Do you dream of traveling to exotic cities like Paris, Tokyo, or Cairo? In times past, the closest most American would ever get to working in such cities was in their dreams. However, the situation has changed. Today it is hard to find a major U.S. company that does not cite international expansion as a link to future growth. A recent study noted that 91 percent of the companies during business globally believe it is important to send employees on assignments in other countries.

Have you thought about the possibilities of a career in international business? Maybe a few facts will make such a career more interesting: The United States is a market of about 300 million people, but there are over 6 billion potential customers in the 193 countries that make up the global market.

Perhaps the number one global environment change in recent years has been the growth of international competition and the increase of free trade among nations. Japanese manufacturers like Honda, Mitsubishi, and Sony won much of the market for automobiles, TV sets, and other products by offering global consumers better-quality products from those of U.S. manufacturers. This competition hurt many U.S. industries, and many jobs were lost.

Today manufacturers in countries such as China, India, South Korea, and Mexico can produce high-quality goods at low prices because their workers are paid less money than U.S. workers and because they have learned quality concepts from Japanese, German, and U.S. producers. Late in the 1990s, however, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and other Asian countries had banking problems that caused a major upheaval in global markets. These problems affected all nations, showing the interdependence of countries around the world today.

U.S. manufacturers have been analyzing the best practices from throughout the world, and many have implemented the most advance quality methods. In fact, U.S. workers in many industries are now more productive than workers in Japan and other competitive countries.

Better technology, machinery, tools, education, and enable each worker to be more productive. U.S. companies such as Disney, FedEx, Intel and Microsoft, as well as many smaller companies, are as good or better than competing organizations anywhere in the world. But some businesses have gone beyond simply competing with organization in other countries by learning to cooperate with international firms. Cooperation among businesses has the potential to create rapidly growing world markets that can generate prosperity beyond most people's expectations. The challenge is tremendous, but so is the will to achieve.

Today American buys billions of dollars worth of goods from China and Japan. American Express credit card usage is on the rise in Germany, Saudi Arabia, and other markets. Major league baseball teams, the National Basketball Association, and the National Football League play games in Mexico, Italy, Japan, and elsewhere. Mel Gibson, Will Smith, and Bruce Willis continuously draw crowds to movie theaters around the globe as American movies take center stage in the global entertainment market.

These facts show that global trade is big business today and will grow even more important. Therefore, you must prepare yourself for the global challenge.