Business

1. Two students are discussing the various reasons why they are not studying international business. “International business doesn’t affect me,” declares the first student. “I’m going to stay here, not work in some foreign country.” “Yeah, me neither,” agrees the second. “Besides, some cultures are real strange. The sooner other countries start doing business our way, the better.” What counterarguments can you present to these students’ perceptions?

First of all, students should present a counter-argument to the statement that international business does not affect them if they do not work in another country. Today, international business reaches deep into nearly every domestic economy. It affects the food we eat and drink, the movies we watch, the cars we drive, the computers we use, the clothing we wear, and so on. Chapter 1 explained how every national business environment is affected by events occurring in other nations.

Students should also recognize the emphasis on the words “foreign” and “strange.” This betrays an ethnocentric bias in which anyone or anything from other countries is considered “foreign” and different ways of thinking or acting is considered “strange.” Success in international business today requires people to cast aside this outdated way of thinking about other cultures.

2. In this exercise, two groups of four students each will debate the benefits and drawbacks of individualist versus collectivist cultures. After the first student from each side has spoken, the second student questions the opponent’s arguments, looking for holes and inconsistencies. A third student attempts to reply to these counterarguments. Then a fourth student summarizes each side’s arguments. Finally, the class votes on which team presented the more compelling case.

First, students should question who developed these terms. If a northern European nation conducted the study, its use as a reference point could bias the results. Also, the culture of Greece is...