The Department of Geography offers graduate students pursuing a Master's degree in geography and the MBA degree in the School of Management the opportunity to specialize in international business and world trade.  Examples of major themes and areas of study that are emphasized in this area of concentration include:

· The processes of globalization and their impacts upon business enterprises, industry sectors,  and local and national territories;

· Transnational corporations, international competitiveness, and the international location of production and producer services;

 · The internationalization process of business establishments, export marketing strategies, and Internet-based information sourcing;

 · International management across borders and cultures;

 · The impacts of regional economic integration upon international patterns of trade, direct investment, and regional development;

 · International and regional industrial shifts and labor-market development;

 · Political economies and the geographical organization of production and investment in Asia, Western Europe, and North America;

 · Introduction to financial and management accounting;

 · Marketing, financial, and human-resource management;

 · Management information systems.

Purpose

This area of specialization has been offered jointly by Geography and Management since the early 1970s, and has been designed with the assistance and guidance of local practitioners from the business community and government. Careful attention has been paid to creating a training program that meets the specific job requirements of internationally oriented business firms, service providers, commercial banks, and government agencies, while also providing suitable preparation for more advanced doctoral study.

Employment Opportunities

Over the past decades, graduates of this area of specialization have found employment with private-sector manufacturers (exporting companies), export-related service providers (commercial banks, freight forwarders, transportation carriers, customs-house brokers, and export-management companies), and government agencies at the local, state, and federal levels. Others have gone on into doctoral programs and have taken positions at various educational institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere. Noteworthy is the fact that many of our graduates have been international students who have returned to their home lands to assume similar positions in business and government.

Core Courses

The International Trade Concentration program consists of 39 hours of graduate-level study.  The required courses in the program are:

Electives

Students select elective courses from the UB School of management (12 credit hours).

The language/culture elective courses (6 credit hours) have to be taken at the graduate level.  They must be approved by the administrators of the dual program.  A student may petition to waive three or six hours of the language-culture courses if previous course work has been completed.  No substitution of credit hours would be required.

Pre-requisites

The School of Management requires graduate students to have had Calculus I with a grade of "B" or "A," or two calculus courses with "C" grades, or a non-credit mathematics review course offered by the School.

Internship

One of the special features of this specialization is the opportunity to develop an internship with a local international business firm or government agency. This part of the program provides students with an opportunity to gain insights into the operations of international businesses and/or agencies within the local region, and to make valuable professional contacts.

Local Professional Organizations 

Buffalo and the Western New York region contain more than 250 manufacturers and business-service agencies that are engaged in international activities.  Providing services (e.g., training, seminars, special speakers) are the World Trade Center:  Buffalo Niagara organization, which is a member of the World Trade Centers Association; the Buffalo World Trade Association, which was established in 1921 and provides a social environment in which international business people convene to discuss business-related activities; and the Buffalo Export Assistance Center, which is affiliated with the U.S. Department of Commerce. /p>

Core Faculty in Geography

 Prof. Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen, geosbs@buffalo.edu

 Prof. Alan MacPherson, geoadm@buffalo.edu

 Prof. James McConnell, geojem@buffalo.edu

 Prof. Jessie Poon, jesspoon@buffalo.edu

Admission Requirements 

Students interest in the dual option must apply separately to, and be accepted by,  both the Department of Geography and the School of Management.  The admission requirements for Geography are:

 Bachelor's degree

· Good GRE scores (and TOEFL scores, if appropriate)

· Three letters of recommendation.

Note: The Geography Department will accept GMAT scores in lieu of GRE scores.

The admission requirements for Management may be obtained by contacting the School at 206 Jacobs Management Center, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14216 (Tel: 716 645 3245)