International Expertise in American Business: How to Learn to Play with the Kids on the Street

A major concern of organizations and individuals who are involved in international educational exchange is the relationship between education with an international dimension—studying in or about foreign countries—and subsequent career opportunities in international business. 

To better understand the opinions of American managers on this subject. Professor Stephen Kobrin of New York University has undertaken this study, which explores the kinds of international expertise managers need to perform their jobs, how they acquired it, and how important they perceive international expertise to be. The report suggests that neither the managers nor the universities which hope to supply appropriately trained graduates to international corporations fully appreciate the realities of international business.

The Institute of International Education is pleased to publish this study as a component of its research program, and more particularly as one of several efforts to examine the impact of international educational experiences on business careers. In two previous studies—an assessment of the ITT International Fellowship Program and an exploration of the retrospective judgments of Brazilian students about their U.S. educational experiences—there has been some attention to this issue; the present study makes the issue its focal concern.