ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is an outcome of the conference and includes revised versions of some of the papers. It examines the available state of knowledge, to enhance the existing understanding of global operations of professional business service (PBS) firms, to enumerate and categorize the major relevant issues and to propose some generalizations that may provide a platform for research issues of interest on the globalization of PBS firms and on the operations of these firms. The book starts by discussing differences between goods and services in general before enumerating the characteristics of PBS firms in particular. Then describe, as a background, the world market for professional services, review the principal modes of delivery and analyse the major barriers to globalization of PBSs. It also considers the extent to which concepts developed to discuss manufacturing multinational enterprises (MNEs) are applicable to professional service MNEs.
