Module One Brief Module one covered a variety of topics that explored the environment of international business.

Globalization was defined as the shrinking of the world which allows countries to become interlinked and enables corporations to cross national boundaries. Additionally, globalization also encompasses the movement of cultures across borders in the form of food, entertainment, language, etc. Globalization has resulted in a number of positive outcomes for corporations as well as consumers such as reduced costs, streamlined processes, and increased competition (which yields higher quality and cheaper products for consumers). Nevertheless, as expressed by Jeff Immelt, globalization often loses the vote in the United States because the gains of globalization are diffused and not absorbed by every American. Moreover, many Americans fear that globalization will lead to a loss of national sovereignty and national interests. It is important to note, that in spite of the popularization of the term globalization, the world is not as globalized as people tend to think. The Wal-Mart in Europe case highlighted the role of different institutions as well as culture in international business ventures. Wal-Mart faced several issues in Germany, including an underdeveloped supply chain infrastructure, stringent pricing regulations, labor market laws, and unappreciated strategies. Additionally, Wal-Mart had better performance results in the United Kingdom, a nation it began operations in the same time as Germany. As a result, it is imperative for any corporation seeking international expansion to understand the regulatory framework of that market as well as the institutional differences between its home nation and the target nation. Michael May discussed two central issues to deal with when globally managing people, one of the most important resources of a corporation: cultures and quality. Finally, the importance of national culture was stressed in the National Culture and Management case where culture was defined as a shared system of meaning, ideas, and thought. Culture tends to be implicit and varies from high context to low context. An understanding of national culture is central to international business because different regions have different conceptions of time, space, material goods, friendship, and agreement. Although an understanding of culture is essential, it should not be the sole factor in assessing international business deals, ventures, and alliances as there are a number of technical factors surrounding them as well.