Maintaining International Competitiveness Through Global Business Curriculum

Colleges have a responsibility to prepare students to think globally and learn how to manage in an international environment. The trend toward internationalism will not abate and as supply chain integration and international treaties increases the need for competitive managers in the U.S.. Our local economies will be part of the global marketplace and cannot escape it and therefore must master the skills needed to maintain competitive companies.

If American schools do not produce enough managers that can think on a global scale and understand complex business systems at play across multiple continents these positions are likely to go to foreigners. While this may be unavoidable, and even desirable in many cases, we should not be forced out of necessity willingly hand over our competitive edge.

Higher education has a responsibility to ensure that we produce globally aware graduates that understand modern business practices at micro and macro levels. Business colleges should consider integrating more international business concepts within their programs.

According to the AACSB's Financial Officer Dan LeClair today's business programs should have global elements such as (Henderson, 2014, pg. 3):

-International management
-Integration of international management across curriculum.
-High quality faculty with practical experience.
-International learning and multi-cultural opportunities.
-Cultural context of information. 

Weaving the concepts throughout the business higher education experience helps students make greater connections between their chosen business fields and its global application. Whether one is working in a small business using existing networks such as Amazon or UPS, or a multinational corporations with their own supply chains, it is beneficial for them to understand how these larger processes operate.

Henderson, N. (2014). Global business education. Foreign Policy, issue 206, pg. 3.

Articles may be distributed with attribution to authors Dr. Murad Abel