It’s an exciting and challenging time for those studying to work in business management. The global marketplace offers incredible opportunities and challenges that require a deep understanding of different cultures, business practices, supply chains, and market conditions.
Earning an online bachelor’s degree in management prepares graduates to meet those challenges. Students learn how to apply the latest best practices to modern business problems, which involve globalization’s advantages and disadvantages. Students graduate from business management degree programs ready to take on the complexity of guiding organizations in the modern business world.
Business Management in a Globalized Economy
People debate the pros and cons of globalization, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is here to stay. While challenging, an interconnected world economy also positively impacts both developed and developing nations regarding the ability to purchase needed goods and open new markets. However, staying abreast of globalization-related trends is critical for those who aspire to business management in the coming decades.
Emerging Market Trends
Despite the war in Europe, world trade in goods set new records in the aftermath of the global COVID-19 pandemic. For example, in the United States, personal consumption of physical goods rose 17% between 2019 and 2021, according to the Harvard Business Review. That’s the fastest growth since the recovery after World War II.
Buying goods online accounts for a larger share of what consumers spend. About 21% of all retail transactions will take place online in 2023, according to Forbes, which also projects total online sales worldwide to reach $8 trillion by 2026. Even online, economies around the globe are intertwined. Forbes reported that 57% of online consumers shop internationally, purchasing from businesses outside their country.
Managing Global Supply Chains
Global supply chain problems that surfaced during the pandemic–and among geopolitical rivals–have sparked changes in how businesses build supply chains. Two terms recently used more frequently are “friendshoring” and “allyshoring,” Both refer to a strategy in which countries (and companies within those countries) alter critical supply chains to ensure that source materials, labor, and services are done with a trusted domestic partner and ally. In some cases, the countries may have historical or cultural connections.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke about the strategy in a “fireside chat” with Canadian Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland. She said allyshoring is “the idea that countries that espouse a common set of values about international trade” should trade with each other, as well as offer supply chains that are not “reliant excessively on sourcing critical goods from countries, especially where we have geopolitical concerns.”
It’s a strategy that supply chain management professionals and business managers must become familiar with in the coming years as it gains traction among political and business leaders.
Fostering Cross-Cultural Understanding
Modern companies have moved steadily into creating corporate culture and policies incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), a crucial part of developing better cross-cultural understanding. DEI is an essential movement in a “melting pot” country like the United States, which continues to have far more foreign-born residents than any other country (50 million compared to Germany, in second place, with 15.8 million). But it’s also critical to companies that want to operate worldwide.
Cross-cultural understanding is also part of ESG, an environmental, social, and governance acronym. Investors increasingly use these three areas to determine whether to put capital into a company, and businesses have quickly built up their efforts in these areas. Another critical component in this regard is investing in women, who still make less than men holding the same job. In developing countries, women struggle to gain access to education, training, technology, and financing.
Risk Management and Strategic Planning
Risk management and strategic planning consistently rank among the biggest concerns for business managers, but the 21st century presents more complications in these areas.
In risk management, for example, business managers must consider the impact of climate change. As reported by Fast Company, lower water levels in the Mississippi River have log-jammed vessels, while more intense hurricanes and heat waves threaten economic activity worldwide. Depending on the nature of the business and where they have their supply chains, some companies face far more climate-related risks than others.
The strategy encompasses every phase of a business operation, but one area that deserves particular focus is technology. Innovations in digital tools have already disrupted everything from the media industry to travel and leisure. Business managers must understand how new digital tools can enhance their business and those that might threaten it.
NMU Global Campus Online BS in Management Degree Program
The NMU Global Campus Bachelor of Science in Management degree program equips graduates with the skills necessary to succeed in management positions. The program is entirely online, and the admissions process is straightforward. Students in the program also benefit from NMU’s focus on helping students achieve at the highest level possible.
The program allows working adults to earn their degrees and advance their careers on a schedule that best suits them. Additionally, students can transfer up to 90 credits into the program, allowing them to fast-track their degree completion.
The program curriculum delves into quantitative and qualitative management aspects, offering a well-rounded education. It comprises courses on law, finance, economics, and strategic management. The program also boasts experienced scholar-practitioners as faculty members who bring their practical expertise into the classroom and provide invaluable insights to students.
The curriculum covers various topics, including financial and managerial accounting fundamentals, business law, international business, strategic management, conflict management, and entrepreneurship.
Students in the NMU Global Campus program also have the opportunity to participate in industry-relevant internships that offer them real-world management experience. The BS in Management program focuses on traditional business skills and prepares graduates to thrive as managers in a challenging global marketplace.
