Introduction to Global Business: Understanding the International Environment & Global Business Functions

Dr. Julian Gaspar is Clinical Professor Emeritus of Finance with Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School. He is currently an adjunct professor of international business with the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he teaches international business and international financial management. Dr. Gaspar is former director of Texas A&M University's Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), where he guided the international expansion of the business school's academic programs, faculty research and outreach programs for thirty years. As the director of one of America's 15 CIBER business schools, Dr. Gaspar infused globalization into the school's business courses through international business course designs, study abroad and exchange programs, and authoring international business (IB) texts. Dr. Gaspar developed and led study abroad programs to China, Europe and India. An international economist by training, he has three decades of expertise in country risk evaluation, project economic and financial analysis, and financial and industrial restructuring of emerging economies. His corporate experience includes work with Bank of America in Tokyo and San Francisco, where he conducted country risk assessment and researched and analyzed debt problems of developing countries. During his tenure as an international economist with the World Bank Group, Dr. Gaspar analyzed investment projects in Asia and designing financial and industrial restructuring programs for Poland and Cyprus. Dr. Gaspar received his Ph.D. in international and monetary economics from Georgetown University, his M.B.A. from Indiana University and his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Madras, India.

Dr. James Kolari has taught financial markets and institutions at Texas A&M University and been active in international education, consulting and executive education. In 1994 he was awarded the J.P. Morgan Chase Professorship in Finance in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M. Prior to this, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Helsinki and worked with the Bank of Finland. Dr. Kolari has served as a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and as a faculty fellow with the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. In addition, he has consulted for the U.S. Small Business Administration, American Bankers Association, Independent Bankers Association of America and the U.S. Information Agency. In recent years he has worked as a senior research fellow at the Swedish School of Business and Economics (Hanken) in Finland. Previously, he served as an advisor on the North American Free Trade Agreement for the State of Texas; he was a consultant for the Mexican government in financing technology; and he served as a member of the Academy of Sciences for Higher Education in Russia. With more than 100 articles in refereed journals, numerous other papers and monographs, more than 20 co-authored books and more than 100 competitive papers presented at academic conferences, he ranks in the top 1-2% of finance scholars in the U.S., according to recent guides of research productivity among finance professors. His papers have appeared in such journals as the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Business, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Journal of Financial Research, Journal of Banking and Finance, Real Estate Economics, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control and the Scandinavian Journal of Economics. His work has been published in Russian, Finnish, Dutch, Italian and Chinese.

Dr. Katherine Taken Smith is an associate professor of marketing at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. She teaches at the RELLIS campus. Her areas of interest include digital marketing and global marketing. Dr. Smith’s academic record includes numerous professional journal articles, books, conference presentations and awards for teaching and research. Dr. Smith was named the Outstanding Author at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2018. She is on the editorial review board of five marketing journals. Her article, “Digital Marketing Strategies that Millennials Find Appealing, Motivating, or Just Annoying,” is in the top ten most read and most cited articles from the Journal of Strategic Marketing. She is in the top 10% of authors on Research Gate and Social Science Research Network (SSRN), based on downloaded articles. Her work is highly referenced with more than 3,000 citations, according to Google Scholar. Dr. Smith earned her D.B.A. and M.B.A. in marketing from Louisiana Tech University and her B.B.A. in marketing from the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Dr. Leonard Bierman is a professor of management at Texas A&M University. He teaches courses on the political environment of business, labor relations and negotiations, and he also pursues research in these areas. Dr. Bierman is currently working on a research project with colleagues at the University of Missouri and Stanford University, examining labor union organizing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and today's politically polarized American society. He recently served as speaker of the Texas A&M University Faculty Senate. Earlier in his career, Dr. Bierman held various jobs in the federal government dealing with international business. He was a former top staff member at the U.S. International Trade Commission. He also held a sub-cabinet position during the Bush Administration, dealing with international labor affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor. Dr. Bierman also served as the U.S. academic representative on the NAFTA Labor Commission's Academic Advisory Board.

Dr. L. Murphy Smith, C.P.A., is a professor of accounting at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He teaches ethics and international accounting on the RELLIS Campus. Dr. Smith’s academic record includes numerous professional journal articles, research grants, books and professional meeting presentations. His work is cited in various news media, including Fortune, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. He has received numerous awards for teaching and research, including the Outstanding Educator Award from the Texas Society of C.P.A.s and the Distinguished Member Award from the Institute of Management Accountants. Dr. Smith is highly referenced with more than 3,700 citations of his work, per Google Scholar. In 2021, he was the most cited author specializing in accounting ethics and in the top ten most cited authors specializing in international accounting. He ranks in the top 1% of authors on Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN.com), based on downloaded articles. Dr. Smith has held a number of leadership positions in academic and professional organizations, including president of the American Accounting Association Gender Issues and Work-Life Balance Section. Dr. Smith serves on several journal editorial boards and his research has appeared in leading journals, such as Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Accounting Horizons, Contemporary Accounting Research, Advances in Accounting, Issues in Accounting Education and Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting.