Handbook

The forces of globalisation have increased the permeability of traditional boundaries around countries, economies and industries. These forces include the expansion of international trade and investment, the growth of multinational corporations (MNCs), and significant improvements in communication and transportation technologies. These technological and transportation advances have facilitated the appearance of a whole new set of international entrepreneurs who, taking advantage of the reduced distance across markets, have been extremely successful in spawning a new breed of born global ventures and initiatives. Being able to identify and capitalise on the opportunities arising from this new world order is something that cannot be learned without being exposed more intensely to the new global business environment.

However, these forces shrinking the 'distance' between countries have not emerged without controversy, and thus they have failed to transform our world into a fully integrated 'global village'. Tensions across ethnic, religious and linguistic divides, as well as other home-grown regulatory efforts protecting local interests, have counterbalanced these centripetal forces, creating a more complex, uncertain and competitive business environment than ever before. The resulting 'semi-globalised' world represents an environment in which socioeconomic and political boundaries have a central and enduring role in shaping the activities of MNCs and international entrepreneurs. This new reality also calls for a reassessment of what it means to be a manager within MNCs. Managers are now pressed to not only provide benefits from commonalities across markets, but to also embrace differences among them. It is this need to be aware and to fully comprehend these differences that requires a new type of MNC leader or entrepreneur: what is called a cosmopolitan leader.

This course offers one possible path towards the personal developmental processes AGSM students need to embrace in becoming cosmopolitan leaders. The course combines different in-class activities with experiential learning based on first-hand encounters with businesses environments that are culturally, physically and institutionally distant from the typical experiences of managers and entrepreneurs working in Australia. While the chosen locations (i.e. countries) may vary each time this course is delivered, the activities executed locally and in the countries visited remain aligned with the course aims described in the ensuing section.