Two issues will occupy multinational managers' time in the near future. The first is the changes resulting from the Soviet policies of glasnost ( openness) and perestroika (restructuring) of the economy. Close to half a billion people will be affected by Mikhail S. Gorbachev's breaks with traditional communist thinking. 1 Currently most western ventures in "nonmarket," or planned, economies involve a private enterprise dealing with a state-owned enterprise. This situation may very well change, however; the possibility will be explored in CONSORTIA AND STRATEGIC ALLCES on consortia, a new type of corporate global scheme. (See : PERESTROIKA TO PIZZA)
The second issue is "countertrade," or "barter trade." Countertrade transactions link exports and imports of goods or services to something other than financial settlements. Figure 14.6 provides an idea of the tremendous popularity that this concept has gained. Clearly, the popular view of countertrade as a way for developing or communist countries to deal with the lack of foreign currency to pay for imports is wrong. Indeed, a look at the right-hand side of the figure reveals that quite a few developed countries are making use of this method of trading. COMMON FORMS OF COUNTERTRADE outlines the main types of countertrade and gives some examples.
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