Making Trade Missions Work

A Best Practice Guide to International Business and Commercial Diplomacy

Huub Ruël

Emerald

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Hardback

9781786354723

10 December 2018

$87.99

eBook (PDF)

9781786354716

10 December 2018

$87.99

eBook (ePub)

9781787148994

10 December 2018

$87.99

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About

Trade missions are a key commercial diplomacy instrument of governments around the world. Via trade missions, governments and politicians aim to promote their home country economy abroad as well as to support firms to explore and enter new markets. Despite its widespread usage, and the claims made by governments about the positive results of trade missions, actual robust evidence of trade mission effectiveness is scarce. The reason for this lack of evidence is that trade missions are mostly studied and organized in ‘isolation’, disconnected from the participating firms’ level of international experience and international business competences.

This book presents a clear view on commercial diplomacy and defines trade missions as a firm internationalization learning experience. It outlines that trade mission's preparation, programme, and follow up, are key to making trade missions work. This book presents a research informed three-staged model of a trade mission and presents in detail how a real life trade mission was organized along this model.

This example should inform and inspire organizers of trade missions. The book also aims to revamp and innovate trade mission research, and will therefore be a useful source for new trade mission research for international business scholars.

Chapter 1. Trade missions in today’s global economy: international business meets international relations Chapter 2. Trade missions at the heart of commercial diplomacy Chapter 3. Trade missions: definitions and objectives Chapter 4. Organizing a research informed trade mission Chapter 5. A three staged trade mission: a real life example Chapter 6. Conclusion: the future of trade missions

‘Huub Rüel opens the "black box" at the micro-level and serves up an insider's handbook for CEOs and diplomats involved in trade missions as an instrument for collaborative whole-of-governance society.’
- Ambassador (ret.) Wilfried Bolewski, former Chief of Protocol to Chancellor Merkel

Writing for policy makers and advisors, consultants, business owners, and internationalization specialists, Ruël suggests how to organize more effective trade missions in order to spend tax-payer money responsibly. The material could also interest scholars, lecturers, and students of international business programs of all sorts, because all the content is research-informed. His topics include international business meets international relations, commercial diplomacy, definitions and objectives of trade mission, and an example of a three-stage trade mission.
- Annotation ©2019

Huub Ruël, PhD is Professor of Global Talent Management and International Business and Diplomacy at Hotelschool The Hague – The Netherlands and research associate at the Human Resource Management Research Department of the University of Twente (The Netherlands). He is an expert on commercial diplomacy, business diplomacy and technology enabled global talent management in the international hospitality industry.