BUSADM 3000: Advanced International Business
Class Description
Advanced International Business takes a deeper look at companies from different types of cultures and backgrounds that face challenges from doing business internationally. With class twice a week, we had a case to read every class period and two big exams. Later in the semester, we were introduced to this simulation where we were graded on our participation in the class. The simulation was a group effort and caused us to think like a small business against other groups facing many international opportunities and challenges. Classes began as lectures so we could get all the knowledge needed from the professor to completely comprehend the cases. Then for the majority of the semester, classes were discussion-based and allowed us to apply the knowledge we were given at the beginning of the semester, and then after all the cases, we focused on the simulation. Having different formats for learning about international business definitely helped the course feel important week to week and stayed relevant to challenges in today’s world.
Class Reflection
This was definitely one of my favorite classes because of the multiple learning formats the professor had for us students. It was the first full semester online, so keeping us engaged was important for these zoom classes and the professor did just that. The cases were so much fun to discuss in class and truly had me thinking globally ever since because of how much we paid attention to detail in every case we read. We read about many companies in different industries facing different challenges and during our discussions, we had to define the obstacles and list ways to combat the problems to stay in business or to be more successful. These were real companies, so some of the cases were of small enough businesses that we didn’t know what happened to them, so we had to guess if the company was still up and running or when the company failed, and our professor would conclude each case with if the company is still going or if it failed. One case that truly stuck out to me was one about the flower industry, specifically roses from South America. It was more about how a product, popular or not, has a long process before it is put on the shelves. It makes me think about all of the toys we grew up with that had ‘Made in China’ written on the bottom of them, and how much time and work it took for the toy to end up in our hands as kids. Another industry that I truly enjoyed reading and discussing about was the fashion industry which is a major part of my minor of fashion and retail studies. We learned more about the popular fast fashion company based in Spain known as Zara. This was a company extremely relevant to many students and young adults because many of us have shopped there, so it was exciting to learn more about an industry that I truly love in a class that let me learn more about the international business of fashion. And then my second favorite part of the course was the simulation. We spent a few weeks meeting with our set teams on Tuesdays to figure out the best strategy and options for our made up company to beat out our competition, and on Thursdays, our professor would share a line graph plotting all the teams profits, revenue, market share, etc. that would update week to week and to see how each team did against one another. I may be biased about the simulation because my team won, but it really was an exercise for my brain and something my team and I could not slack off on. I thought the professor adding this simulation because of the virtual setting was the best idea since it was actually fun and we weren’t stuck reading cases for the entire semester even though they were also great. Everything I learned in this class was extremely beneficial and continues to make me think differently about products that surround me every day and companies that are based in multiple countries. This definitely set me up for my internship in Spain as I had to think about all of the little details that went into making the company a global brand.