Discussion: View Thread

  • 1.  Why do North American textbooks dominate the world markets?

    Posted 05-09-2002 07:44
    Dear Colleagues,

    While there may be subtle reasons IN ADDITION to a few simple ones,
    the dynamics of the publishing industry are simple enough to account
    for the dominance of US materials.

    The vast majority of the world's business schools are in North
    America. The majority of textbook authors are Americans and
    Canadians. Business textbook publishers are in great part based in
    North America, or at North American divisions of multinational firms.

    These facts lead to a dominant supply of textbooks written by North
    Americans for the North American market.

    There are related issues that add nuances to this: the dominant role
    of North American colleges and universities in journal publishing,
    the predominance of North Americans on editorial boards and the
    dominant tendency to publish North Americans. This is changing,
    albeit slowly. Textbook literature lags behind scholarly literature.
    As the scholarly literature begins to shift away from a dominant
    North American perspective, the textbook literature will follow.

    Business schools outside North America are also growing in size,
    importance, and stature. As publishers become sensitive to large and
    important new markets, they will also become more willing to supply
    genuinely international editions rather than weak internationalized
    re-workings of leading North American textbooks.

    There are other factors at work, but the economics of the publishing
    industry is probably the most important factor.

    Best regards,

    --

    Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
    Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design
    Department of Leadership and Organization
    Norwegian School of Management

    Visiting Professor
    Advanced Research Institute
    School of Art and Design
    Staffordshire University


  • 2.  Why do North American textbooks dominate the world markets?

    Posted 05-10-2002 08:54
    Agreed! Good point.
    Can anybody recommend textbooks on Entrepreneurship or small business with European or Asian perspective?
    Cheers,
    Yang
    Ken Friedman <ken.friedman@bi.no> wrote: Dear Colleagues,

    While there may be subtle reasons IN ADDITION to a few simple ones,
    the dynamics of the publishing industry are simple enough to account
    for the dominance of US materials.

    The vast majority of the world's business schools are in North
    America. The majority of textbook authors are Americans and
    Canadians. Business textbook publishers are in great part based in
    North America, or at North American divisions of multinational firms.

    These facts lead to a dominant supply of textbooks written by North
    Americans for the North American market.

    There are related issues that add nuances to this: the dominant role
    of North American colleges and universities in journal publishing,
    the predominance of North Americans on editorial boards and the
    dominant tendency to publish North Americans. This is changing,
    albeit slowly. Textbook literature lags behind scholarly literature.
    As the scholarly literature begins to shift away from a dominant
    North American perspective, the textbook literature will follow.

    Business schools outside North America are also growing in size,
    importance, and stature. As publishers become sensitive to large and
    important new markets, they will also become more willing to supply
    genuinely international editions rather than weak internationalized
    re-workings of leading North American textbooks.

    There are other factors at work, but the economics of the publishing
    industry is probably the most important factor.

    Best regards,

    --

    Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
    Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design
    Department of Leadership and Organization
    Norwegian School of Management

    Visiting Professor
    Advanced Research Institute
    School of Art and Design
    Staffordshire University


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