Christian Scholz & Joachim Zentes 
Strategic Management – New Rules for Old Europe 

Perhaps it was not really meant the way it was said, but when Donald Rumsfeld used the term ‘Old Europe’ in his famous speech of January 22, 2003, he coined a phrase to de­ pict not the birthplace of modem society, but a graveyard of old and outdated ideas. Even though it is legitimate for many of us in Europe to oppose the underlying message of going to war in Iraq, it makes absolute sense to examine the rules of the game which Europe is currently playing and which it will play in the future. In doing so, it becomes obvious that important changes are taking place: Strategic Man­ agement – New Rules for Old Europe makes the hidden rules governing strategic man­ agement in Europe transparent. The book follows a ‘from – to’ logic and takes the reader along the course of changing conditions and contingencies. Europe has not only witnessed major transformations such as the dramatic fall of the Iron Curtain, economic and monetary integration and the in­ corporation of new member states: Fundamental change can also be perceived with re­ spect to the corporate responses to these ongoing dynamic changes. Strategic Management – New Rules for Old Europe is divided into four parts. Each of these consists of several contributions, starting with the focus on people, then on culture, then on systems.

Table of Content

Changes in the Institutional Environment.- European Labour Markets: From Low to High Labour Demand Elasticities.- Sense-Making Processes in the Council of Ministers: From the ECSC to the European Constitution.- Accounting in Europe: From National Accounting Charts to Globally Converging Standards.- Banking Supervision in Europe: From Basel I to Basel II.- European Entrepreneurship: From Deterministic Government Policy to Market Experimentation.- Changes for Companies: Outside-Inside-Perspective.- Relationship Marketing in European Consumer Goods Markets: From Marketing Mix Orientation to Customer Life Cycle Management.- The Delights and Dangers of Global Branding: From Worldwide Brands to a Global/Local Dialectic.- Dynamics of the Internationalisation of European Retailing: From a National to a European Perspective.- Changes for Companies: Inside-Outside-Perspective.- European (Virtual) Team-Building: From Optimism to Efficiency.- International Corporate Cultures: From Helpless Global Convergence to Constructive European Divergence.- International Supplier Relationship Management: From Transactional to Relational Purchasing.- Consequences for Germany.- A Strategy Map for Germany: From Passive Self-Pity to Offensive Self-Renewal.

About the author

Univ.-Professor Dr. Christian Scholz holds the chair of Business Administration, especially Organisation, Human Resource Management and Information Management at Saarland University, Germany. He is director of the Institute of Management Competence and director of the Europa-Institut at Saarland University, Germany.
Univ.-Professor Dr. Joachim Zentes holds the chair of Business Administration, especially Foreign Trade and International Management at Saarland University, Germany. He is director of the Institute of Commerce & International Marketing and director of the Europa-Institut at Saarland University.