Welcome to Unit 4: Global Business Environment! In this unit, we will describe the characteristics, opportunities, and challenges of the global business environment and how organizations must be sensitive to cultural differences as they expand operations across country borders. We will examine why the US does considerable business with other countries, and identify the advantages and disadvantages of going global and outsourcing/offshoring. We will discuss how global trade is measured and learn how to identify and describe forces that affect global trade.

We’ll also examine the challenges that arise from global expansion, and how organizations and marketers need to be sensitive to cultural differences across country borders.

We’ll learn about some marketing mistakes that have been made when organizations have failed to understand norms in new countries they expand to, and share examples of marketing campaigns that as a result did more harm than good.

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Explain the concept of globalization and its impact on global business
• Differentiate between comparative and absolute advantage
• Explain the roles of absolute and comparative advantage in global business

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In order to successfully complete this unit, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Read these Open Educational Resources (free to access): 

• Module 3: Global Environment¹
• Section 14.1: Offshoring, Outsourcing²
• Section 14.2: Staffing Internationally²
  Please note: you do not need to complete the activities listed in these resources.

2. Watch this Crash Course in Globalization on YouTube (embedded below)³

3. Watch this video⁴ (also embedded below) about how cultural differences across country lines may affect an organization’s decision to expand globally.

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Sources:

¹CC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL Why It Matters: Global Environment. Authored by: Linda Williams and Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution

²“Human Resource Management” by eLearning Support Initiative, University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

³Explainer on YouTube (Globalization easily explained explainity® explainer video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXN_jl2abEE

⁴Knovva Academy on YouTube: https://youtu.be/78haKZhEqcg