Question

Impact of global environment on international bussiness

Answer 1

Complexity of Global Business

Nancy owns a medium-sized toy manufacturing company. Her business has been very successful, but she believes she has tapped out of her domestic market. She wants to take her products to the global market. However, she knows that conducting business globally is complicated and requires careful planning.

Each foreign market that Nancy attempts to infiltrate will have different political systems, economic systems and cultures. Let's take a closer look.

Different Political Systems

Markets still operate within the confines of national territories. Therefore, Nancy must understand the political system of each country in which she wants to conduct business. Some political systems are safer places for business.

For example, democracies tend to follow the rule of law, which is a legal principle that states no one, including the government, is above the law. On the other hand, authoritarian regimes often do whatever they want. While Nancy may be able to do business in a country with an authoritarian regime in power, she will not necessarily have the protection of the rule of law.

Nancy may also be confronted by trade barriers set up by countries to protect their domestic businesses from competition. Nancy may have to contend with tariffs, which are taxes imposed on imports. For example, tariffs are designed to make domestically produced toys more competitive with the toys Nancy imports.

She may also face import quotas, which will restrict the number of imports that can enter the market during a specific time. Due to these quotas, Nancy may be limited to the number of toys she can sell in a foreign market.

Nancy may also be helped through different levels of economic integration between countries. For example, if her country and another have entered into a trade treaty, she may not be subject to tariffs or other trade barriers. In fact, if her country is a member of a free-trade area or economic union, there will be even fewer restrictions on trade with member countries. An example of a free trade area is NAFTA, and an example of an economic union is the European Union.

The world can be a dangerous place, and sometimes events have serious effects on business. Two of the most problematic are war and terrorism. Threats of terrorism can clog up distribution systems, such as airports and shipping ports.

It's even possible that businesses and their employees may become targets of terror. War may close off entire markets either because of hostilities or because of embargoes where a business' government prevents it from engaging in trade with a country. Company facilities and employees may become 'collateral' damage in war.