U.S. Business Needs for Employees with International Expertise

Ben L. Kedia

Wang Center for International Business Education and Research

The University of Memphis 

Shirley Daniel

Center for International Business Education and Research

The University of Hawaii

Previous Research

International skills and education are important:

• Nehrt (1977): Every manager should have some formal education and training in international business.

• Hoffman and Gopinath (1994) conclude that CEOs perceive international issues as relevant to the success of their firms.

• Moxon, O’Shea, Brown, & Escher (1997). Global awareness and cultural sensitivity are important international skills.

• Webb, Mayer, Pioche and Allen (1999). Business students need international training.

Previous Research

International skills and education are not so important :

• Kobrin (1984). 72% of executives think international expertise is learned on the job.

• Ball and McCulloch (1993). 78% of executives believe that their employees learn the international aspects of their business on the job.

• Reynolds and Rice (1988). American managers care more about the technical skills of their employees than about their international skills.

• Bikson and Law (1994). Cognitive and social skills and personal traits) are more important to business success than international skills.

Main Research Questions

• Do US executives believe that international skills are important for the employees that they hire? If so, what types of international knowledge and skills are needed and at what level?

• Do companies provide training programs to their employees that develop international skills, and if so, who are the main providers of such programs?

• In what ways do executives think US business schools should improve with respect to their international business education programs?

Sample Firms - By Industry

Manufacturing Firm

Service Firm

Retail Firm

Financial Service Firm

Telecommunicationsand/or Internet Firm

Other

42.3%

25.2%

2.7%

6.3%

3.6%

19.8%

Sample Firms - By Company Size

Less than 500

501 to 5,000

5,001 to 20,000

More than 20,000

54.4%

22.5%

4.5%

13.5%

International Sales: Percent of Total Sales

27

40

26

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

less than 5% 5%-30% More than 30%

Percentage of Sales that comes from International Business

Num

ber

of R

espo

nden

ts

Percent of Employees Working in Positions Requiring International Knowledge or Expertise

46

36

17

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

less than 5% 5%-30% More than 30%

Percentage of Employees working in International Activities

Num

ber

of R

espo

nden

ts

Current Growth of International Activities Compared to Domestic Activities

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Less rapidly

About the same

More rapidly

Cu

rren

t G

row

th o

f In

tern

atio

nal

A

ctiv

itie

s

Percent of Respondents

39

27

34

Percent of Total Sales Revenue from International Business over Next 10 Years

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

A small % w ill bederived

internationallyly

About the same %w ill be derivedinternationally

A higher % w ill bederived

internationally

% o

f to

tal

Sa

les

th

at

wil

l b

e

De

riv

ed

in

tern

ati

on

all

y

Percent of Respondents

63

18

19

Supply of International Business Graduates

Is it Difficult to find U.S. Nationals with International Knowledge, Expertise, and/or Language Skills?

No69%

Yes31%

Future Needs for International Expertise

Will your company place a greater emphasis on international competence among management

and employees over the next ten years?No

22%

Yes78%

Would Overall Business Increase if More International Expertise were Available on Staff?

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Not at all

Some

A great deal

Percentage of Companies

13

65

22

Consequences of Not Having International Competence

The failure to fully exploit international business opportunities due to insufficient

internationally competent personnel in the past five years

no70%

yes30%

How Did the Insufficient International Competence Affect the Firm?

Ways in which Insufficient International Competence Affected Firms:

Percentage of Respondents

Missed marketing/ business opportunities 21%

Failed to recognize important shifts in host country policies toward foreign owned corporations

 4%

Suffered from a bias toward a US point of view 15%

Failed to anticipate the needs of int'l customers 13%

Not fully capitalized on expertise available or tech advances occurring abroad

11%

Effect of 9-11

Reconsidered of International awareness and competence among

staff and line due to terrorism

Yes

25%

No

75%

Effect of Homeland Security Measures

New federal secutiry measures affected your business

Yes

31%

No

69%

Current and Future Importance of Regions

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Europe

Asia

Latin America

Middle East

Africa

Reg

ion

s o

f th

e W

orl

d O

uts

ide

the

US

Importance (1 = Not Important; 3 = Of Great Importance)

Future

Current

Importance of International Expertise for Professional Staff and Line Management

Country socio/econ/political

know ledge

Appreciation for cross-cultural differences

A global perspective

Understanding of local markets/business

practices

International w ork experience

Foreign language skills

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Importance (1= Not Important; 3 = Of Great Importance)

Professional staff Line management

Importance of International Skills in Professional Staff Positions

Country socio-political knowledge

Appreciation for cross-cultural differences

A global perspective

Understanding of local markets/business practices

International work experience

Foreign language skills

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

Inte

rnat

ion

al S

kills

Importance (0 = Not Important; 1 = Important)

Management Level

Entry Level

Importance of International Skills in Line Positions

Country socio-political know ledge

Appreciation for cross-cultural differences

A global perspective

Understanding of local markets/business practices

International w ork experience

Foreign language skills

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Inte

rna

tio

na

l Sk

ills

Importance (0 = Not Important; 1 = Important)

Management Level

Entry Level

Importance to Improve International Business Education

1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Emphasis on exchangeprograms

Mandatory foreignlanguage

Emphasis on learningabout other world areas

Stronger internationalemphasis in curricula

Academic outreach tobusinesses

Creation of databankson int'l resources

Typ

es o

f Im

pro

vem

ent

Importance (1 = Not Important; 3 = Of Great Importance)

Questions?

Mahalo

(Thank you)