In this age of rampant globalization, the world today, in many ways, is interconnected politically, socially and economically. Seen from this perspective, in order for future managers to understand the internationalization that businesses have undergone in the past few decades, taking up International Business as a subject is of prime importance. Earlier, importance was given to domestic markets, whereas now the boundaries separating international and national businesses have been consciously blurred. Experienced expatriates ask for a weighty premium in compensation and therefore a lot of students doing their MBA/ PGDM are attracted towards pursuing a career of becoming a globetrotting sought-after manager.
Despite the fact that you are working for a large MNC and do not have any aspiration to travel abroad, you still need to understand the importance of cross-cultural communication to connect with partners who are working overseas. This is because, future managers may find themselves working with foreign buyers, suppliers or vendors or may work in businesses which are affected by foreign competition selling products and services in the home market.
Seen from this perspective, International Business has an interdisciplinary approach as it draws on subject knowledge from economics, social sciences (such as geography, history, political science), and also management related fields such as marketing, finance, human resources, operations and logistics. Most students will find International Business extremely fun and interesting but may also find that there is an overwhelming amount of information that is being thrown their way while studying the subject.
Quintessentially, International Business subject knowledge can enable a student to look at business from a holistic perspective and, therefore, not get restricted by functional silos, (marketing, Finance, HR etc.), which often are sought after for specialization. This can also be a specialization of choice for students who come from a family business background as they would eventually be able to strive to take their domestic business overseas. International Business knowledge can broaden their horizons and enable them to take successful domestic business to international frontiers.
One of the key questions that International Business specialization answers is what determines the success and failure of a firm doing business globally. So, if you are looking to understand the nuances of global economy and how it can be a potential battlefield for your domestic business, then International Business is an area you should focus on specializing in.
Some of the key profiles which can be suitable for students aspiring to enter the market using International Business in their repertoire of skills are given below:
International Marketing Manager
International marketing managers, also known as global marketing managers, usually work for large corporations to trade products or services to clients in other countries. Here, the capability to converse in a second language may be required, and strong interpersonal and leadership skills are also critical for this profile. Flexibility is also crucial to travel repeatedly and for long periods of time. They generally plan and schedule their trips in advance and may need to acquire business visas, schedule meetings with diverse people in foreign countries, and coordinate promotional events.
Business Analyst
International business analyst jobs are normally accessible with firms which have local as well as global commercial interests. This profession involves data study activities to facilitate business growth.
The manifold responsibilities of an international business analyst encompasses carrying out financial analysis, creating domestic and global budgets documents, aiding proposal strategy, developing business plans to facilitate project management, giving precise and timely information as needed, supervising international and local project plans, widening of strategic initiatives, warranting effective utilization of resources, and implementing all internal and external forms as per set of international laws. Moreover, an international business analyst can also act as leader for assigned projects and may train and mentor junior staff.
Global Human Resource Consultant
This role requires serving as the role of “advisor”, and being a central face of contact for assignees at every stage of assignment. The person in this job profile will also remain the chief point-of-contact for stakeholders in global, regional as well as local HR Business Partners, Compensation & Benefits team members and line management to make sure the company’s high quality standards and timelines are achieved.
Pro-active communication is critical to this job to vouchsafe understanding and dedication of all stakeholders involved in international transfers/migration. This involves discussing with HR Business Partners/business line management & supporting them in decision making on assignments set up by discussing mobility policy related questions, offering costs projections, studying details of tax & social security implications & finally creating proposals to guarantee best and consistent practice is applied globally. Advising, counselling and assisting expatriates throughout the assignment lifecycle, applying analytical, problem solving & counselling competencies as well as sharing useful information & contacts are some of the additional job responsibilities of a Global Human Resource Consultant.
Trade Finance Executive
Trade Finance profile is a key area within a trading company. The capabilities to both raise liquidity from its financial partners and mitigate credit and performance exposure of trading counterparties are some key tasks for any successful company.
The Trade Finance team can have several key partners, including but not limited to, external Banking & Insurance partners, external counterparties, Traders, Operations, Deals Desk, Tax, Treasury, Credit, and Compliance. Some of the activities carried out by a trade finance executive can be enumerated as below:
- Issuing of Letters of Credit and Bank Guarantees relating to the Company’s purchases of commodities and ensuring that both cargoes and storage facilities are financed and insured in a timely manner.
- Heading analysis, monitoring, improvement and awareness of the Company’s financial risks.
- Creating suitable finance judgments, including overseeing cost efficiency, diversity of financing resource, and minimum use of the Company’s own cash.
- Offering guidance to Finance Officers and Traders in difficult or unfamiliar situations.
- Accepting responsibility for the upholding of the regional bank lines as well as working as the Company’s main liaison with the company’s banking partners.
So we see that, studying international business during MBA/PGDM opens up a plethora of great global career opportunities for management aspirants. But the catch here is that one should be doing his MBA/PGDM course from one of the top MBA/PGDM colleges in India that has a well-defined course curriculum woven around the subject of International Business. It is here that you may find the PGDM course undertaken at Asian Business School, Noida far superior than all its peers.
This is because, ABS aims at creating global leaders and hence it organizes fully sponsored International Study Tour to Oxford Business College, London, UK for all its PGDM students. This Oxford Study Program at ABS is basically designed to give students the opportunity to earn Executive Diploma in International Business while residing in Oxford, UK. In addition to classroom study, the Oxford Program includes participation in project work and on-site visits to historical and cultural venues in Oxford and London, U.K. The whole study tour is executed to make sure that the students get an exposure to the International Business World and acquire firsthand knowledge about the best global practices.
