The Dynamics Of Business Government Relations

This work represents an important advance in the study of the interrelationships between business and U.S. foreign policy. Focusing on a single aspect of this broad field—the growth of industrial exports—William H. Becker demonstrates the complexity of business interests and behavior, of the bureaucratic and political forces at work in Congress and the Departments of Commerce and State, and of the interplay between business and governmental practices and concerns. In so doing, he provides the first full analysis of the industrial, political, and bureaucratic context in which the U.S. became a major exporter of industrial products.

This book introduces business-government relations in the institutional context of the United States from a practitioner’s perspective. It provides the historical, descriptive, and comparative accounts of the public and private sectors, the different roles government plays with business, including several conceptual models to understand the social interactions between the two sectors, and various economic policies associated with business. Business-government relations are framed into three different social economic contexts: The sociopolitical arena, in which government’s role as agent of business, interest groups, and government’s limited role as social architect, are introduced. The local economic development, in which government acts as a promoter of, partner with, and buyer from, business. The global market, where government mainly plays a role as promoter of domestic business. In the course of discussion, a set of skills, such as searching government jobs, starting a business, analyzing stakeholders, ethical reasoning, advancing a business agenda, leveraging public resources, contracting with government, interpreting global trends, doing business abroad, and leveraging international resources, are introduced and exercised.

Although the topic of business-government relations (BGR) is obviously not original, the authors seek to make their work unique by creating a conceptual framework that attempts to utilize empirical data to address this interdependence systematically. To attain this goal, Stevens, Wartick, and Bagby build on the fragmented foundations of relevant BGR literature. Major issues addressed include the legal environment of BGR; the relationships between resource dependence and BGR attitudes of private-sector executives; the perceptions of BGR by public-sector managers; and an analysis of the Grace Commission as an example of a contemporary, nonproductive business-government interaction. This volume would be especially appropriate for libraries serving graduate students and faculty in the areas of business and public administration. Choice Although much has been written on the various aspects of the business-government relationship, this new research-based study is among the first to explore the dynamics of this interaction fully and to provide the comprehensive analysis needed to bring many diverse elements into perspective. An in-depth study of the problems confronting business and government in their efforts to work together, it examines private and public sector managerial views and attempts to integrate them in the context of real world experience. The sources of problems and specific alternative courses are identified using a data-based analytical approach that focuses on substantive issues.

This book offers an outlook on relations between national governments and multinational companies that provides broad coverage on the key issues likely to determine that relationship in the new century. From the perspective of the company decision maker concerned with national regulation and incentive policies, to the host government policy maker in an emerging market, to the home government policy-maker in a Triad country, each dimension is considered and analyzed in light of the others.