The document discusses the rising interest among students in pursuing international business education to become global citizens, highlighting the importance of adaptability and understanding of global economic dynamics. It argues that master’s programs, particularly in international business, can equip students with essential competencies for the rapidly changing global marketplace. The author emphasizes the need for application-oriented education that respects ethical standards and promotes sustainable development.

1. WHAT COULD BE THE RELEVANT PROGRAM
STUDY AT THE MASTER'S LEVEL TODAY IN THE
COUNTRY TO BECOME A GLOBAL CITIZEN.
Ramesh Kumar Nanjundaiya,
Strategic Consultant

2. DISCUSSION WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS IN
BENGALURU, KARNATAKA, INDIA.
 There has been a renewed interest to learn International Business and Marketing
by graduates.This was the finding when I recently talked to about 60 students
from diverse backgrounds.They wanted to know as to why this is gaining in
popularity, is it because the technology has brought the various continents closer
and what are the competencies required to get an international exposure and
what type of courses should be studied. I informed them that International
business development has been evolving in the normal processes of trade,
migration, foreign direct investment, capital flows, and the advancement of
technology in developing countries, only the pace has increased now.

3. GLOBALISATION AND ENVIRONMENT
 Today what is happening is the globalization of economies and cultures and thus
diverse countries are integrating through networks of exchange, international
business development and global strategic management. Global firms that
employ business development professionals in multiple locations share exactly
the same type of knowledge, practices, ethics and standards which benefit from a
shared body of knowledge and ethics.

4. WAY OUT
 By and large, business professionals often find ways of adapting to the cultures
and societies within which they operate and conduct business.With huge growth
opportunities created by the emerging middle class of nations such as India,
Brazil, Russia and China, many companies in the developed world are stepping in
to provide goods and services to those countries' consumers, and business
development professionals provide the necessary legal, financial, and cultural
bridges between supplier and consumer.

5. THE CURRENT STATE
 To look deep as to why there is renewed interest, one needs to analyse and assess
the scenario by looking at the current global economic situation.Take any media
of communication today or any report from an international organisation, country
and regional reports, television interviews, heads of states speeches, they all
speak about one common agenda.The "Current state of the global economy" and
how it is affecting their respective countries and regions and the steps that need
to be taken.Today terms like internationalization and globalisation are going
hand in hand in all spears of economic activities and development, be it
international trade, education, health, information technology and
communication and connectivity, etc.

6. APPLICATION ORIENTED EDUCATION
 So for the student’s community especially the students desirous of equipping
themselves with a masters' level degree, what could be relevant is a big question
to ponder. Is an MBA degree the answer to all aspiration and a passport to
success, the answer is no. As the world is evolving at a rapid pace, so should
students keen to build a career relevant to the present times lot at other options.
Is the higher education system in the country application oriented.

7. ETHICALLY PROFESSIONAL
 It is well known that all masters level degree programs in India by various
universities do offer something unique to the student community to excel and
make a career to contribute to the society. How adaptable is the education to the
real world is the question.The need of the hour is to provide necessary
competency to the student’s community to development themselves as ethically
professional students with a respect to the environment to make it sustainable.

8. HELECOPTER VIEW
 What is that program which could catapult a student to reach higher heights in
their career at the global level today.To understand this macro level concept, one
needs to analyse the shaping up of the current global economy and the future
that is going to span out for different countries and continents.

9. MEDIA
 Types of competencies that is required of a student to succeed in the highly
competitive global career market place. One needs to develop a helicopter view
to see and appreciate the dynamics of the world and the work place or career. In a
nutshell, for students interested in Commerce, Management, Information
Technology, Health Sciences, Finance, H.R and Marketing what program could be
a good course to pursue. On a daily basis, we are all too familiar with the media,
newspapers, televisions, statements by heads of the state, international
organisation as the World Bank, IMF, UNESCO, etc.

10. GLOBAL ECONOMY
 They all speak the same language almost daily, that is, which way is the global
economy headed and what are the repercussion to particular regions and
countries, be it BREXIT, presidential elections, fall in global oil price, global
financial markets melt down or the ongoing regional conflicts, migration patterns,
inflation and poverty. Under such a scenario, what is the type of education that
could be followed so that the youth can contribute to the society ethically and
professionally and at the same time build their career.

11. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND
ENVIRONMENT
 One should therefore perhaps look at "International Business and Environment"
as a possible sector of study with high promise of latent growth potential in the
current global economic scene of rapidly changing priorities. A Master's program
in International Business would focus on strategic planning for international
operations and would provide an in-depth understanding of the organizational
capabilities required for international operations, including specialized functions
such as international marketing, finance and human resource management as
well as topics such as imports and exports and intercultural communication.

12. OVERSEAS EXPERIENCE
 Having lived and worked in various countries spanning 3 decades in Europe and
the Middle East region, I have had the chance to appreciate how each country
tries to maximise its contribution for the economic growth of its country for the
benefit of its citizens with whatever exigencies and shortfall that crop up from
time to time. As an example, the Middle East region (GCC countries) have been
prospering well since the last 30 years due to the best use of petro dollars - from
camel to Cadillac is a reality and not a myth in this region. But today with oil price
crashing, the whole Middle East economy will see a paradigm shift on its focus on
economic development.

13. DIASPORA FROM INDIA
 Thus today any graduate that has strong career aspirations needs to look globally
and work towards becoming a global citizen. Who is a global citizen?
 Typically a global citizen is one who is aware of the wider world and has a sense of
their own role as a world citizen (by 2035, it is estimated that the number of
people from India working abroad will be three times the present level. According
to a survey conducted by UN department of economic and social affairs, India has
the largest diaspora (overseas Asian Indians) population in the world of 16 million
living outside India). One needs to respect the values and diversity and have an
understanding of how the world works and participates in the community at a
range of levels, from the local to the global and willing to act to make the world a
more equitable and sustainable place.

14. COMPETENCIES
 According to the UN, to be effective Global Citizens, young people need to be
flexible, creative and proactive.
 They need to be able to solve problems, make decisions, think critically,
communicate ideas effectively and work well within teams and groups.These
skills and attributes are increasingly recognised as being essential to succeed in
the rapidly changing global economy situation.

15. NURIEL ROUBINI
 What is the current state of the global economy. According to the well-known
economist and an authority on the subject Nuriel Roubini, there is turmoil in all
regions of the globe with the near collapse of the stock markets and currency and
the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East region. While growth in manufacturing
sector is slowing globally the services sector is picking up.With regard to regions,
the US is slowing down, especially manufacturing and there is too much
dependence on China. And the fall of oil prices is a negative aspect, at least in the
short run, because the US is a major producer of oil and energy.The fall in oil
prices is negative for the markets because the market has a certain weight coming
from oil and energy companies. Asian countries like China, India and Emerging
markets are looking up as consumerism in growing.The Middle East is in state of
flux with oil prices down and conflicts.

16. MIDDLE EAST REGION
 The proxy wars between Saudi Arabia and Iran are getting worse. And even in
Europe, there's terrorism and the migration crisis, the risk of Grexit, the risk of
Brexit, austerity fatigue in the periphery, bailout fatigue in the core.There are
plenty of issues that can go wrong in Europe.The Chinese will have to do a round
of fiscal stimulus.The Fed will have to signal more clearly if they're going to wait
longer before they hike rates again. And the European Central Bank and the Bank
of Japan will have to ease more. Education for global citizenship deals with issues
of global interdependence, diversity of identities and cultures, sustainable
development, peace & conflict and inequities of power, resources & respect.

17. GLOBAL PROCESSES
 Given the above scenario, I find the most affordable, recognised and a suitable
course for aspiring global students is to undertaken the 2 year (4 semester)
M.Com course in International Business program.This could equip the students
with a comprehensive curriculum which is relevant to the present times wherein
it should build foundations to appreciate the global trade and environment
scenario with appropriate exposure to risk management, governance, knowledge
of an additional foreign language and communication abilities, appreciation of
different cultures and business strategy management. Such a study program will
enable potential students to build their skills and competencies to resolve real
time issues across industries, countries and regions. One should strive to look at
the international business process as a lean and mean machine and standardise
global processes and drive efficiencies and give respect to the environment for
sustainable development.

18. PROGRAM
 The course program would ideally cover such topics on Global resources, foreign
language learning, communication skills, study of global legal environment,
India's foreign trade policy, multicultural management, exposure to working of
international trade organisations, management information systems, study on
international trade and environment, a study on international financial
institutions and markets, research methodologies and global business economics.

19. INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
 Graduates who complete such a program should be able to develop the
knowledge and expertise to understand management issues in an international
context and apply global business practices and analytical tools to one's own
organisational environment and to develop an in-depth knowledge of different
economic and trading environments. Such a program should provide a
combination of international management skills along with an understanding of
the cultural and economic dynamics of different countries.
 Graduates can therefore apply an international perspective to the management of
commercial enterprises to operate effectively in senior management positions in
an international business environment.

20. ROLE OF LECTURERS
 Let us not forget that the lecturers who teach such a program do not approach
the subject for global citizenship with the feeling that they must have all the
answers.This is not possible anyway in such a fast changing world.The role of the
lecturer is to enable graduate students to find out about their world for
themselves and to support them as they learn to assess evidence, negotiate and
work with others, solve problems and make informed decisions.Thus becoming a
global citizen is the way forward where knowledge can be applicable to the
present challenging times across the globe.
 Ramesh Kumar Nanjundaiya
 (views are personal).

21. THEWRITER -SPEAKER
 Mr. Nanjundaiya Ramesh Kumar holds two Master’s degrees in Industrial
Economics from Brussels University, Brussels, Belgium and in Business
Administration from Boston University, Boston, US. He is well versed in French
language. He has spent almost 3 decades overseas. He is a career International
Banker with over 30 years of solid work experience gained in well-known
International Banks in such countries as Greece, Belgium, Egypt, Dubai, Muscat,
Riyadh and India.
 A widely travelled person across various continents and with a deep interest in
academics, financial management, international trade and strategic consulting.
His forte is franchise promotion. He is currently the Advisor – Overseas Centre for
Foreign Students (OCFS) at the Karnataka State Higher Education Council –
KSHEC (Department of Higher Education), Bangalore. He is also an Adjunct
Professor teaching International Marketing at local institutions in Bengaluru.

22. GIVING A LECTURE