• How to Define an International Company

  This exercise will serve as an introduction to the topic of international business. It will also be used to help the students to summarize what they have already learned about international companies.

  Assignment:

  Imagine that you could categorize companies as “domestic” or “international.” Prior to class, think about the differences that are likely to be found between domestic companies and international companies and make a list of the characteristics of an organization that would probably be different in the two groups; be as exhaustive as possible. In class, the instructor will ask you to discuss your list with others in the class. The objective of the exercise will be to decide which characteristics are most useful and develop criteria to be used in judging whether a company is international.

  For example, a student might consider the “ratio of foreign sales to domestic sales” an important distinguishing characteristic and decide that once a company reaches foreign sales of 20 percent of total sales it should be considered international.

  After the class has decided on a list of characteristics, the next step will be to develop a definition of an international company and to consider whether there are degrees of internationalism; that is, do you feel it is useful to distinguish between a multinational, an international and a global company.

• Nassau Community College

  BUS 114 – Introduction to International Business

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