International Business

Once termed to describe how businesses traded goods across national borders, 'international business' has evolved well beyond manufacturing and transportation. Today, international business is the commercial engine through which all output, trade and consumption moves in a virtual global marketplace.

In the International Business Learning Circle, postgraduate students and professors explore the international business environment in depth. Students learn international business principles, regional opportunities and global business strategies in order to develop the skills required for successful careers in today’s global marketplace.

Furthermore, academic field study during port calls provides an invaluable learning opportunity for students to reflect outside the classroom, in a context that resonates long after their voyage concludes.

Subjects

• International Business Strategy
  (required - all students)
• International Marketing
• International Trade
• Latin American Management
• Managing Cultural Diversity in Business
• Strategic Operations Management

Themes

The following themes play a prominent role in the subjects offered:

• International and cross-cultural management perspectives
• Business opportunities in emerging and established economies
• Strategic global business thinking
• Economic, political, socio-cultural dimensions of globalization
• Linkages among global, regional and local economic forces

Learning Outcomes

The core learning outcomes for this learning circle are to enhance students’ ability to understand:

• the theory and practice of international business
• how to take regional economies, business differences and cultural diversity into account when assessing business opportunities, whether as an entrepreneur or as an employee of a corporation
• fundamental differences in business practices internationally
• the process and implications of outsourcing internationally
• the role and impact of international trade groups and agreements
• how to observe and adapt to cultural diversity in business

Fields of Study commonly associated with the International Business Learning Circle

• Accounting
• Business Administration
• Economics
• Finance
• Management
• Marketing