USD Magazine, Spring 1996

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS As an increasing number of small and mid-sized U.S. companies work to develop worldwide appeal for their products, stu– dents are priming themselves for jobs in the international sector in the same way Quijano did. Professors at USD's School of Business Administration emphasize the need for workers who think on a global scale and understand business practices of other industrial nations. "Business activity has become global," says Dennis Briscoe, professor of inter– national human resource management. "Firms borrow money from foreign banks, hire employees born in foreign Gountries, buy parts from foreign suppliers, sell their products and services to foreign customers, and send their employees to work in foreign subsidiaries." In his classroom, Briscoe teaches students about the growing desire of companies to find "global managers" who understand multiple languages and are knowledgeable about several cultures. David Burt, professor of supply man– agement, has spent much of his career studying international purchasing prac– tices. He teaches his students about a system he calls the American Keiretsu. Burt asserts U.S. firms would be wise to adopt a practice similar to the Japanese "keiretsu," which loosely translated means "group." The strategy involves manufacturers, suppliers and financial institutions working as partners to develop and market new products. Burt calls the American Keiretsu a strategic weapon for global competitiveness, and he has reached beyond the campus to share his ideas with businesspeople and other scholars by publishing a text on the subject. Briscoe and Burt both insist that to remain successful in an increasingly complex and competitive market, American firms must take a long look at these strategies. THE GLOBAL EXECUTIVE Sitting in his office, surrounded by books on international business piled floor to ceiling, Briscoe explains that large American firms have sought inter– national customers for decades. U.S. multinational corporations - companies

rian Quijano '94 trekked to Japan 14 times in the last 12 months. His work as a buyer for Quantum Corporation, a Silicon Valley computer hard disk manu– facturer, requires monthly interaction with foreign suppliers from whom Quijano buys components for Quantum disk drives. Quijano's job is not unlike those of buyers all over the United States, who are compelled to look beyond this coun– try's shores for affordable, quality parts that will keep prices down. To compete with foreign companies that have estab– lished themselves in U.S. markets and lured loyal customers away from domes– tic manufacturers, American firms are realizing the need for global business plans. Domestic manufacturers of products from toothpaste to computer equipment to automobiles can no longer rely on this nation's consumers to sustain their busi– nesses. Foreign competitors continue to introduce new products in the United States, attracting customers with quality, low-priced goods. Foreign competition also is dividing consumer dollars among companies that sell similar products. To compete with the myriad of inter– national corporations selling goods and services in the United States, American companies are reaching out to foreign markets for parts, labor and new cus– tomers. Business in the 1990s is about expanding to the international market, about keeping the global customer in mind. Quantum is 16 years old, quite young compared with other well-known multinational corporations such as Coca– Cola and McDonald's, but is already the world's largest supplier of disk drives, Quijano says. Savvy companies like Quantum have discovered global-mind– edness begins at home with strategic planning and educated workers.

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