Transition and Opportunity Strategies from Business Leaders on Making the Most of China’s Future by Huiyao Wang · Lu Miao

The Big Picture

The Significance of International
Business
Martin Mueller
Abstract A free flow of business relationships and person-to-person interaction
has been the life blood of commerce for much of the last few decades, but this has
been suddenly interrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is especially important
in this context to take a step back and “look over the fence” to assess where relations
currently stand. In this assessment, the importance of the cultural environment cannot
be overlooked.
Keywords Free flow of business · Person-to-person interaction · Covid-19
pandemic · “Look over the fence” · Cultural environment
1 The Fundamental Importance of International Business
Relations
Every entrepreneur knows the importance of occasionally taking a bird’s eye view
of one’s own business activities. In Switzerland we call this taking “a look over the
fence”. We are now well into 2021. More than a year has passed since COVID-19

interrupted the free flow of people-to-people business relationships and this has
happened in an entirely unexpected, unprepared, and unprecedented way. This tiny
virus has initiated a tug of war: fear versus faith, apathy versus hope, greed versus
fairness, selfishness versus generosity, and ignorance versus awareness. This may
sound dramatic, but it accurately reflects the times we are currently living in—a
time that feels extreme and critical on many levels. Let’s step back for a moment,
widen our view, and examine why the free flow of international business between
individuals, enterprises, and organizations is and always will be of vital importance
to the human race.
The prevalence of international business has increased significantly during the
last part of the twentieth century, thanks to the liberalization of trade and investment
and the development of technology. Of course, there are many other international
exchanges in place such as diplomatic, cultural, scientific, tourism, and international

Transition and Opportunity Strategies from Business Leaders on Making the Most of China’s Future by Huiyao Wang · Lu Miao