This course is about conducting business and competing internationally. 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 firms, the ability of information and communications technology to span time and distance, and the shift of the world’s economic centre of gravity from the West to Asia. Because of globalisation, the environment of business is now more complex, more dynamic, more uncertain, and more competitive than ever before.