Business: International Trade
Modern corporations are globalizing. Almost no major Fortune 500 firm obtains its revenues
exclusively from American sources. Expansion into Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia
and Africa are essential, both from the point of view of maximizing global sales and from the
point of view of minimizing production costs by using the efficiencies associated with overseas
labor. A student who only understands Texas and is not familiar with the subtleties of doing
business in faraway countries is at a strategic disadvantage in advancing his or her career.
Students should also consider obtaining the
Certificate in Global Sociology.
International Social Trends
The American investor or executive who wishes to be successful overseas needs to know the changes
that will affect the society in which he or she wishes to do business. A seemingly attractive foreign
investment can become worthless if the host country has a revolution. The American manager has to
be able to assess the risk of ethnic conflict, civil wars, strike waves, economic declines, hostile
government regulation or even routine demographic or cultural changes that could undermine the value
of ones holdings. Informed business decisions often require the ability to predict long term trends
in the United States as well, because American and foreign developments are often intricately
interconnected.
Courses that teach about long term global trends include
SOCI 206: Global Social Trends
SOCI 312: Population and Society
SOCI 313: Military, War, and Society
SOCI 314: Social Problems
SOCI 324: Social Change
SOCI 326: Sociology of Religion
SOCI 328: Environmental Sociology
SOCI 330: Sociology of Nutrition
SOCI 413: Social Movements
SOCI 423: Globalization and Social Change
International Business and Area Studies
A student training for a career in int'l business should be well informed in both business
practices overseas and the overall environment of the host nation. Courses include:
SOCI 325: International Business Behavior
SOCI 329: Pacific Rim Business Behavior
SOCI 322: Industrial Sociology
SOCI 340: Post-Soviet Societies
SOCI 350: Sociology of Islamic Societies
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