Preparing for a Career in International Business

Understand how to prepare for a career in international business.
 

No matter where your career takes you, you won’t be able to avoid the reality and reach of international business. We’re all involved in it. Some readers may want to venture more seriously into this exciting arena. The career opportunities are exciting and challenging, but taking the best advantage of them requires some early planning. Here are some hints.
 

Plan Your Undergraduate Education
 
 

Many colleges and universities offer strong majors in international business, and this course of study can be good preparation for a global career. In planning your education, remember the following:
 

•    Develop real expertise in one of the basic areas of business. Most companies will hire you as much for your skill and knowledge in accounting, finance, information systems, marketing, or management as for your background in the study of international business. Take courses in both areas.
•    Develop your knowledge of international politics, economics, and culture. Take liberal arts courses that focus on parts of the world that especially interest you. Courses in history, government, and the social sciences offer a wealth of knowledge about other nations and cultures that’s relevant to success in international business.
•    Develop foreign-language skills. If you studied a language in high school, keep up with it. 


Improve your reading or conversational skills. Or start a new language in college. Recall that your competition in the global marketplace is not just other Americans, but also individuals from countries, such as Belgium, where everyone’s fluent in at least two (and usually three) languages. Lack of foreign-language skills often proves to be a disadvantage for many Americans in international business.
 

Get Some Direct Experience
 
Take advantage of study-abroad opportunities, whether offered on your campus or by another college. There are literally hundreds of such opportunities, and your interest in international business will be received much more seriously if you’ve spent some time abroad. (As a bonus, you’ll probably find it an enjoyable, horizon-expanding experience, as well.)
 

Interact with People from Other Cultures
 
Finally, whenever you can, learn about the habits and traits of other cultures, and practice interacting with the people to whom they belong. Go to the trouble to meet international students on your campus and get to know them. Learn about their cultures and values, and tell them about yours. You may initially be uncomfortable or confused in such intercultural exchanges, but you’ll find them great learning experiences. By picking up on the details, you’ll avoid embarrassing mistakes later and even earn the approval of acquaintances from abroad.
 
Whether you’re committed to a career in global business, curious about the international scene, or simply a consumer of worldwide products and services, you can’t avoid the effects of globalization. Granted, the experience can be frustrating, maybe even troubling at times. More often, however, it’s likely to be stimulating and full of opportunities.

Opportunities in International Business

Identify the various opportunities presented by international business.



The fact that nations exchange billions of dollars in goods and services each year demonstrates that international trade makes good economic sense. For an American company wishing to expand beyond national borders, there are a variety of ways it can get involved in international business. Let’s take a closer look at the more popular ones.


 
Importing and Exporting

Importing (buying products overseas and reselling them in one’s own country) and exporting (selling domestic products to foreign customers) are the oldest and most prevalent forms of international trade. For many companies, importing is the primary link to the global market. American food and beverage wholesalers, for instance, import the bottled water Evian from its source in the French Alps for resale in U.S. supermarkets. Other companies get into the global arena by identifying an international market for their products and become exporters. The Chinese, for instance, are increasingly fond of fast foods cooked in soybean oil. Because they also have an increasing appetite for meat, they need high-protein soybeans to raise livestock. As a result, American farmers now export over $1 billion worth of soybeans to China every year.


Licensing and Franchising

A company that wants to get into an international market quickly while taking only limited financial and legal risks might consider licensing agreements with foreign companies. An international licensing agreement allows a foreign company (the licensee) to sell the products of a producer (the licensor) or to use its intellectual property (such as patents, trademarks, copyrights) in exchange for royalty fees. Here’s how it works: You own a company in the United States that sells coffee-flavored popcorn. You’re sure that your product would be a big hit in Japan, but you don’t have the resources to set up a factory or sales office in that country. You can’t make the popcorn here and ship it to Japan because it would get stale. So you enter into a licensing agreement with a Japanese company that allows your licensee to manufacture coffee-flavored popcorn using your special process and to sell it in Japan under your brand name. In exchange, the Japanese licensee would pay you a royalty fee.
Another popular way to expand overseas is to sell franchises. Under an international franchise agreement, a company (the franchiser) grants a foreign company (the franchisee) the right to use its brand name and to sell its products or services. The franchisee is responsible for all operations but agrees to operate according to a business model established by the franchiser. In turn, the franchiser usually provides advertising, training, and new-product assistance. Franchising is a natural form of global expansion for companies that operate domestically according to a franchise model, including restaurant chains, such as McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken, and hotel chains, such as Holiday Inn and Best Western.


Contract Manufacturing and Outsourcing
 
Because of high domestic labor costs, many U.S. companies manufacture their products in countries where labor costs are lower. This arrangement is called international contract manufacturing or outsourcing. A U.S. company might contract with a local company in a foreign country to manufacture one of its products. It will, however, retain control of product design and development and put its own label on the finished product. Contract manufacturing is quite common in the U.S. apparel business, with most American brands being made in Asia (China and Malaysia) and Latin America (Mexico and the Dominican Republic).
Thanks to twenty-first-century information technology, nonmanufacturing functions can also be outsourced to nations with lower labor costs. U.S. companies increasingly draw on a vast supply of relatively inexpensive skilled labor to perform various business services, such as software development, accounting, and claims processing. For years, American insurance companies have processed much of their claims-related paperwork in Ireland. With a large, well-educated population, India has become a center for software development and customer-call centers for American companies. In the case of India, as you can see in , the attraction is not only a large pool of knowledge workers, but also significantly lower wages.

 Selected Hourly Wages, United States and India
Occupation    U.S. Wage    Indian Wage
Telephone operator    $12.57    Under $1.00
Health-record technical worker/Medical transcriber    $13.17    $1.50–$2.00
Payroll clerk    $15.17    $1.50–$2.00
Legal assistant/paralegal    $17.86    $6.00–$8.00
Accountant    $23.35    $6.00–$15.00
Financial researcher/analyst    $33.00–$35.00    $6.00–$15.00


Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures

What if a company wants to do business in a foreign country but lacks the expertise or resources? Or what if the target nation’s government doesn’t allow foreign companies to operate within its borders unless it has a local partner? In these cases, a firm might enter into a strategic alliance with a local company or even with the government itself. A strategic alliance is an agreement between two companies (or a company and a nation) to pool resources in order to achieve business goals that benefit both partners. For example, Viacom (a leading global media company) has a strategic alliance with Beijing Television to produce Chinese-language music and entertainment programming.An alliance can serve a number of purposes:

•    Enhancing marketing efforts
•    Building sales and market share
•    Improving products
•    Reducing production and distribution costs
•    Sharing technology

Alliances range in scope from informal cooperative agreements to joint ventures—alliances in which the partners fund a separate entity (perhaps a partnership or a corporation) to manage their joint operation. Magazine publisher Hearst, for example, has joint ventures with companies in several countries. So, young women in Israel can read Cosmo Israel in Hebrew, and Russian women can pick up a Russian-language version of Cosmo that meets their needs. The U.S. edition serves as a starting point to which nationally appropriate material is added in each different nation. This approach allows Hearst to sell the magazine in more than fifty countries.


Foreign Direct Investment and Subsidiaries

Many of the approaches to global expansion that we’ve discussed so far allow companies to participate in international markets without investing in foreign plants and facilities. As markets expand, however, a firm might decide to enhance its competitive advantage by making a direct investment in operations conducted in another country. Foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to the formal establishment of business operations on foreign soil—the building of factories, sales offices, and distribution networks to serve local markets in a nation other than the company’s home country.

FDI is generally the most expensive commitment that a firm can make to an overseas market, and it’s typically driven by the size and attractiveness of the target market. For example, German and Japanese automakers, such as BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, and Honda, have made serious commitments to the U.S. market: most of the cars and trucks that they build in plants in the South and Midwest are destined for sale in the United States.

A common form of FDI is the foreign subsidiary: an independent company owned by a foreign firm (called the parent). This approach to going international not only gives the parent company full access to local markets but also exempts it from any laws or regulations that may hamper the activities of foreign firms. The parent company has tight control over the operations of a subsidiary, but while senior managers from the parent company often oversee operations, many managers and employees are citizens of the host country. Not surprisingly, most very large firms have foreign subsidiaries. IBM and Coca-Cola, for example, have both had success in the Japanese market through their foreign subsidiaries (IBM-Japan and Coca-Cola–Japan).

FDI goes in the other direction, too, and many companies operating in the United States are in fact subsidiaries of foreign firms. Gerber Products, for example, is a subsidiary of the Swiss company Novartis, while Stop & Shop and Giant Food Stores belong to the Dutch company Royal Ahold.

Getting Down A Business

Identify the main participants of business, the functions that most businesses perform, and the external forces that influence business activities.

 


A business is any activity that provides goods or services to consumers for the purpose of making a profit. When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created Apple Computer in Jobs’s family garage, they started a business. The product was the Apple I, and the company’s founders hoped to sell their computers to customers for more than it cost to make and market them. If they were successful (which they were), they’d make a profit.

Before we go on, let’s make a couple of important distinctions concerning the terms in our definitions. First, whereas Apple produces and sells goods (iPhone, iPod, Mac), many businesses provide services. Your bank is a service company, as is your Internet provider. Airlines, law firms, movie theaters, and hospitals are also service companies. Many companies provide both goods and services. For example, your local car dealership sells goods (cars) and also provides services (automobile repairs).

Second, some organizations are not set up to make profits. Many are established to provide social or educational services. Such not-for-profit (or nonprofit) organizations include the United Way of America, Habitat for Humanity, the Boys and Girls Clubs, the Sierra Club, the American Red Cross, and many colleges and universities. Most of these organizations, however, function in much the same way as a business. They establish goals and work to meet them in an effective, efficient manner. Thus, most of the business principles introduced in this text also apply to nonprofits.
Business Participants and Activities

Let’s begin our discussion of business by identifying the main participants of business and the functions that most businesses perform. Then we’ll finish this section by discussing the external factors that influence a business’s activities.

Participants

Every business must have one or more owners whose primary role is to invest money in the business. When a business is being started, it’s generally the owners who polish the business idea and bring together the resources (money and people) needed to turn the idea into a business. The owners also hire employees to work for the company and help it reach its goals. Owners and employees depend on a third group of participants—customers. Ultimately, the goal of any business is to satisfy the needs of its customers.

Functional Areas of Business

The activities needed to operate a business can be divided into a number of functional areas: management, operations, marketing, accounting, and finance. Let’s briefly explore each of these areas.

Management

Managers are responsible for the work performance of other people. Management involves planning for, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling a company’s resources so that it can achieve its goals. Managers plan by setting goals and developing strategies for achieving them. They organize activities and resources to ensure that company goals are met. They staff the organization with qualified employees and direct them to accomplish organizational goals. Finally, managers design controls for assessing the success of plans and decisions and take corrective action when needed.

Operations
 
All companies must convert resources (labor, materials, money, information, and so forth) into goods or services. Some companies, such as Apple, convert resources into tangible products—iPhones, iPods, Macs. Others, such as hospitals, convert resources into intangible products—health care. The person who designs and oversees the transformation of resources into goods or services is called an operations manager. This individual is also responsible for ensuring that products are of high quality.

Marketing

Marketing consists of everything that a company does to identify customers’ needs and design products to meet those needs. Marketers develop the benefits and features of products, including price and quality. They also decide on the best method of delivering products and the best means of promoting them to attract and keep customers. They manage relationships with customers and make them aware of the organization’s desire and ability to satisfy their needs.

Accounting
 
Managers need accurate, relevant, timely financial information, and accountants provide it. Accountants measure, summarize, and communicate financial and managerial information and advise other managers on financial matters. There are two fields of accounting. Financial accountants prepare financial statements to help users, both inside and outside the organization, assess the financial strength of the company. Managerial accountants prepare information, such as reports on the cost of materials used in the production process, for internal use only.

Finance
 
Finance involves planning for, obtaining, and managing a company’s funds. Finance managers address such questions as the following: How much money does the company need? How and where will it get the necessary money? How and when will it pay the money back? What should it do with its funds? What investments should be made in plant and equipment? How much should be spent on research and development? How should excess funds be invested? Good financial management is particularly important when a company is first formed, because new business owners usually need to borrow money to get started.
 

External Forces That Influence Business Activities 

Apple and other businesses don’t operate in a vacuum: they’re influenced by a number of external factors. These include the economy, government, consumer trends, and public pressure to act as good corporate citizens. sums up the relationship among the participants in a business, its functional areas, and the external forces that influence its activities. One industry that’s clearly affected by all these factors is the fast food industry. A strong economy means people have more money to eat out at places where food standards are monitored by a government agency, the Food and Drug Administration. Preferences for certain types of foods are influenced by consumer trends (eating fried foods might be okay one year and out the next). Finally, a number of decisions made by the industry result from its desire to be a good corporate citizen. For example, several fast-food chains have responded to environmental concerns by eliminating Styrofoam containers. As you move through this text, you’ll learn more about these external influences on business. (The next section of this chapter will introduce in detail one of these external factors—the economy.)

Staying Healthy: Keeping Stress Away

With the world getting more innovative and fast-paced, the objectives have also improved. Consequently, the competitors to be on the top of the game is pushing individuals to hotel to traumatic residing. In the competitors to be on the optimum, wellness is being ignored by most of the group.

Healthy residing and stress control go side in side. The best exercise for you to handle your stress is never to forget that – In the best or toughest activities of way of life, you might not be able to get the designed objective of your way of life if your wellness is not up to the preferred requirements.

Secondly, healthy diet plan might seem like more of a nutritional need, but your overall wellness relies on what you eat and how you eat it. Too much of one particular nutritional material can have adverse effect on the wellness. You might think you are doing excellent to your system by consuming less, but the key is to eat excellent and matching it with appropriate exercise for your best wellness.

Moreover, your wellness and fulfillment will be certainly renewed if you try to do excellent for the individuals around you. Providing back to the group in your own potential reinstates the objective of your way of life. The fulfillment obtained from such work helps you to have better viewpoint of way of life.

As stated earlier, merely consuming less is not suggested, but you must have some movements for the benefit of your wellness. A frequent stroll, exercise, exercises, or any action that might take the stress off you is your best-bet. Not only will that keep your stress threshold down, but also regenerates the effective way of life and wellness for you.

Those who think that they are not healthy and healthy due to obese, they should get in contact with some excellent an expert in nutrition and never try to plan their own diet plan by consuming less. Health professionals always suggest the best mix appropriate for your system. They would not suggest you to go without food but suggest right amount of sensible meals. For keeping wellness, excellent meals along with right amount and moment is vital.

Laughing and remaining satisfied might sound a saying, but it works well for everyone. Pleasure can neither be purchased, nor be marketed – so, make that for yourself in little or big things.

Life is to live! And to stay healthy and healthy.

5 Health Tips For Women

There are unique that you need to consider as you create a wellness routine. People, especially females, create up their thoughts to shed weight, get in form and sustain an overall healthier position, but they give up as soon they start off. Before I tell you the guidelines, let me tell you that if you want to obtain caused by your effort, you have to be constant in the first place. Get prepared, create a strategy to sustain your wellness and be constant. My 5 guidelines are:

1. Diet is the first thing that needs

your concern as you make a plan to have cook. Remember the saying Trash in is rubbish out and keep in check whatever you eat. A good healthy diet plan is essential for all especially for ladies because they are the future moms. You might love unhealthy and unhealthy food but if this is what you are providing your body on, you are eventually going to feel sluggish, tired and have boring skin tone and depressive disorders. Substitute what you eat plan with healthy and healthy eatables. Simple diet plan changes i.e. dairy, clean fruits, clean various meats, clean vegetables, materials and cereal products should be the first thing in your to-do list.

2. Take water and plenty of it.

All females who want clean skin and healthy and balanced body need to take 8 – 10 associated with water in a day and there is no second viewpoint on this. Menstruation females must take metal products to make up for their per month loss of blood vessels. Post-menopausal females should consist of calcium mineral in their diet to fight brittle bones and discomfort.

3. Women who smoke must consider giving it up.

Smoking negatively affects your monthly cycles and can pose problems for you if you are trying to conceive. If you are pregnant or feeding, smoking is a big no-no!

4. Add light exercise such as brisk walking

Moping or house cleaning in your routine. Take stairs instead of elevators when you go to malls, play with your kids and keep yourself on the go all the time. This will help you get in shape as well as ward off laziness.

5. Make sure you visit the gynecologist regularly.

If not this, learn to read the signs of your body to take actions in time. Keep a track record of your menstrual cycles. Consistently missing periods warrant a gynae-visit. Other female problems such as cervical and breast cancer, warts and other STDs can be effectively nipped if caught in the beginning.

101 Small Business Marketing Activities

One universal small business goal is to sell the business's products and services. This is usually best accomplished by positioning the business in front of the target audience, and offering something they can't refuse or find elsewhere.
To this end, one of the smartest things a small business owner can do for their business is take the time to develop a small business marketing plan that will set them apart from the competition. A marketing plan clearly outlines how you will reach your ideal customers by effectively implementing your marketing strategy.
There are thousands of ways you can promote your small business. With the right mix of activities, you can identify and focus on the most effective marketing tactics for your small business. Here is a list of 101 small business marketing ideas to get you thinking about all of the different ways you can promote your business.

Do you have an idea of your own not listed here? Add it to the list.

Marketing Planning

1. Update or create a marketing plan for your business.
2. Revisit or start your market research.
3. Conduct a focus group.
4. Write a unique selling proposition (USP).
5. Refine your target audience and niche.
6. Expand your product and service offerings.

Marketing Materials

7. Update your business cards.
8. Make your business card stand out from the rest.
9. Create or update your brochure.
10. Create a digital version of your brochure for your website.
11. Explore a website redesign.
12. Get creative with promotional products and give them away at the next networking event you attend.

In-Person Networking

13. Write an elevator pitch.
14. Register for a conference.
15. Introduce yourself to other local business owners.
16. Plan a local business workshop.
17. Join your local chamber of commerce.
18. Rent a booth at a trade show.

Direct Mail

19. Launch a multi-piece direct mail campaign.
20. Create multiple approaches, and split test your mailings to measure impact.
21. Include a clear and enticing call to action on every direct mail piece.
22. Use tear cards, inserts, props and attention-getting envelopes to make an impact with your mailings.
23. Send past customers free samples and other incentives to regain their business.

Advertising

24. Advertise on the radio.
25. Advertise in the Yellow Pages.
26. Advertise on a billboard.
27. Use stickers or magnets to advertise on your car.
28. Take out an ad in your local newspaper.
29. Advertise on a local cable TV station.
30. Advertise on Facebook.
31. Advertise on LinkedIn.
32. Buy ad space on a relevant website.
33. Use a sidewalk sign to promote your specials.

Social Media Marketing

34. Get started with social media for business.
35. Create a Facebook page.
36. Get a vanity URL or username for your Facebook page.
37. Create a Twitter account.
38. Reply or retweet someone else on Twitter.
39. Setup a Foursquare account for your business.
40. List your business on Google Places.
41. Start a business blog.
42. Write blog posts on a regular basis.
43. Start social bookmarking your online content.
44. Create a Groupon.

Internet Marketing

45. Start a Google Adwords pay-per-click campaign.
46. Start a Microsoft adCenter pay-per-click campaign.
47. Comment on a blog post.
48. Record a video blog post.
49. Upload a video to YouTube.
50. Check your online directory listings and get listed in desirable directories.
51. Set up Google Analytics on your website and blog.
52. Review and measure your Google Analytics statistics.
53. Register a new domain name for a marketing campaign or a new product or service.
54. Learn more about local search marketing.
55. Track your online reputation.
56. Sign up for the Help a Reporter Out (HARO) email list.

Email Marketing

57. Create an email opt-in on your website or blog.
58. Offer a free download or free gift to make people willing to add their email address to your list.
59. Send regular emails to your list.
60. Start a free monthly email newsletter.
61. Use A/B testing to measure the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
62. Perfect your email signature.
63. Add audio, video and social sharing functionality to your emails.

Contests, Coupons and Incentives

64. Start a contest.
65. Create a coupon.
66. Create a "frequent buyer" rewards program.
67. Start a client appreciation program.
68. Create a customer of the month program.
69. Give away a free sample.
70. Start an affiliate program.

Relationship Building

71. Send out a customer satisfaction survey.
72. Ask for referrals.
73. Make a referral.
74. Help promote or volunteer your time for a charity event.
75. Sponsor a local sports team.
76. Cross-promote your products and services with other local businesses.
77. Join a professional organization.
78. Plan your next holiday promotion.
79. Plan holiday gifts for your best customers.
80. Send birthday cards to your clients.
81. Approach a colleague about a collaboration.
82. Donate branded prizes for local fundraisers.
83. Become a mentor.

Marketing with Content

84. Plan a free teleconference or webinar.
85. Record a podcast.
86. Write a press release.
87. Submit your press release to various distribution channels.
88. Rewrite your sales copy with a storytelling spin.
89. Start writing a book.

Marketing Help

90. Hire a marketing consultant.
91. Hire a public relations professional.
92. Hire a professional copywriter.
93. Hire a search engine marketing firm.
94. Hire an intern to help with daily marketing tasks.
95. Hire a sales coach or salesperson.

Unique Marketing Ideas

96. Get a branded tattoo.
97. Create a business mascot to help promote your brand.
98. Take a controversial stance on a hot industry topic.
99. Pay for wearable advertising.
100. Get a full-body branded paint job done on your company vehicle.
101. Sign up for online business training to revamp, expand and fine tune all of your marketable skills.

Mobile Money with Facebook Mobile Advertising

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, owned and operated by Facebook, Inc. As of May 2012, Facebook has over 900 million active users, more than half of them using Facebook on a mobile device.

Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics, and categorize their friends into lists such as “People From Work” or “Close Friends”.

The name of the service stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by some university administrations in the United States to help students get to know each other. Facebook allows any users who declare themselves to be at least 13 years old to become registered users of the site.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The website’s membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University.

It gradually added support for students at various other universities before opening to high school students, and eventually to anyone aged 13 and over. However, according to a May 2011 Consumer Reports survey, there are 7.5 million children under 13 with accounts and 5 million under 10, violating the site’s terms of service.

Mobile-targeted ads and marketing tactics are becoming both necessary and profitable in a wide range of industries, but in particular, web-based companies are reaping a great deal of mobile traffic and resulting ad revenue. The following infographic offers a specific example of one web-based company that’s bringing in big bucks with their mobile advertising strategy: Facebook.

As Facebook prepared for its recent IPO, many people expressed concern with whether or not Facebook’s mobile platform would be a profitable addition to the company. But in true Facebook style, their mobile traffic and resulting revenue has skyrocketed rapidly, bringing in a huge contribution to the company’s already impressive revenue. As the world of mobile browsing and consuming continues to expand, savvy businesses will know to capitalize on just how profitable little apps and ads can be.

Facebook for Android is Like The IPhone App

Facebook released an updated app for Android devices Wednesday, with the changes making it much more like the social network’s iPhone app.

In a post on the official Facebook blog, the social network said photos and albums now load twice as fast as they did in the previous Android app, and sharing photos, viewing comments, and editing captions is easier.

Messages and notifications are now easier to access, as they appear on the top of the screen, allowing users to read them and respond without leaving the page they’re on. And much like the iPhone app, the new Android offering boasts a side menu that provides access to users news feeds, groups, games, and apps.

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. As of July 2011, Facebook has more than 800 million active users.

Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile.

Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics, and categorize their friends into lists such as “People From Work” or “Close Friends”.

The name of the service stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by some university administrations in the United States to help students get to know each other. Facebook allows any users who declare themselves to be at least 13 years old to become registered users of the site.

Readers: Will the release of the new version of Facebook for Android affect your choice of devices?