What You’ll Study

A degree in International Business will teach you how to look at the big picture of problems, so as to integrate the values and strengths of different organizations from very different backgrounds into a productive whole. You may even opt for a study abroad section of the degree in order to get a hands-on grasp of what it’s like to conduct business across international and cultural boundaries. With the added bonus of standard business school case studies, you’ll also see how great minds have solved business problems in the past.

The Lay of the Land

One major aspect of International Business you might want to be aware of when considering a degree is that you might have to do a lot of traveling for your job, and relocation can be stressful. If you’re hoping to raise a family, understand that the transitions can be tough — if your home base one year is a company’s headquarters in a rural part of the country with low costs for housing, and then suddenly you’re transferred to an extremely cosmopolitain and expensive city in Mexico, the psychological and cultural changes will be jarring to both you and your children — not to mention that they may suddenly find that their new schooling system is radically different to the one they’ve just left.

Managing from Many Perspectives

With International Business the rewards can often be high, however. Many major American companies either have branches in foreign nations or work closely with companies who do. What your task will often be to do is to travel to these branches and lead teams of salesmen or IT workers, often in a foreign language. If you’re a passionate learner of languages, or have always had a natural facility for picking up foreign conversation, this may be the job for you.

Bringing People Together

You may also work to establish trade for companies or governments through international partnerships — with the cultural divides often meaning that you’ll have to juggle the etiquette of different cultures to reach consensus on an idea. If you’ve ever been praised for your ability to solve problems by working with others to reach a conclusion, you may find that International Business ignites a passion for study and work. Be sure to have an open mind to how others see the world, and how different perspectives can often fit together like puzzle pieces, even when at first they seem utterly different.

International Business as Its Own Field

The routes to a career in International Business may also be different than your typical ladder to the top: Some schools focus on International Business as a specialty — with schools like the Thunderbird School of Global Management coming in top for such studies.

So if you’ve got a talent for seeing the big picture — that is, where things at a macro level are similar and harmonious — a career in International Business might be for you. Who knows, with a bit of luck you may find that in this dynamic field you go from strength to strength.