International Business Management

 

Meaning

There are two ways of looking at the term ‘international business’. One is the ‘action’ and the other is the‘actor’. As an ‘action’, ‘international business’ refers to the types, process, scale, governance and other aspects of carrying out international business. As referring to actor, the term ‘international business’ refers to ‘the entity carrying out the international business.

The management of business operations for an organization that conducts business in more than one country. International management requires knowledge and skills above and beyond normal business expertise, such as familiarity with the business regulations of the nations in which the organization operates, understanding of local customs and laws, and the capability to conduct transactions that may involve multiple currencies.

International Business conducts business transactions all over the world. These transactions include the transfer of goods, services, technology, managerial knowledge, and capital to other countries. International business involves exports and imports.

International Business is also known, called or referred as a Global Business or an International Marketing.

Definition

“According to International Business Journal, ‘International business is a commercial enterprise that performs economical activity beyond the bounds of its location, has branches in two or more foreign countries and makes use of economic, cultural, political, legal and other differences between countries.”

Features of International Business

1.Large scale operations
In international business, all the operations are conducted on a very huge scale. Production and marketing activities are conducted on a large scale. It first sells its goods in the local market. Then the surplus goods are exported.

2. Integration of economies
International business integrates (combines) the economies of many countries. This is because it uses finance from one country, labour from another country, and infrastructure from another country. It designs the product in one country, produces its parts in many different countries and assembles the product in another country. It sells the product in many countries, i.e. in the international market.

3. Dominated by developed countries and MNCs
International business is dominated by developed countries and their multinational corporations (MNCs). At present, MNCs from USA, Europe and Japan dominate (fully control) foreign trade. This is because they have large financial and other resources. They also have the best technology and research and development (R & D). They have highly skilled employees and managers because they give very high salaries and other benefits. Therefore, they produce good quality goods and services at low prices. This helps them to capture and dominate the world market.

4. Benefits to participating countries
International business gives benefits to all participating countries. However, the developed (rich) countries get the maximum benefits. The developing (poor) countries also get benefits. They get foreign capital and technology. They get rapid industrial development. They get more employment opportunities. All this results in economic development of the developing countries. Therefore, developing countries open up their economies through liberal economic policies.

5. Keen competition
International business has to face keen (too much) competition in the world market. The competition is between unequal partners i.e. developed and developing countries. In this keen competition, developed countries and their MNCs are in a favourable position because they produce superior quality goods and services at very low prices. Developed countries also have many contacts in the world market. So, developing countries find it very difficult to face competition from developed countries.

6. Special role of science and technology
International business gives a lot of importance to science and technology. Science and Technology (S & T) help the business to have large-scale production. Developed countries use high technologies. Therefore, they dominate global business. International business helps them to transfer such top high-end technologies to the developing countries.

7. International restrictions
International business faces many restrictions on the inflow and outflow of capital, technology and goods. Many governments do not allow international businesses to enter their countries. They have many trade blocks, tariff barriers, foreign exchange restrictions, etc. All this is harmful to international business.

8. Sensitive nature
The international business is very sensitive in nature. Any changes in the economic policies, technology, political environment, etc. has a huge impact on it. Therefore, international business must conduct marketing research to find out and study these changes. They must adjust their business activities and adapt accordingly to survive changes.