International Business Management

Abstract

We are living in a world where the only certainty is the uncertainty in the human affairs. A few decades ago, it was common among the academicians to discuss a future where large multinational corporations would be in charge and the national governments would exist in name only without meaningful powers. There were predictions that the world would become a “global village” in which the people would face a new reality very much akin to living in a village. The villagers collectively would be aware of each other. Their lives would be subject to scrutiny by others and be impacted by them. Now, not only we have arrived at such a “village,” we are transforming this village beyond recognition, and a wrong move by any “government in name only” could doom us all. Even without such a catastrophe, our lifestyle and our industrial activities are so myopic and contrary to maintaining a healthy and sustainable life that continuing it would not be much different than a grave mistake by a national government that could have a disastrous consequence. We are locked in a zero-sum game in which the selfish attempt for the individual gain at the expense of our neighbors is becoming a norm and not an exception. Some are engaged in an international trade where they sacrifice long-term results and bargain for short-term benefits. Let’s hope that these issues are just aberrations. Globalization is well underway. There is no exaggeration if we claim that we have arrived at the “global village.” The arrival is not celebrated by the villagers, and there is not a welcome mat. Instead, the arrival is marked with a note of caution and a reminder. The caution note warns us that there are unanticipated outcomes to globalization such as heightened security concerns due to rising acts of violence and terror instigated by, among other things, the stark awareness of value differences. These value differences are brought forth by globalization forces that threaten the possibility of preserving separate ethnic identities and the prospects of assimilation of all by the forces of modernity. The isolation of cultures, nations, and markets of the previous period has been replaced by close interaction, intermingling, and integration among them, actually or virtually. International business and international management have significant roles in all this. To move cautiously in the uncharted waters of global business and to mitigate unanticipated consequences of globalization necessitate the study of international management.