GSB 726 International Business
International business is important because the world has become globalised. International Buusiness is also necessary because it is becoming increasingly impossible for any country to practice economic isolation. Globalisation and FDI have been growing exponentially over the past decade or two. Failure to participate in the global marketplace will cause a nation to experience declining economic capability and result in its citizens experiencing a decrease in their standard of living. Australia in particular, because of the relatively small size of its domestic market, is reliant upon trade with international partners. Australia's uniquely multi-cultural society also reinforces our appreciation of and familiarisation with the opportunities and the subtle complexities of doing business in overseas markets.
The opportunities and challenges encountered today by managers are greater and more diverse than ever before. New consumers are appearing in emerging markets from Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, China and other Asian countries, India and some parts of Latin America - in other words, globally. Some of these emerging markets have little purchasing power today but hold the promise of huge markets in the future. Australian exporters escaped relatively unscathed from the Asian crisis of the late 1990s.
In the more mature markets of the industrialised world, there are also many opportunities and challenges as markets become more sophisticated and complex and as increases in purchasing power provide them with the means of satisfying new demands. Increasingly there is a move away from 'things' (goods) to 'experiences' (services).
This course will help students broaden their outlook on the multitude of factors that affect international business.