently loss of memory was no protection with this person.
Mabin blushed, and tried another sort of answer.
“Yes, I remember. What funny things children say!”
“Was it—funny?”
“Why, yes, I can’t help laughing at the idea now!”
And Mabin began to laugh hysterically, unnaturally, but withal so
prettily, with so much of maidenly confusion and subdued happiness
mingling with her amusement, that Rudolph threw his arm round her
in the midst of her mirth, and cut it short by snatching a kiss.
“Oh!”
The monosyllable was meant to express astonishment and
indignation, but it was a poor little protest after all, and one of which
Rudolph did not feel bound to take much notice.
“Are you angry?” said he, not withdrawing his arm. “Are you very
angry, Mabin? Don’t you think you will ever be able to forgive me?”
“I am angry, certainly,” answered she, trying to release herself. “I
hope you are going to apologize for—for forgetting that I am not nine
now.”
“How old are you, Mabin?”
“Nineteen.”
“Quite old enough to take up the promises you made ten years
ago. Quite old enough to marry me.”
“Rudolph! What nonsense!”
“Oh, is it nonsense? If you think I’m going to allow my feelings to
be trifled with by a chit of a girl who used to go halves with me in
bull’s eyes, you’re very much mistaken! Now then, are you willing to
ratify your promise, or am I to bring an action for breach?”
But Mabin, trembling with excitement and happiness so great as to
be bewildering, felt dimly that there was too much levity about this
abrupt settlement of the affairs of two lifetimes. This sudden proposal
did not accord with her serious disposition, with her sense of the
fitness of things. She looked at him with eyes pathetically full of
something like terror.
“Rudolph!” she whispered, in a voice which was unsteady with
strong emotion, “how can you talk like this? How can you? Don’t you
know that it hurts?”
“Hurts, little one? What do you mean by that?”
His tone was tender enough to satisfy the most exacting damsel,
but Mabin was struck with fresh terror on remarking that instead of
releasing her he tightened the grasp in which he held her.
“Why, I mean—I mean—that you are in play, that, it is amusement,
fun, to you; while to me—”
And then she saw in his eyes something new, something of the
earnestness, the seriousness which she had longed for, but which
she had not before detected in the light-hearted sailor.
“While to you—? Why, little one, do you think it is anything to you,
this promise that I am to have you to guard and to keep near my
heart for our lives, more than it is to me? Do you think one must
meet one’s happiness with a sour face, Mabin, and ask a girl to love
you from the other side of a stone wall? Oh, my little sweetheart, with
the shy eyes and the proud heart, you have a great deal to learn;
and the very first thing is to trust me, and not to think my love of no
account because I can woo you with a light heart.”
Every word seemed to echo in the young girl’s heart. She was
taken off her feet, lifted high into an enchanted region where words
were music, and a touch of the fingers ecstasy, and she hardly dared
to speak, to move, to draw breath lest the spell should be broken,
and she should wake up to commonplace life again. She listened,
hardly speaking, to her lover as he told her how she had always
remained in his mind as the childish figure that foreshadowed his
womanly ideal; how her cold reserve had piqued him, made him
study her the more; and finally how quickly these feelings had given
place to warmer ones when he and she became friends once more.
They did not know how the time went. The sun rose high, the
shadows shifted gradually, the dew dried on the long grass. At last a
bell, ringing loudly in the garden behind the plantation, startled
Mabin, and made her spring up.
“That’s for luncheon, it must be for luncheon!” she cried in blushing
confusion. “I’d forgotten—forgotten everything!”
Rudolph laughed gently, and picked up her bag and her work.
“I won’t come in,” said he. “But I’ll go through the plantation with
you to carry these.”
Across Mabin’s face there came a cloud.
“You must see Mrs. Dale,” she said. “She will want to see you, and
yet——”
“And yet what?”
“I’m jealous.”
“Are you? For shame, for shame! Can’t you trust me?”
“I will say yes, of course, but——”
“But you mean no. Well, I can promise not to break your heart.”
And he laughed at her and teased her, and told her that Mrs. Dale
was too well off to trouble her head about a poor lieutenant.
But Mabin was only half comforted; she remembered how well
they had got on together on that memorable evening when a
misunderstanding had caused her to sulk, and she was too diffident
to believe that her own charms could compete with brilliant Mrs.
Dale’s.
As soon as they came out of the plantation, and within sight of the
house, they saw across the lawn the young housemaid, Annie,
shading her eyes with her hand, as if watching for some one. Mabin,
thinking the girl was looking out for her, sprang away from Rudolph,
calling out a last “Good-by” as she hurried over the lawn.
“Tell Mrs. Dale that I am coming to call upon her this afternoon, to
ask her to give me some tea. And please remind her that she
promised me peaches next time I came,” called out Rudolph after
her as she ran.
Mabin merely waved her hand to imply that she heard, and ran on
toward the house. Annie, instead of retreating into the hall at the
approach of the young lady, stepped out into the garden. And when
Rudolph, after skirting the plantation, reached the gravelled space on
his way to the gate, he found the young housemaid holding it open
for him. He saw, before he came up, by the girl’s look and manner
that she had something to say to him.
“I beg your pardon, sir,” she said in a low voice, as soon as he was
near enough to hear, “but I hope you won’t mind me taking the liberty
of speaking to you.”
The girl was a bright-looking young person, with intelligent eyes
and an open, pleasant face.
“Well, what is the portentous secret?” asked Rudolph, smiling,
much amused by her assumed airs of mystery and importance.
“Well, sir, it is a secret,” she retorted, rather nettled by his
amusement. “It’s a warning I have to give you, sir.”
“A warning! Come, this begins to be interesting.”
“It isn’t a joke at all, sir,” said the housemaid, half offended, yet
with increasing earnestness. “I saw you coming over the field this
morning, sir, when I was out speaking to the gardener about the
salad. And I thought you was most likely coming here, sir, and I’ve
been on the lookout for you ever since.”
“Much obliged to you, I’m sure. But have you been told to warn me
off the premises?”
The girl drew herself up.
“Well, I can tell you, sir, that you’d better not come about the place
more than you can help, for if you do there’s some one that will find it
out and maybe do you a mischief. Hoping you’ll excuse the liberty,
sir; but I know something nobody else does, and I shouldn’t like you
to come to any harm, sir.”
And leaving Rudolph in a state of mingled incredulity, amusement,
and surprise, the girl shut the gate, through which he had by this
time passed, ran back quickly and disappeared through the back
door into the house.
It was with a shock that Mabin remembered, when she met Mrs.
Dale, that in the excitement of her own happiness she had neglected
to tell Rudolph the story of her midnight adventure. This
remembrance filled the girl with compunction. She reproached
herself with thinking of no one but herself, and was as miserable
over her omission as she had been happy while with her lover. As it
was in the dining-room that she met Mrs. Dale, the presence of the
parlormaid prevented her from confiding to her friend’s ear the
events of the morning. She said with a hot blush that she had met
Rudolph and gave his message; but although Mrs. Dale received the
intelligence with an arch smile she did not guess how extremely
interesting the interview had proved.
And as after luncheon Mrs. Dale sent her into Seagate for
peaches, while she wrote some letters, Mabin kept the secret of her
engagement, saving it up until Rudolph should himself break the
news.
The young girl felt an odd shyness about confessing her
happiness. She was quite glad of the excuse circumstances afforded
of keeping it all to herself for a few hours longer. It was a joy so far
above all other joys that it seemed to her its bloom would not bear
the rough touch of arch words and looks which would certainly follow
the announcement of it.
Hugging her happiness to her heart, she went quickly to Seagate
and back, not heeding the scorching heat of the sun, or the glare of
the chalky roads, or the dust made by the vehicles which passed her
on the way. And when she reached “The Towers” again, finding that
Mrs. Dale had not yet come downstairs, she put on her hat and went
back to the seat where Rudolph had sat with her that morning, to live
over again the golden time they had spent there together.
But she could not free her mind from the self-reproach she felt at
having forgotten, in the pleasure of the meeting with Rudolph, the
affairs of her friend. There was just this excuse for her, that it was
now a whole fortnight since the strange night adventure had
happened, and during all that time nothing had occurred at “The
Towers” to recall the visit of the intruder whom Mabin had chased out
of the house. After that strange confidence of Mrs. Dale’s, following
the incident of the picture, no word more had been exchanged by the
two ladies on the subject. It was this new but unavoidable reserve
between them which had made Mabin so shy of mentioning her new
happiness. If Mrs. Dale had, as she averred, never been in love
herself, what sympathy could she be expected to have for Mabin?
With these thoughts in her mind Mabin had at last got up from the
seat, and sauntered along the narrow path through the plantation in
the direction of her father’s house. Crossing the lane which
separated the grounds of the two houses, she found herself, without
thinking how she came there, on the path which ran along outside
the wall at the bottom of her father’s garden.
She had gone about ten yards when she heard a slight noise on
the inner side of the wall. She stopped. There flashed quickly into
her mind the old forgotten question: Was her father’s tenant the man
who had got into “The Towers” at night a fortnight ago?
Coming noiselessly close to the wall, she reached the top of it by a
sudden spring, and saw, between the bushes of the border, the bent
figure of a gentleman, sauntering along slowly with the aid of a stick.
The cry she uttered made him look up.
And the face she saw was the face of the picture in the shut-up
room, the face of the man she had pursued through the house,
whose thin, worn features she had seen a fortnight ago in the pale
light of the morning.
CHAPTER XI.
AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. BANKS.
Mabin had only just time to recognize the face of the man who had
got into “The Towers” at night as Mr. Banks, her father’s tenant,
when he turned abruptly and hurried away toward the house.
Mabin’s first thought was to get over the wall, a proceeding to
which, it must be admitted, she was not unaccustomed, and pursue
him, as she had done upon a recent and well-remembered occasion.
But she felt a certain natural shyness about such a bold course, and
decided that she would proceed in more orthodox fashion by going
round to the front door and asking for him.
It was not without fears that she would be unsuccessful that she
made her way, slowly and with the slight limp which still remained
from her bicycle accident, along the lane to the front of the house.
This was the first time she had been inside her father’s gates since
the morning the family went away, and it struck her with a sense of
strangeness that she had lived a great deal faster than ever before
since that memorable day. Mrs. Dale’s mysterious story; the visit of
the old lady with the cruel tongue; the midnight intrusion of Mr.
Banks; last, and chief of all, Rudolph’s confession of love—these
things had opened a wide abyss between the child Mabin and the
woman. She felt that she was not the shy girl who had had a nervous
dread of leaving home mingling with the thoughts of coming
pleasure. And she told herself that when the family came back they
would find, not the angular girl they had left, but a woman, a full-
fledged woman.
Perhaps she congratulated herself prematurely upon the
enormous advance she had made; at any rate, when she rang the
bell, she found her heart beating very fast, and a curious feeling
rising in her throat which threatened to affect the steadiness of her
voice.
It was Langford who opened the door. The old servant had not
seen Mabin since the day she had left the house, and her face broke
out into smiles as she greeted her.
“Bless me, Miss Mabin, I never thought of its being you! But I am
glad to see you. And how have you been getting on? And have you
heard from Mrs. Rose lately?”
“I’m getting on splendidly, and I heard from mamma two days ago.
Ethel’s got the mumps, but the rest are all right. I’ll talk to you
another time. Come round and see me some evening. Can’t you get
away? I’m in a hurry now; I want to see Mr. Banks.”
Langford shook her head emphatically.
“It’s no use wanting that, Miss Mabin. Mr. Banks never sees
anybody, not even his lawyer if he can help it. He’s a character, he is.
Is it a message you’ve got for him from Mr. Rose?”
“Oh, no. It’s something very important, much more important than
that. And I must see him; I tell you I must! And if you won’t help me, I
shall go to work in a way of my own, and give the poor man a fright.”
“Oh, no, Miss Mabin, you won’t do that, I’m sure! You don’t know
how delicate the poor gentleman is; more than once since he’s been
here he has given me a fright, and made me think he was going to
die. And he’s so peculiar; he won’t let one send for a doctor, not if it’s
ever so, he won’t. I’m sure one morning, a fortnight ago, when I
found him lying on the floor in the hall with the back garden door
open, I thought he was dead, that I did. But when I’d brought him to
—for he’d fainted, just like a woman—he wouldn’t hear of my getting
any one to come and see him——”
“Ah!” exclaimed Mabin. “Was that on a Tuesday night—I mean
Wednesday morning?”
“Yes, so it was.”
Mabin smiled.
“Well, I know the reason of that attack. And perhaps I’ll tell you
some day, if you’ll manage to let me see him now. And first tell me
what you think of him. Is he mad, do you think, or what? You
remember, when he first came, you thought he was.”
Langford shook her head dubiously.
“Well, really, Miss Mabin, I can’t rightly tell you what I do think
about him. Sometimes I do think he’s off his head altogether; he
marches up and down the drawing-room—that’s the room he has
taken to himself—by the hour together, going faster and faster, till I
listen outside the door wondering if anything is going to happen, and
whether he’s going to break out like and do himself a mischief. But if
I make an excuse to go in, though his eyes are wide and glaring, so
that at the first look he frightens one, yet he always speaks to me
quite gently, and says he doesn’t want anything. Of course I pretend
not to notice anything, and I think he likes the way I take him. For,
though he’s always civil-spoken to every one, he doesn’t let the two
girls come near him, if he can help it. If they come up from the
kitchen or out of a room when he’s by, he just turns his back and
waits till they’ve gone past.”
Mabin listened with deep interest, and without interrupting by a
question. But when Langford paused for breath, the young girl asked
suddenly:
“Does he have any letters? It isn’t just curiosity that makes me
ask, I needn’t tell you.”
“No, Miss Mabin. He doesn’t have any letters sent here except
under cover from his lawyer. They come in big envelopes, with the
address stamped on the back, so I know. It looks as if he was in
hiding or something, doesn’t it?” she added in a discreet whisper.
Mabin thought that it did, and the fact added to the fascination of
the mystery.
“You don’t think he’s a detective, do you?” she whispered close to
Langford’s ear.
“No, I’m quite sure he isn’t. Detectives aren’t gentlemen, and Mr.
Banks is a gentleman, if ever there was one.”
“It’s very strange,” murmured Mabin vaguely, pondering on the
fresh facts.
“You may well say that, Miss Mabin. I don’t know what to think
myself. Some days he’ll sit all day long with his head in his hands
without moving scarcely. Or he’ll sit poring over what looks like old
letters and bits of things that I think must have been a woman’s
somehow. But there, I feel like a sneak telling these things even to
you; for it’s only by chance that I know anything about them myself,
and for certain Mr. Banks didn’t think I should chatter about what I
saw.”
“Ah, well, I know more than you do as it is,” said Mabin softly.