Ontario Grade 12 BBB4E International Business Essentials (Grade 12, Workplace Preparation)
Chapters: 4
1. Working in International Markets
1 Ethical Issues · 2 Working Conditions in International Markets · 3 Border Issues
- Ethics: How to Decide What Is Right – Ethics (moral philosophy) asks what we ought to do and why. Values such as honesty, kindness, fairness and respect guide choices. Three main theories help: consequences (utilitarianism, Bentham and Mill: most good for most people), duty (Kant: act on rules you could want everyone to follow; treat people as ends, never only as means) and virtue (Aristotle: build good character; virtue is the mean between extremes). Conscience is our inner sense of right and wrong. Freedom brings responsibility. Meta-ethics asks what "good" means and whether values are universal or relative. Applied ethics deals with the environment, animals, work, friendship and peace.
- Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium – The law of demand says buyers want less when the price rises; the law of supply says sellers offer more. The market price settles at equilibrium, where quantity demanded equals quantity supplied, and shifts in demand or supply move it. Some goods break the usual laws (Giffen, Veblen, panic buying). A price ceiling set below equilibrium causes shortages. Markets can also fail, for example with pollution or public goods like street lights, so the government steps in.
- International Business – International business is any business activity that crosses national borders: trade in goods and services, licensing, franchising, joint ventures and foreign direct investment (FDI). Firms go abroad to find new customers, cheaper inputs and growth, but face risks: exchange-rate changes, trade barriers (tariffs, quotas, embargoes), customs rules, political and economic risk, and cultural differences that may force them to adapt their products and communication. Trade agreements and organisations reduce barriers and make countries interdependent; technology and e-commerce let even small firms sell worldwide.
2. Canada in the Global Marketplace
1 The Importance of International Business · 2 Reasons for Involvement in International Business · 3 Changes in Canada's International Business Activity · 4 The Effects of International Business on Canada
- International Trade – International trade is buying and selling goods and services across the boundaries of countries. Selling abroad is export; buying from abroad is import. It helps nations (foreign exchange, growth, jobs) and firms (profit, new markets). Exports and imports follow fixed steps and need many documents, such as the letter of credit and bill of lading. The WTO (1995) makes trade rules and works to cut trade barriers.
- International Trade: Basis, Balance, WTO and Ports – International trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries. It began with barter, grew along routes like the Silk Route, passed through the cruel slave trade and colonial trade, and expanded with industry. Countries trade because they differ in resources, population, development, foreign investment and transport. Balance of trade compares exports and imports. Trade can be bilateral or multilateral; free trade lowers barriers, while dumping sells goods abroad below cost. The WTO sets global rules, regional blocs group neighbours, and ports of many types act as gateways.
- International Business – International business is any business activity that crosses national borders: trade in goods and services, licensing, franchising, joint ventures and foreign direct investment (FDI). Firms go abroad to find new customers, cheaper inputs and growth, but face risks: exchange-rate changes, trade barriers (tariffs, quotas, embargoes), customs rules, political and economic risk, and cultural differences that may force them to adapt their products and communication. Trade agreements and organisations reduce barriers and make countries interdependent; technology and e-commerce let even small firms sell worldwide.
3. International Markets
1 Business Opportunities · 2 Operational Challenges · 3 Import and Export Considerations
- Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium – The law of demand says buyers want less when the price rises; the law of supply says sellers offer more. The market price settles at equilibrium, where quantity demanded equals quantity supplied, and shifts in demand or supply move it. Some goods break the usual laws (Giffen, Veblen, panic buying). A price ceiling set below equilibrium causes shortages. Markets can also fail, for example with pollution or public goods like street lights, so the government steps in.
- International Business – International business is any business activity that crosses national borders: trade in goods and services, licensing, franchising, joint ventures and foreign direct investment (FDI). Firms go abroad to find new customers, cheaper inputs and growth, but face risks: exchange-rate changes, trade barriers (tariffs, quotas, embargoes), customs rules, political and economic risk, and cultural differences that may force them to adapt their products and communication. Trade agreements and organisations reduce barriers and make countries interdependent; technology and e-commerce let even small firms sell worldwide.
- International Trade – International trade is buying and selling goods and services across the boundaries of countries. Selling abroad is export; buying from abroad is import. It helps nations (foreign exchange, growth, jobs) and firms (profit, new markets). Exports and imports follow fixed steps and need many documents, such as the letter of credit and bill of lading. The WTO (1995) makes trade rules and works to cut trade barriers.
- International Trade: Basis, Balance, WTO and Ports – International trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries. It began with barter, grew along routes like the Silk Route, passed through the cruel slave trade and colonial trade, and expanded with industry. Countries trade because they differ in resources, population, development, foreign investment and transport. Balance of trade compares exports and imports. Trade can be bilateral or multilateral; free trade lowers barriers, while dumping sells goods abroad below cost. The WTO sets global rules, regional blocs group neighbours, and ports of many types act as gateways.
4. Conducting International Business
1 Ethical Issues · 2 Culture and Customs · 3 International Marketing · 4 Effects of Technology
- Ethics: How to Decide What Is Right – Ethics (moral philosophy) asks what we ought to do and why. Values such as honesty, kindness, fairness and respect guide choices. Three main theories help: consequences (utilitarianism, Bentham and Mill: most good for most people), duty (Kant: act on rules you could want everyone to follow; treat people as ends, never only as means) and virtue (Aristotle: build good character; virtue is the mean between extremes). Conscience is our inner sense of right and wrong. Freedom brings responsibility. Meta-ethics asks what "good" means and whether values are universal or relative. Applied ethics deals with the environment, animals, work, friendship and peace.
- Anthropology and Culture – Anthropology is the study of human beings as a whole: our bodies, our past, our languages and our ways of life. Culture is the shared, learned way of life of a group: what people make, do, say and believe. Culture is learned, shared, symbolic, connected and always changing. Anthropologists study it by living with people (participant observation) and try to understand each culture on its own terms (cultural relativism) instead of judging it by their own (ethnocentrism).
- Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium – The law of demand says buyers want less when the price rises; the law of supply says sellers offer more. The market price settles at equilibrium, where quantity demanded equals quantity supplied, and shifts in demand or supply move it. Some goods break the usual laws (Giffen, Veblen, panic buying). A price ceiling set below equilibrium causes shortages. Markets can also fail, for example with pollution or public goods like street lights, so the government steps in.
- International Business – International business is any business activity that crosses national borders: trade in goods and services, licensing, franchising, joint ventures and foreign direct investment (FDI). Firms go abroad to find new customers, cheaper inputs and growth, but face risks: exchange-rate changes, trade barriers (tariffs, quotas, embargoes), customs rules, political and economic risk, and cultural differences that may force them to adapt their products and communication. Trade agreements and organisations reduce barriers and make countries interdependent; technology and e-commerce let even small firms sell worldwide.