The conversation begins in an airport terminal among three executives waiting to fly home. Maybe they are in Chicago O'Hare International. Maybe it is Kennedy airport in New York. For the moment, the topic is the dramatic fluctuation in in ternational currencies and how the weakening dollar has impacted their businesses around the world.

The first gentleman has spent the past week in Sweden, where the parent company of his firm is located. An Italian who spent much of his career in Europe, he is now responsible for the firm's North American subsidiary, which ranks among the most important regions in its international portfolio.

One of his conversation partners is a Fortune 500 CEO who is returning from a trip to Central America. He's just arrived on a plane from Bogota, but had been in Uruguay and Venezuela before stopping in Colombia. His company operates in more than 50 countries and the American headquarters has employees who have studied and worked in all corners of the world.

The third member of the group is on his way home from Munich. He will sleep in his own bed for a couple of nights before heading to Korea, where his German-based firm has significant operations. The currency fluctuations have been especially tough on him, given the low margins in his commodity business.

As they talk, it becomes apparent to any eavesdropper that these three have a very different concept of globalization than the one typically represented in the business press. The stories they tell are very personal, about negotiating with the Chinese or dealing with labor issues in France. Conference calls in the dead of night are part of a normal workday for each. Their immunization records mean they know firsthand how poverty and inadequate healthcare affect commerce.

Their understanding of politics and culture is as deep as their knowledge of liquidity ratios and acquisition targets. They seem to have an incredible appreciation for the art, music, and culinary treats in Jerusalem and Jakharta. Their concerns about the future are much broader than the balance sheets or stock prices of their own firms. They worry about instability of certain governments, inadequate infrastructure in developing countries, and the relative lack of intellectual property protection in places where ethical standards are not firmly established.

It becomes clear to me that even the best American business schools have not captured the essence of international business that pervades this fascinating exchange. I wonder what kind of curriculum, if any, could really prepare a manager to operate in such a dynamic environment.

A fourth man sits down. He introduces himself as the CEO of a specialty insurance firm. Now 800 employees strong, his firm is having trouble finding qualified individuals who speak Russian and Japanese.

His comments shift the discussion's focus to the challenges of finding qualified talent, gauging what will be required of corporate leaders a decade from now, and building a succession plan for their organizations.

Two members of the group note their firms have begun hiring individuals with advanced degrees from Europe's best schools. They have found that the graduates are more adaptive to rapid change and more eager to travel and work in foreign lands.

One of the group counters that he's finding plenty of good talent in America, by poaching from other large firms. He has been impressed with the recent crop of MBA students, who seem to have mastered the quantitative skills that his firm covets.

Now there are five. The last to sit down is the senior vice president of human resources for a different Fortune 500 firm. I look up revenue figures later. They did over $2 billion in sales to customers in more than 100 countries last year. He is responsible for more than 4,000 employees in 46 locations. He has been away for three weeks, stopping in Osaka, Seoul, and Singapore.

He shares with the group that retirement is imminent. Six months from now, he'll be vacationing in Europe and South America, spending quality time in many of the cities he had seen during a very satisfying career. As he rattles off some of the places he will visit, the gate attendant announces it is time to board.

Time for each of the five to go home . . . to Richmond.
Richard Coughlan is the senior associate dean of the University of Richmond's Robins School of Business. Contact him at rcoughla@richmond.edu.