Describe how patents, trademarks, and copyrights help protect intellectual properties in today's global business environment. Give specific examples.

         It is important to understand that patents, trademarks, and copyrights, all of them come under the concept of intellectual property (IP). It means that when something new is created or invented by someone, he/she gets its patent, trademark and copyrights so that he/she can get all the financial as well as any other benefits form that creation or invention. In a global business environment, where competition has become intense, and where things are easily imitated by other companies or individuals, so it is vital for a person or company to get its patent, trademark and property rights for the creation so that his/her intellectual-property can be protected (Aggarwal, 2015)

2 Briefly describe any four elements of culture. Provide an example of each.

            It is important to understand that culture comes with so many elements, and four important elements are language, values, beliefs, and norms. Language is the primary element of a culture because it will define the communication patterns and many other elements. The other important element is the values. Values are vital to define some standards of a culture like what is considered good and what is considered bad. The other critical element is norms, which are crucial to define the rules and regulations for any given society. The last vital element is called beliefs. This element is necessary for any culture to determine what is believed by a society to continue with their daily lives (SOCIOLOGY GROUP, 2018)

3 Compare and contrast EU and NAFTA as regional integration blocs.

            In this global business arena, it is important for countries to have certain agreements, which helps them to communicate and make a trade with each other. The EU and NAFTA are two important regional economic blocs, which have helped countries in these particular regions in so many ways. NAFTA is a regional trade agreement, which is signed by three countries; the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The primary aim of this trade agreement is to help these countries to reduce the level of trade barriers for each other, like a reduction in tariffs, etc. On the other hand, there are 28 member countries of the EU, which are located in the European region. These countries have used the EU as an important integration bloc like they developed their own currency Euro (Lévy, 1994)

4 Differentiate between communism, capitalism, and socialism as economic ideologies affecting global businesses.

            It is important to understand that all three ideologies are important economic systems used in the world. In the capitalist economy, the major concept is the free-market economy. The purpose of moving forward with the free-market economy is to encourage wealth creation and innovation, where market forces fully enjoy the liberalization. On the other hand, socialism is a system, which is based on the idea of state ownership of services as well as businesses. The state comes with central planning. As far as communism is concerned, it is the opposite of capitalism, so in this system, property ownership and profits are not private ownership; rather they come up with the concept of public ownership. All of these systems are important to define the overall global business environment (Kowalczyk, 2015)

5 Differentiate between the cultural dimensions of doing business in Latin America and Arab countries.

            It is a fact that the cultural dimensions of Latin America are different from the cultural dimensions of the Arab world in so many ways. For instance, in Latin American culture, societies are more individualistic, where bonds with others are not that strong. On the other hand, the cultural values in the Arab world are very much driven from the religion of Islam, and this culture comes with a strong bond between family and friends. In Latin American culture, the people don’t like any uncertainty and ambiguity, where it can be found in the Arab culture. The values and beliefs system of both Latin American and Arab cultures are also quite different from each other

 6 Explain the three primary kinds of legal systems.

            It is important to know that various kinds of legal systems are found all over the world. The countries adopt a legal system, which is more suitable for their culture and society in different ways. In this modern world, the three primary legal systems are common law, commercial law, and civil law. In the common law system, legal precedents, past practices as well as traditions are followed. In the civil law system, all of the rules are written and defined. On the other hand, the primary purpose of commercial law is to deal with the cases related to businesses, so it is actually a trade law (University of South Carolina School of Law, 2019)

7 Defend the following statement: Trade and foreign investment are good for society.

            In this global world, where everything is connected on an international level, and different countries are getting their expertise in different contexts, whereas other countries are rich in natural resources. Let’s take an example to understand the importance of trade and investment in any society. In the Arab world, countries like Saudi Arabia are oil-rich countries, but if they don’t have any products, technology or innovation, then they need some investment or trade from the outside world so that they can also get those technologies and innovation. On the other hand, a country has everything, but lacks natural resources, and then they will need oil from other countries. So, both kinds of countries will benefit from international trade and investment.

8 The Democratic Republic of Congo, which is larger than the whole of Western Europe, is rich in a variety of mineral resources. Yet, press reports indicate the country is in dire straits. Although the DR Congo is part of a Central African Trade bloc, why do you think that the country’s economic development been stunted?

            It is quite shocking to see that a country having so much potential as well as natural resources is still such a poor country, where 10% of children are died before reaching the age of 5, whereas stunted growth is observed in 40% of children.  When the overall scenario of the country is examined closely, it shows that political instability, as well as violence, is two primary reasons for their bad situation. The violence has brought so much turmoil to the society, which has really affected them in so many ways. This violence and unrest in society has led to a major political crisis, which ultimately turns into an economic crisis (Sawyer, 2018)

9 The Doha Round of trade negotiations that began in 2001 stalled in 2007 when the G-4 nations—Brazil, India, the United States, and the European Union—could not agree on further trade and investment liberalization. The breakdown had less to do with India and Brazil’s protectionism than with the U.S. and EU’s political inability to respond to long-standing worldwide demands for the reduction of their agricultural subsidies. The United States and the European Union must reduce agricultural subsidies before they can expect the rest of the world to liberalize trade further. What is the reasoning for this? Make your case.

            It is vital for countries to understand their role if an international player, rather just focusing on their regional or local roles. In the global business world, where countries have to do trade with each other and liberalize their markets, it is important for all of them to cooperate with each other. So, in this case, if the United States and the EU want to continue with equal trade terms with Brazil and India, then they must reduce their agricultural subsidies so that the agriculture sector of all four major players can compete on equality. If governments with huge resources will continue to subsidies this sector, then countries with fewer resources and the economic landscape cannot compete with them.

10 You are about to close a major sale in a foreign market when, suddenly, the individual who will make the final decision lashes out with a diatribe against the culture of the United States. Music, art, religions, and individualism are specifically named.

Point Upholding one’s country and its culture should take precedence over the possibility of making a sale—even a large and important one. You should vigorously defend the United States, indicating that while there may be some aspects of the U.S. culture that deserve censure, on the whole, it has a rich culture, one that has developed because the freedom to make choices exists. You should also counterattack by pointing out that the host country’s culture has its faults.

Counterpoint Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, so you should not object to the potential customer’s criticism of U.S. culture. In fact, you should agree with what is being said and give some additional examples to support the criticisms. Why jeopardize a major sale over something as trivial as what a foreigner thinks about the United States? Which argument do you believe is the most valid? Why?

            If I look at both arguments, then I believe that I will go with the “counterpoint”. I think it is true that every culture can have different elements, which may be beneficial or damaging for them, but the opinion of one person making the sale is not going to change what the United States culture and society are. So, one can agree with a person, who is coming with unreasonable criticism, and then there is no point to argue with such person and jeopardize the business deal, as the business has not to do anything with personal opinions. The business must look for other relevant market elements to make any major decision.

References of global business environment

Aggarwal, A. (2015). Relevance of intellectual property for business. Retrieved October 27, 2019, from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/legal/relevance-of-intellectual-property-for-business/articleshow/49563911.cms?from=mdr

Kowalczyk, H. A. (2015). Capitalism, Socialism and Communism. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/capitalism-socialism-and-_b_8523486

Lévy, B. (1994). The European union and NAFTA: Two regional economic blocs in a complex globalized and interdependent international economy. Journal of European Integration , 17 (2-3).

Sawyer, I. (2018). Overview of the Political Crisis in DR Congo and the Human Rights, Security, and Humanitarian Consequences. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/09/overview-political-crisis-dr-congo-and-human-rights-security-and-humanitarian

SOCIOLOGY GROUP. (2018). What is Culture,Basic Elements of Culture and Features. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://www.sociologygroup.com/elements-of-culture-basic-elements-of-culture/

University of South Carolina School of Law. (2019). Guide to International and Foreign Law Research. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from