If memory does not fail me one of the first accounts we have had about travellers is that of Marco Polo. He and his father were merchants, looking to bring new products to the West. They were based in Venice.
Looking for alternative routes for travel, they encounter the people of the Emperor of China, and then are invited to visit him. From then on, their lives change, they become ambassadors of the West, and are able to appreciate new cultures, and write about them.
Marco Polo would write about his adventures many years later when he returns to Venice.
Businesses, if we know about them, they can become a passport for new worlds.
The world has changed, now people talk about New York, Shanghai, London, Tokio as places where businesses develop. Old Venice is still with us, and still there are businesses developing. In a changing world, studying businesses involves looking at how countries are doing (i.e. economics); how organisations operate internationally (international business); how we need to manage resources efficiently (i.e. finance); and how to project concepts, images and ways of life through our products (i.e. marketing).
We also need to know ways of solving problems in organisations (management systems), and care for the most important resource of all: people (human resource management).
So, why study businesses? It is a way of getting an international passport, who knows, we might visit China someday!
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