How has the study of global business affected you as a business employee or manager? Why?

The study of global business should affect employees or managers of businesses quite profoundly. Studying the interaction of companies and governments across international boundaries or even within blocs such as the European Union is essential for remaining competitive in an increasingly globalized framework. Knowledge and understanding of the vagaries of international trade agreements and uncertainties that accompany developments such as the pending exit by Great Britain from the European Union will help managers to better navigate the oft-times complicated networks that constitute international business arrangements today.
The phrase “global business” includes a vast array of activities involving potentially dozens of foreign countries. Each one of the countries provides a unique challenge with respect to the laws and regulations governing business, to say nothing of the multitude of challenges posed by the various cultures and social customs involved. Moreover, as recent developments in Spain and in Great Britain illustrate (the movement for independence by the region of Catalonia in Spain and the potential break from Great Britain of Scotland over the issues of nationalism and perceptions of E.U. membership), the study of global business is a life-long enterprise. Business owners or managers who fail to adequately follow trends and developments in countries to which they rely for markets and/or materials will almost certainly fail in the highly competitive environment in which most operate.
From the perspective of employees, the study of global business is important because of the stake these individuals have in the decisions of their managers and in the specifics of each foreign country in which their company does business. Employees may not take the time to follow international business trends themselves, but they should know that it is imperative that their own financial well-being is closely tied to the ability of others to understand what is going on beyond their borders. Employees of a particular company might benefit from overseas markets to which that company exports goods or services, or they may suffer from unfavorable comparisons of wage and benefit structures (i.e., they may lose their jobs to outsourcing). Either way, they are impacted by developments in global business—developments that can only be understood through the study of foreign markets, cultures, and political structures. Finally, employees are impacted by the trade agreements in which their governments become engaged and by the sanctions their government might impose upon certain foreign governments for any number of reasons.