Global Business and Globalisation Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends International Business Managers, Strategy Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-EE-042

Before you join: Participants should have working experience in business, finance, operations, trade, public policy, investment or programme management.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Globalisation creates growth opportunities, but it also exposes firms, public agencies and financial institutions to trade disruption, currency volatility, fragmented regulation, geopolitical pressure and uneven development. Decision-makers need more than country facts: they need a disciplined way to assess where value is created, how policy changes affect operations, and which international commitments are financially and operationally viable.

This course examines the economic forces shaping global business: trade theory, global value chains, foreign direct investment, balance-of-payments conditions, exchange rates, capital flows, regional integration, industrial policy and sustainable development. Participants use PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces, country-risk analysis, scenario planning and international market-entry tools to assess cross-border opportunities. They learn to translate macroeconomic indicators and policy developments into practical choices on sourcing, investment, pricing, financing, partnerships and market priorities.

Instruction combines focused briefings with cases drawn from banking, manufacturing, extractives, consumer goods, infrastructure and public policy. Participants progressively build an international business assessment for a selected country, region, company or programme. The final output is a documented global business strategy containing market analysis, risk assessment, entry recommendation, financial assumptions, implementation actions and monitoring indicators. Participants receive a certificate of completion after the 10-day instructor-led programme, available in classrooms in more than 50 cities or live online.

The course suits professionals whose decisions depend on cross-border markets, international suppliers, foreign investment, trade policy or macroeconomic conditions. It is particularly useful where teams must justify international expansion, redesign supply chains, assess country exposure or respond to shifts in trade and investment rules.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess country attractiveness using macroeconomic indicators, PESTLE and structured country-risk analysis
  • Interpret trade patterns using comparative advantage, gravity-model logic and tariff data
  • Map global value chains to identify sourcing dependencies, concentration risks and value capture
  • Evaluate foreign direct investment proposals using location advantages, incentives and political-risk factors
  • Analyse balance-of-payments data, exchange-rate regimes and capital-flow pressures
  • Develop international market-entry recommendations using CAGE distance and entry-mode criteria
  • Construct scenarios for trade disruption, currency movements and geopolitical policy changes
  • Present a global business strategy with financial assumptions, risks and implementation actions

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Stronger evidence for country, market-entry and investment recommendations
  • Practical ability to interpret trade, currency and macroeconomic indicators
  • Clearer assessment of geopolitical and trade-policy exposure
  • Reusable framework for international expansion and sourcing decisions
  • Greater confidence presenting cross-border strategy to senior stakeholders

For your organisation

  • More disciplined selection of foreign markets and investment locations
  • Earlier identification of supply-chain concentration and trade-disruption risks
  • Better integration of macroeconomic conditions into planning and budgeting
  • Clearer treatment of currency, political and regulatory exposure
  • More defensible international growth and market-entry business cases

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can identify how global economic interdependence affects an organisation's revenues, costs, risks and strategic choices.

  • Globalisation measured through trade, investment, migration, data and production flows
  • Economic interdependence traced from domestic decisions to cross-border transmission channels
  • Global business exposure mapped across customers, suppliers, finance and regulation
  • Multinational enterprise roles in production, technology transfer and tax bases
  • Winners, losers and distributional effects assessed using income and employment data
  • Globalisation critiques examined through resilience, inequality, sovereignty and environmental externalities

Participants can explain trade patterns and identify the commercial implications of comparative advantage and trade barriers.

  • Comparative advantage calculated from opportunity costs and relative productivity differences
  • Heckscher-Ohlin factor endowments linked to sectoral trade specialisation patterns
  • New trade theory explains scale economies, product variety and market concentration
  • Gravity-model logic used to assess distance, market size and trade intensity
  • Tariffs, quotas and non-tariff measures compared through price and volume effects
  • Trade creation and diversion assessed within preferential trade agreements

Participants can assess how international trade rules, customs requirements and trade remedies affect market access.

  • World Trade Organization principles applied to market access and non-discrimination
  • Most-favoured-nation and national-treatment obligations distinguished through practical examples
  • Rules of origin tested against preferential tariff eligibility requirements
  • Customs valuation methods reviewed for import cost and compliance implications
  • Anti-dumping, countervailing duties and safeguards assessed as trade-remedy instruments
  • Sanctions and export controls screened within cross-border transaction planning

Participants can map a global value chain and identify dependencies, bottlenecks and opportunities for value capture.

  • Value-chain activities separated into design, inputs, production, logistics and after-sales
  • Supplier tiers mapped to reveal concentration, single-source and geographic dependencies
  • Input-output relationships used to identify upstream and downstream disruption effects
  • Value capture compared across lead firms, suppliers, distributors and platforms
  • Make-buy-location decisions assessed using cost, capability and risk criteria
  • Nearshoring, reshoring and friend-shoring evaluated against total landed cost

Participants can prepare a structured economic diagnosis of a country using relevant macroeconomic indicators.

  • GDP growth decomposed by household consumption, investment, government spending and exports
  • GDP, GNI and purchasing-power parity compared for market-sizing decisions
  • Inflation measures interpreted using consumer prices, producer prices and core indices
  • Labour-market indicators assessed through participation, unemployment, wages and productivity
  • Fiscal balances and public debt analysed for policy and financing constraints
  • Development indicators compared using poverty, inequality, education and health measures

Participants can incorporate political economy, governance and institutional conditions into country assessments.

  • Political settlement analysis identifies influential groups, incentives and distributional pressures
  • Institutional quality assessed through property rights, contract enforcement and corruption indicators
  • State capacity examined through taxation, public administration and service delivery
  • Industrial policy instruments compared across subsidies, procurement, credit and protection
  • Regulatory capture risks identified through stakeholder mapping and incentive analysis
  • Social licence considerations integrated into investment and operating decisions

Participants can produce a country-risk profile linking external conditions to specific business exposures.

  • Country-risk categories structured across political, economic, legal and security dimensions
  • PESTLE analysis converted into evidence-based risk statements and business implications
  • Sovereign risk indicators reviewed through debt, reserves, spreads and ratings
  • Transfer, convertibility and expropriation risks distinguished for foreign investors
  • Risk heat maps scored using likelihood, impact, velocity and control effectiveness
  • Mitigation options matched to insurance, contracts, diversification and contingency actions

Participants can evaluate foreign investment locations using strategic, economic and institutional criteria.

  • Dunning's OLI paradigm applied to ownership, location and internalisation decisions
  • Greenfield, acquisition and joint-venture investments compared against strategic objectives
  • Location screening weights market potential, labour, infrastructure, tax and risk
  • Investment incentives assessed for additionality, conditionality and long-term value
  • Special economic zones evaluated through governance, logistics and supplier linkages
  • Investment promotion claims tested against operating costs and regulatory evidence

Participants can select priority markets and recommend an entry mode matched to strategic conditions.

  • CAGE distance assessed across cultural, administrative, geographic and economic dimensions
  • Porter's Five Forces applied to foreign market structure and profitability
  • Market-attractiveness matrices rank demand, access, competition, risk and fit
  • Exporting, licensing, franchising and subsidiaries compared using control and commitment
  • Partner due diligence covers ownership, capability, reputation and compliance history
  • Entry sequencing sets pilots, milestones, investment gates and exit triggers

Participants can interpret external-sector data and identify conditions that may affect trade, investment and payments.

  • Current-account balances separated into goods, services, income and transfers
  • Capital and financial accounts interpreted through investment, borrowing and reserve movements
  • Balance-of-payments financing assessed against reserve adequacy and external debt
  • Terms-of-trade changes linked to commodity prices, import costs and incomes
  • External vulnerability indicators compared across maturity, currency and refinancing risks
  • IMF balance-of-payments presentation used to organise country external-sector evidence

Participants can assess exchange-rate conditions and recommend appropriate currency-risk responses.

  • Fixed, floating and managed exchange-rate regimes compared for business planning
  • Spot rates, forward rates and cross rates calculated for transaction exposure
  • Purchasing-power parity and interest-rate parity tested against observed currency movements
  • Transaction, translation and economic exposures separated within multinational financial planning
  • Natural hedges identified through currency matching of revenues, costs and debt
  • Forward contracts, options and swaps compared for hedging requirements

Participants can evaluate how global capital flows and financial conditions influence business decisions.

  • Portfolio flows, bank lending and foreign direct investment distinguished by risk
  • Global liquidity conditions linked to interest rates, spreads and capital availability
  • Sudden-stop scenarios assessed through refinancing needs, reserves and currency pressures
  • Capital controls evaluated for transaction timing, repatriation and funding implications
  • Country financing structures compared across local debt, foreign debt and equity
  • Development-finance institutions assessed as sources of project funding and guarantees

Participants can assess how regional agreements alter market access, sourcing choices and competitive conditions.

  • Free-trade areas, customs unions and common markets distinguished clearly
  • Regional value chains assessed through tariff preferences and cumulation rules
  • Mutual recognition arrangements examined for standards, licensing and market access
  • Trade-bloc membership tested against diversion, dependence and regulatory alignment risks
  • Cross-border infrastructure corridors evaluated for logistics cost and reliability
  • Regional expansion plans aligned with customs procedures and partner-market priorities

Participants can assess geopolitical developments and formulate proportionate responses for international operations.

  • Geopolitical risk drivers mapped across conflict, elections, alliances and resource competition
  • Sanctions exposure screened by jurisdiction, ownership, goods, counterparties and destination
  • Export-control classifications reviewed for dual-use goods, technology and technical data
  • Economic-security policies assessed through investment screening, subsidies and procurement restrictions
  • Critical-mineral dependencies analysed using supply concentration and substitution options
  • Geopolitical scenarios translated into sourcing, market and financing contingencies

Participants can evaluate competitive positioning and strategic choices for firms operating across multiple markets.

  • Global, multidomestic and transnational strategies compared through integration-responsiveness pressures
  • Porter's diamond examined for national competitive advantage and cluster development
  • Cross-border competitors profiled by capabilities, footprints, alliances and cost positions
  • Platform business models assessed for network effects, data control and scale
  • Transfer pricing objectives considered alongside tax, governance and operating-model requirements
  • Corporate headquarters roles defined for control, coordination and capital allocation

Participants can incorporate environmental, social and governance factors into international business decisions.

  • United Nations Sustainable Development Goals linked to investment and operating priorities
  • Human-rights due diligence structured around impacts, prevention, remediation and reporting
  • OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises applied to responsible business conduct
  • Climate-transition risk assessed through regulation, carbon pricing and market demand
  • Supply-chain labour risks screened through traceability, audits and grievance mechanisms
  • Just-transition considerations incorporated into restructuring, investment and stakeholder engagement

Participants can select, test and communicate credible international economic evidence for management decisions.

  • World Bank, IMF and UNCTAD datasets compared for coverage and definitions
  • Time-series trends separated from cyclical movements, outliers and base effects
  • Cross-country comparisons adjusted for population, prices, currency and measurement differences
  • Correlation and causation distinguished when interpreting international economic indicators
  • Data-quality checks cover sources, revisions, lags, missing values and comparability
  • Executive charts designed to communicate assumptions, ranges and decision implications

Participants can develop and test scenarios for plausible international economic and policy disruptions.

  • Scenario-planning focal question defined around a material strategic decision
  • Driving forces ranked by impact, uncertainty, timing and management controllability
  • Critical uncertainties combined into distinct, plausible and decision-relevant scenarios
  • Early-warning indicators specified for trade, currency, policy and supply conditions
  • Stress tests quantify revenue, cost, liquidity and capacity consequences
  • Contingency actions assigned to triggers, owners, resources and decision rights

Participants can convert global analysis into a decision-ready business case and implementation plan.

  • Strategic options compared against returns, risks, capabilities and stakeholder acceptance
  • Financial assumptions documented for pricing, volumes, costs, tax and currency
  • Investment appraisal incorporates scenario ranges, sensitivities and decision thresholds
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence governance, partners, approvals, systems and market actions
  • Risk registers connect country exposures to controls, owners and review dates
  • Performance indicators track market entry, financial results, compliance and resilience

Participants can build, review and present a complete global business strategy for a defined cross-border opportunity or exposure.

  • Country diagnosis assembled from macroeconomic, institutional, trade and external-sector evidence
  • Value-chain map identifies dependencies, value capture, disruption points and alternatives
  • Market-entry recommendation justified through CAGE, competition and location analysis
  • Financial case presents assumptions, currency exposure, sensitivities and investment requirements
  • Scenario analysis tests trade shocks, policy changes and geopolitical disruption
  • Implementation plan assigns milestones, governance, controls, indicators and review cycles

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Country economic and risk assessment template
  2. Global value-chain dependency map
  3. International market-selection scorecard
  4. Foreign investment location-screening model
  5. Global shock scenario-planning pack
  6. Global business strategy presentation

Who should attend

  • International Business Managers — need evidence-based market and entry decisions
  • Strategy Managers — assess cross-border growth, competition and policy exposure
  • Finance Managers — evaluate currency, country and capital-flow risks
  • Supply Chain Managers — address international sourcing concentration and trade disruption
  • Investment and Credit Analysts — assess sovereign conditions and foreign investment cases
  • Public Policy and Trade Officials — evaluate trade, investment and industrial-policy choices

Skills and tools covered

Country risk analysisGlobal value-chain mappingTrade policy assessmentForeign investment appraisalExchange-rate analysisInternational strategy design

Tools and standards

PESTLE analysis, Porter's Five Forces, CAGE Distance Framework, Dunning's OLI paradigm

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish economic concepts and decision frameworks, followed by structured case work from international business, banking, manufacturing and public policy. Group exercises analyse trade data, country indicators, value chains and investment proposals. Simulations test decisions under tariff changes, currency shocks and geopolitical events. Participants apply each module to a chosen organisation, market, country or programme, building evidence, assumptions and recommendations for the final strategy presentation.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have working experience in business, finance, operations, trade, public policy, investment or programme management. They should be comfortable reading basic financial information, percentages, charts and tables, and should understand common business terms such as revenue, cost, market share and investment. Prior study of economics is useful but not essential; key concepts are established early in the course. Advanced econometrics, calculus, statistical software, foreign-language capability and prior international posting experience are not required.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants need general business experience and confidence reading basic charts, percentages and financial information. Economics qualifications, advanced mathematics and econometrics software experience are not required.

Bring a laptop for online research, spreadsheet work and preparing the final strategy materials. Participants are encouraged to bring a current country, market, supply-chain or investment question from their work.

It is designed for managers and analysts involved in international strategy, finance, trade, investment, operations, supply chains or public policy. It also suits professionals preparing to support overseas expansion or country-risk decisions.

International finance courses focus primarily on funding, valuation and financial instruments, while trade compliance courses focus on customs, sanctions and export rules. This programme connects trade, macroeconomics, country risk, strategy, investment and supply-chain decisions.

Participants build a structured assessment around a real organisation, country, market or programme. The resulting analysis can support market prioritisation, sourcing reviews, investment proposals, risk committees and strategic planning.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The first week establishes core economic, trade, country and investment analysis; the second week develops risk, scenario and implementation work before the capstone presentation.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.