Week one of International Business is over. We had two assignments due yesterday. No let-up from the last class. One was a group assignment and the other one was an individual assignment. On top of that, I got the flu (or something very much like the flu) on Friday. I am absolutely miserable. So I am sure that my grades will not be as high as they usually are. My interest in school this week was zero. Being sick really takes a lot of out me.
The topic in week one was “Assessing the International Environment and Global Ethics” and it focused a lot on culture, religion, decision-making and how those factors impact success or failure in International Business. Changing demographics within the global economy, and especially an emphasis on the increasingly important role of developing countries in world trade, have led to a change in the world order.
The world's largest economies, (the G-5) the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, and France, can no longer control the rate and mass of global expansion. New countries are getting in on the mix (Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, China), and to a certain extent are threatening "classic" thinking about globalization. The political, economic, and legal systems that collectively influence a country's ability to achieve meaningful economic progress are similar for successful "international players". These socio/political/legal/economic and ethical differences are significant and must be clearly understood by managers of international organizations to behave ethically in international business.
Ethical behavior in an internationally-active organization is often difficult to define. Some multinationals are so geographically spread out and influenced by so many cultures that the line between "right" and "wrong" is blurry. Indeed, what is ethically acceptable to one culture may be very much taboo in another. The basic questions that we as international managers need to ask our selves should be: "what are the basic elements that lead to predictable human behavior? And is predictable behavior ethical?"
I think there will be a lot of interesting aspects to this class. When I get over this illness I will be jumping right back in.
With almost six consecutive years dedicated to distance education, Scott has the experience to answer any questions you may have about the topic. Please feel free to contact Scott about anything having to do with online education. You can also check out his photo blog or his LinkedIn profile.
Anonymous comments are disabled
About WheelCipher
Scott is a strategic consultant in the customer care industry and an avid amateur photographer.
You can see his work at http://gallery.scottdavis.info
He has experience in the high-technology industry in management, engineering, and support positions with Time Warner Cable, Dell Computer Corporation, UUNET Technologies, Wayport and others.
Scott started his degree program in 2003, and had no prior college credit before jumping into the distance learning environment. He graduated in October 2007 having attained an A.A.S. in Information Technology and a B.S. in Management from Kaplan University.
In 2009, he graduated with his MBA from Norwich University and is now a student at Gonzaga University.
Scott LOVES fan mail. You can e-mail him any questions about distance learning at sdavis@wheelcipher.net