As more Americans go to mainland China to take jobs, more Chinese and Americans are working side by side. These cross-cultural partnerships, while beneficial in many ways, are also highlighting tensions that expose differences in work experience, pay levels and communication.

It’s rare that a $100 billion business can be marginalized, but such is the case with the international arm of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT). As a stand-alone company, it would rank among the top five global retailers.

Inside the $401 billion retail giant, though, the business has traditionally received short shrift. Its Bentonville (Ark.) headquarters is underwhelming—a drab, largely windowless, one-story structure named after Bill Mitchell, a former Walmart executive whom nobody seems to remember.

Which country is best placed to ride out the global recession? That question is at the heart of this year's World Competitiveness Yearbook, an annual report published by IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Researchers ranked 57 of the world's leading economies based on four categories of competitiveness: economy, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.

For the 16th consecutive year, the U.S. came out on top, despite the financial crisis and deep economic downturn there. European countries held on to half of the top 20 spots, while emerging economies such as China and Qatar continued to gain ground on their Western rivals.

Click on the title of this slide show, then see it by clicking on the right arrow on the upper right-hand side of the page.

This tutorial is designed to help exporters of all experience levels. Whether you're thinking about getting involved in international trade, or are already exporting, a review of the extensive materials in this tutorial will help you obtain a better understanding of how to succeed.

The basics of importing can be divided into several steps:

Step One - The Plan

Step Two - Logistics

Step Three - Foreign Sourcing

Step Four - Financing

Step Five - Security

In the just-completed summer Olympics, America's status as the globe's athletic hegemon was clearly under attack. The United States won the overall medal race, edging out China 110 to 100. But the hosts won significantly more gold medals, and favored U.S. individuals and teams fell victim to Jamaican sprinters, Japanese softball players and boxers from pretty much everywhere.

Action off the field also highlighted a similar shift in the balance of power, as viewers marveled at the impressive hardware (buildings like the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest) and software (the spectacular opening ceremonies). "None of these was an accident," says Edward Gresser, director of the project on trade and global markets at the Washington, D.C.-based Progressive Policy Institute. "They reflect the deep economic trends of a decade in which our competitors have raised their game and we haven't."

If there is a bright spot amid the chaos in the financial markets, it is that it helps to settle a debate among economists about the outlook for the European economy.

Vladimir Putin put his pals in charge to bring order out of chaos. But will their heavy hand be the ruin of Russia's boom?

Corruption remains a major obstacle to international business, according to a new survey commissioned by Control Risks and Simmons & Simmons.

Despite new laws criminalizing foreign bribery, there have been few prosecutions outside the U.S. and, honest companies are still losing out to dishonest competitors on a large scale. Host countries lose out because high levels of corruption discourage reputable businesses from investing. And, although many companies are tightening their anti-corruption procedures, overall standards of compliance remain highly uneven-–both across countries and across sectors.

Make sure you read the labels. Some things you buy might be designed in the U.S., but assembled in China. Tricky marketers are making you think you're buying American when you're not.