International Business is the study of foreign business; international monetary systems and foreign exchange markets; multinational firm strategies related to finance, marketing, personnel and production; and the impact of cultural and political differences in the global business environment.
The International Business course (course # BU 330) at Millikin University is the study of business behaviors at the global level. In the course we learned that global success is not guaranteed. There are external influences that affect business decisions and success such as culture, subcultures, demographics, currency exchanges, legal environments, and marketing activities. There are also internal influences like innovation, ethical risks and rewards of ownership, entrepreneurship motives, that play a role in international business decisions. Together, these influences determine our business style and structure, which then drives our business decision making process.
During the course we were assigned an international business plan project to study how these influences (external and internal) affected business decisions. We were given 3 types of reports to research: A business proposal comprised of 10-15 pages, business report approximately 20-30 pages, and international business plan consisting of 20-30 pages. All three reports required us to research different aspects of multinational business. A major requirement of our research was to actually integrate the different challenges and approaches in creating an international business plan based on the different data supporting each phase of the mock business operational venture. Throughout the course two teams of 3 students competed to present their international business plan project to a panel of ADM executives handpicked by the professor to present a 10-12 slide power point presentation conjoined with printed and bound international business strategy.
Our team choose to create an Organic fast food restaurant named “A Fresh Start”, in Seoul, South Korea. We studied the cultural emphasis on organic lifestyles to determine the demand for organic fast food. We found that the targeted market was single young professionals, and discovered how the legal landscape of registering a foreign company in the country would affect our business venture. Taxation issues were very similar to the United States and afforded an easy transition of currency exchange in revenue recognition in financial statement reporting.
Once we completed the analysis on the target market in the South Korea, our business venture proved to be a successful venture. The economy of that country supported the organic fast food consumer market. Also, after anticipating the marketing segmentation we found the financial stability and residents of the country were exploding in disposable income levels and desire for more organic choices on the food market. The legal landscape and protection issues lends itself to being a low-complexity challenge in the registration and taxation issues of doing business within the country.
The course International Business at Millikin University allows students to get a real world view how external and internal influences determine global business ventures. It aides in expanding student’s exposure to international business challenges and opportunities in their future business careers. Especially, when today’s modern society with the internet expects more globalism and less nationalism in the business environment.