This blog series is an initiative of the international business programs in the College of Business. The goal is to create an opportunity to share ideas and relevant information quickly and informally with academic and other interested communities. We are starting with blogs from the University of Nevada, Reno College of Business and the SGH Warsaw School of Economics but plan to include other international partner universities in the near future. In this blog series, we will feature business and economics topics broadly defined.
International Business Blog
Latest Blog Posts
January 9, 2024 | International Education and Internationalization of Universities in the U.S.
In the first blog of this international blog series we started back in 2020, I wrote about international education in the U.S., focusing on data from the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the National Association for Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA).
January 13, 2023 | Supporting Higher Education in Ukraine: A Conversation with Ukrainian University Deans
Since February of 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been widely publicized across independent, mainstream, and social media outlets, including widely followed Twitter posts from business and political leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky...
January 10, 2023 | A Call for Engagement with Ukrainian Faculty and Students
To bring you, the reader, into the conversations we’ve recently had with academics and representatives of Ukrainian higher education, we present a two-part blog series highlighting the key questions and answers covered during our recent meetings in Warsaw, Poland...
September 22, 2022 | Triple Helix Model of International Collaboration
Have you heard of the triple helix before? If you are a biologist, you will likely think of DNA and cell biology. The Triple Helix (or triple helix model) is also used to describe a model of collaboration between university, government and business. It is actually a model of innovation for communities and regions...
February 1, 2022 | Might collectivistic values help prevent the spread of disease?
One day, back in graduate school, I got sick. I could function, but it was a bad cold with mucus and croaky coughs. I stayed home for a day and then headed back to my shared office. When I entered, Kleenex in hand and sniffling, my officemates were visibly alarmed, diverting their gaze and shifting their chairs. I didn’t understand what was so wrong. Not even a “Hey Jim?” was said. I left sometime after but continued to ponder the underpinnings of my faux pas...
July 26, 2021 | Space Tourism, Space Entrepreneurs and the Business and Economics of Space
Recent developments related to Space are simply astonishing. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, went to space just a few days ago on July 20, 2021 on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. Another billionaire, Richard Branson, also did a similar trip just nine days before on July 11 on the Virgin Galactic space plane, VSS Unity. Recent interest in space tourism and space economy more broadly by so many is quite remarkable. Learn more about the business and economics of space tourism and entrepreneurship.
May 25, 2021 | The Great Digital Leap: A Success Story
One of the most visible outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic was the great digital leap that many firms made since 2019. Before the pandemic, firms talked about digitalization, but it needed a disruptive catalyst to push those firms to finally doing it. Since 2020 the Center for EMEA Business has conducted the ZHAW Managers Survey to gather data on Swiss firms during the COVID-19 crisis. In the latest wave in April 2021 we investigated the impact of digitalization on firm performance during the pandemic. We find that the impact of the crisis has been severe for many firms. For almost 30% of the participating firms their business situation has been worsening between the year 2019 and April 2021.
March 5, 2021 | Online Advertising as a World of Manipulation. The International Perspective of Management and Marketing Students
What is the “world of manipulation” like in marketing communication, particularly in advertising? An empirical study aimed to answer this question was undertaken by the Department of Marketing of the Cracow University of Economics. Our research was facilitated by a grant from the National Centre for Science in Poland, entitled Asymmetry in On-line Advertising vs Manipulation of an E-Consumer’s Behaviour [2018/29/B/HS4/00563, 2019-2021]. The basic part of the study, conducted on a representative sample of Polish inhabitants (N=1004) and a group of enterprises (N=103), covered the period 2019–2020. Currently, the results are being analyzed for the needs of a monograph approved for publication by Routledge.
February 9, 2021 | Education and Travel: A Historical Perspective
Wenn einer eine Reise tut, dann kann er ‘was erzählen (German phrase translated as “Traveling gives you something to talk about”)
Why do people travel? Why should you spend time and money to go to a foreign place where you might be uncomfortable and alone? There are at least as many reasons for traveling as there are travelers. For example, a student who is majoring in Italian is traveling to Italy because he wants to understand more about the language and culture that formed the language. A professor of ancient history plans an excursion to Athens Greece because she is studying some of the Greek architecture. Or, a manager of an American subsidiary company is visiting Tokyo to understand the culture of the Japanese parent firm.
January 29, 2021 | Research Labs in Business and Economics and NVGLOBE-L
University research labs are very common in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and related fields. Those labs serve an important purpose for faculty and students. Students learn critical thinking and problem-solving skills, with hands-on experience with real world issues that help them in their future careers in academia, government or the private sector. Faculty benefit from having research assistance from students, receiving grants through those labs and furthering their research agenda. In the U.S., the federal government supports research programs in universities, whereas state governments provide more operational funding. According to an article by the Pew Charitable Trusts, total federal research funding to higher education was $26.5 billion, which was the second largest spending category after the federal Pell grants and 2.6 times greater than the state government funding for research, agriculture and medical education. National Science Foundation (NSF) provides grant funding to business and economics fields particularly through its Directorates for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) and Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), which includes Information and Intelligence Systems. In addition to NSF, other government agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, and a lot of private foundations also support research in business and economics fields.
Research Labs in Business and Economics and NVGLOBE-L Blog Post
November 20, 2020 | New Business Start-ups in 2020 – the Example of Switzerland and the United States
As we are entering the second (and possibly third) wave of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide we realize that many of its social and economic effects are unexpected and will need to be studied in years to come. Of course, the public health impacts are scary and serious and the continuous efforts by first responders and the healthcare community in general cannot be overstated. In addition to that, we know that many individuals are struggling economically because their businesses had to shut down or seriously restrict their activities. In order to illustrate that the proverbial silver lining also exists in this crisis, this business blog focuses on one of the (possibly) happier outcomes of the pandemic: new business activities and start-ups.
New Business Start-ups in 2020 – the Example of Switzerland and the United States Blog Post
October 22, 2020 | Will COVID-19 pandemic kill off internationalization of universities?
The global COVID-19 pandemic and its implications are by far the greatest challenge impending over mankind today. Its insidious impact on almost all aspects of our lives has forced us all of a sudden to redesign our lifestyle, work, and interpersonal relations. Higher education sector, including the international academic cooperation has been hit hardly as well. Coronavirus has completely disrupted the way in which universities have been traditionally operating. For the first time in years, universities had to cope with such a multidimensional and indeterminate threat.
Will COVID-19 pandemic kill off internationalization of universities? Blog Post
September 29, 2020 | COVID-19, Debt and Doing Business in Developing Economies
Developing regions of the world have been mired in serious debt problems in the last few decades. The COVID-19 pandemic that started about six months ago has definitely made things a lot worse. According to an article published in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Finance & Development magazine, there have been four major “debt waves” since 1970. The fourth wave that started in 2010 has led to record debt levels. The article notes that the average increase in debt has been greater and more extensive than what we have seen in previous waves. There is no doubt COVID-19 pandemic is adding significantly to this growing debt problem in the developing world.
COVID-19, Debt and Doing Business in Developing Economies Blog Post
August 28, 2020 | How Covid-19 pandemic affected higher education students’ lives globally and in the United States
In a period of just few months, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus has radically transformed the lives of masses of people around the globe, including students. Indeed, as of April 1, 2020, the number of learners required to stay at home due to the closure of their educational institution at all grade levels reached a peak of 1.598 billion from 194 countries (UNESCO, 2020). Apart from the devastating health consequences for those directly affected by the virus, the COVID-19 pandemic holds major implications for the way higher education students live and work, affecting their physical and mental well-being in profound ways.
How Covid-19 pandemic affected higher education students Blog Post
August 5, 2020 | The COVID-19 pandemic and digitalization of export promotion services – are changes here to stay?
Business leaders, academics and policymakers alike have emphasized over time the challenges of internationalization, and the need for public support in providing better access to foreign markets. Launching in a new market has been a challenge for a number of reasons, from the sheer cost and physical distance, through psychic distance to lack of knowledge and networks in destination markets.
The COVID-19 pandemic and digitalization of export promotion services Blog Post
July 21, 2020 | Tax Systems across the World: A Comparison
For many individuals, not just in America but around the world, taxation is one of those topics one reluctantly considers once per year – when the individual tax return is due. This year the tax deadline in the United States was postponed because of COVID-19 from April 15 to July 15. Thus, it just passed a few days ago. Most people do not want to think about taxes and pretty much all dislike paying them. Many, however, would agree that the government needs the tax revenue in order to function. Common complaints about taxes in the United States are that they are unfair, that there are too many loopholes –especially for the wealthy and/or for corporations, and that they are too complicated.
July 8, 2020 | Digital exclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The coronavirus pandemic highlighted what works correctly and what does not in the economy, politics and society. Many of us had to switch to home office overnight. Some organizations handled this shift better, others did worse. In general, what seemed impossible, proved to be possible – it turned out that it was possible to visit the doctor, the office, participate in classes, take exams, conduct business meetings or trainings online, etc. However, the analysis of unemployment in Poland looks interesting. In spite of the lockdown, unemployment did not increase rapidly, but it seemed rather to act with some delay. The question is: Why?
June 25, 2020 | Why International Partnerships Matter
Perhaps one of the most valuable outcomes of international collaborations is the knowledge gained from the exchange of ideas and viewpoints among faculty and students with varying backgrounds, language and cultures. While the world continues to deal with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and political and economic forces clash, business and trade continues on a local, regional and global scale. The open flow of communication between our counterparts, made possible by global partnerships, not only encourages innovative thinking, but also develops a better sense of understanding among individuals. Ultimately, the shared experience of one human interacting with another, each with a different set of problem-solving skills, is the foundation for learning and the diversification of knowledge and the reason we continue to celebrate how the College of Business maintains international partnerships amid COVID-19.
June 10, 2020 | Can Startups Win during COVID-19 Era? “New Economy Lab” Project Aims to Boost International Cooperation in Academic Entrepreneurship
The Covid-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the global economy. For many weeks now economies of almost all countries of the world have implemented restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the deadly virus. Restrictions which were implemented were mainly in the form of lockdowns, especially of non-essential businesses. Stay-at-home orders, together with strict social distancing and face coverings, were implemented almost everywhere on the planet. “Coronavirus – worst economic crisis since 1930s Great Depression…”- that is just one of many head stories on the business web. The COVID -19 pandemic has for sure influenced every field of social and economic life. Start-ups and their ecosystem have not been omitted by the pandemic.
May 29, 2020 | International Education in the U.S.: Recent Trends and Challenges
The COVID-19 pandemic has produced unprecedented challenges for higher education with substantial academic and financial impacts. The negative impact of COVID-19 was particularly strong for international educational exchange between academic institutions. While there is a lot of uncertainty about the future of international education, we should keep in mind the importance of international students, scholars and the study abroad programs for the U.S. and also for Nevada.
