It looks curious to the faculty and students of international business to ask them to study geographical environment. But the author while teaching this paper often found the students lacking in geographical literacy.
To be geographically illiterate means to deny oneself not only the ability to comprehend local and world threats but also the opportunity to create wealth for the company one is working with. To us following are the reasons that why the students, entrepreneurs and the managers of international business must study geographical environment:
1. The riason d’etre of geography is the explanation of differences and of International Business is to management the diversity. Unless one knows of differences and diversity, it is impossible to manage them to the advantage of all concerned.
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2. We are where we are, doing what we are doing, because of location choices. Thus, IB can observe where what is done and what can’t be done. This enables an international manager to locate different opportunities of business at different locations.
3. What people do and how people do differently in different locations is the result of interaction with physical environment – the terrain features, the weather conditions, etc. It is this relationship with the space that has to be very clear to the students of international business. When we talk of different regions doing differently, the subject matter is called regional geography.
4. Geography is helping people make better decisions in many disciplines. Geographic data can be gathered and organised to support the generation of information products that are integrated in the business strategy of any organisation.
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A geographic information system is not an end in itself. It is used to create useful information products that help organisations run better. It has saved hundreds of millions of dollars through increased productivity and efficiencies. And that’s just the beginning.
The corporate management’s decisions with regard to location of plants or warehouses in relation to transportation routes and markets are spatially rooted, a subject matter of geography.
5. In international business, it is essential to know of physical settings (physical geography), that is natural environment side of human – environment structure. Different are the features of different regions, the climates would be different, with soils or vegetation associations, and the like.
No study would be complete without knowing of the people: what they are, what they are like, how they interact over space, and what kind of landscapes of human use they erect on natural landscapes they occupy.
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6. Where we are, can be known through the coordinates – latitude and longitude. Similarly the time can be studied through green witch time. The location and time are of great importance for the students of international business.
7. While location is the first aspect of spatial concept, direction is the second concept. It can be expressed in both absolute and relative terms. Absolute direction is based on the cardinal points of north, south, east, and west.
The relational directions like ‘our western’ neighbours, or ‘middle east’ or down south or ‘western countries’ are culturally biased and locationally variable, depending upon wherefrom we want to know.
8. Firms continuously face changes in their business environment. Their reactions to these changes can have far reaching consequences for the geographical organisation of their activities. Geography is interested to know the influence of different regional conditions on the strategy of the firm and the impact of the firm’s strategy on the region.
9. Geographic studies relate the political, economic, cultural, and environmental aspects of a new global order to countries around the work and regions within countries, the foundations on which international business is based upon.
10. International business is also interdisciplinary. While history tells about ‘when’; economics to politics tell about ‘how’; and geography tells us ‘where’. All the three questions are equally important to international business.
11. Geography matters in every business and every discipline. Wherever you turn, geography helps people do a better job and make a difference. GIS is helping thousands of organisations around the world.