The Differences Between International Business Patterns in the Past and in Present
...china were transported through the Chinese Silk Road to the west for a long period in the history; during the colonialism age, when international business was dominated by the European countries, spices grown in South-eastern Asia islands and cotton planted in India were transported by ships into Europe, as well as slave labor from Africa to Europe and America. These are only a few examples of world trade patterns in the past, when methods of delivering commodities are much more restricted. As for today, silk and china are no longer traded along the Silk Road, but are sold around the globe, and it is the same with other products. Since distance is now not a problem that restricts the activity of global trade, each country has a wider variety of goods imported from other countries within different distances. Furthermore, because of the faster speed of modern transportation, more types of commodities have entered the market of international business as well. The common trait of these goods is that there’s some difficulty in transporting them in traditional ways; they are either very delicate, such as glass, or are hard to preserve, such as fresh vegetables. All in all, the variety of goods is another major difference between the global trade in the past and in present, which was also caused by the development of transportation. A third difference between the international business patterns of the past and present is the extent of government interference. In ancient times, international trading was often viewed as a kind of diplomatic strategy. It was generally the government who guides the directions of business among countries, not the merchants. It was also the government who sponsor significant investments in oversea commerce activities. For example, during the era of colonialism, it would not be possible for merchants to explore a new colony for new business opportunities without the support of their governments. In comparison, the world trade model now tends to have more flexibility and individuality in terms of government interference. Governments of most countries do affect their international business with other countries in some degree with various trading policies. However, as the idea of capitalism and the belief in free competition in economics grew in the last couple of centuries, business between different nations is no longer dominated by their highest authorities, but by the businesspeople who are truly involved. Yes, there are still regulations set by governments, but they are quite different from the way kings or emperors directing the economics before. Since the management of an international business is no simple task, there must be a strong organization to take charge of it. If not the government, then who? The answer is international companies, which are well organized and of much larger scales than domestic companies. The development of international companies can be traced back to the time of the East India Company, which was responsible for the Southeastern Asian economic activities, and stood for the oversea powers of Europe during the 19th century, when world trade was described as ‘a synonym for European trade’ (Yates,1959:10). The emergence of in...