Now that globalization is a reality and cross-border business and investment are vital activities, companies need reliable tools to manage their risks safely.

According to Joel Kurtzman, a former Harvard Business Review editor-in-chief and the founder of Strategy & Business, and Glenn Yago, Director of Capital Studies at the Milken Institute, the problems begin when companies and investors pay attention to the wrong risks. As a result, businesses are left exposed to the risk of suffering large losses. In Global Edge, the authors offer two breakthrough tools to better manage the hidden perils of going global.

1. The CLEAR framework describes how to recognize and manage the expensive challenges businesses face overseas: Corruption, the Legal system, Enforcement policy, Accounting standards and governance, and Regulation.

2. The Opacity Index is an updated database of countries ranked in order of their standing with respect to the CLEAR factors, allowing companies to balance their risk exposure.

In this insightful and practical book, Kurtzman and Yago describe and quantify the risks of international business, trade and investment and prescribe well-researched solutions. Drawing on a decade of pioneering fieldwork with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Milken Institute and many companies and governments, the authors present a new way to assess, analyze and manage concealed perils of cross-border business and investment. This book will inspire readers to understand their global investments, manage them effectively and forecast areas where businesses might get into trouble overseas.

In an age when a systematic understanding of global risks is still in its infancy, this book is a defining work that will transform the subject from an academic interest into an imperative practice for corporate management.

Joel Kurtzman is a principal at The Kurtzman Group, a consulting and advisory firm. He is a Senior Fellow at the Milken Institute. Glenn Yago is Director of Capital Studies at the Milken Institute.


Global Edge is available online at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other book outlets.

For information on the Milken Institute see: MILKEN

For information from BarterNews magazine on countertrade see: Countertrade

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