Professional Hosting
The opportunity of hosting visitors from another country in short-term training programs is a unique experience--one that enables you and your employees to expand their world view, enabling them to see their work from an international perspective. Having internationally-minded employees is an important asset to your company, especially in doing business with non-US customers and suppliers, both locally and abroad.

In a survey of companies that did host international visitors as trainees, sponsored by the National Council for International Visitors, one respondent said that in making international deals, he "would not have felt comfortable if it were not for his interaction with the IVC visitors." Participants learned what it meant for a company to be part of the "global economy" and how their company might be "globally competitive."

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Hosting international visitors as trainees provides an opportunity for the host company to learn more about international business.
Participants learn about their own industry, business practices in other countries, and acquire the confidence to conduct business effectively internationally. Trainees provide especially valuable insights about doing business in a particular industry when one's own company does not have a lot of experience doing business in that country. Creating a set of contacts can be important for future business activity in that country--for creating introductions, for answering specific questions for your clients, for assessing market opportunities.

Hosting trainees provides an opportunity to examine your own business from another person's perspective.
Participants have remarked that the process of explaining what they do and the process of doing business here in Cincinnati helps clarify the mission of their company in their own minds and gives them a better competitive perspective. Talking about business from an international perspective and comparing business practices with someone from a similar industry created a new image of their own company as an international competitor.

Hosting trainees has an impact on a broad range of employees.
Instead of one person traveling to another country to do business or having individuals in one department prepare an international business plan, having a trainee from another country present in the company allows many employees to have access to the trainee in both formal and informal interactions. Comparing business practices, discovering differences in cultures, learning alternative ways of doing the same activity, discussing differences in economic structures or the role of government, generates a deeper understanding of global competitiveness for all employees. While only a small number of employees may be directly involved in international activities, a larger number of employees will develop a stronger appreciation for international business activities and what it means for their company to be competitive in the international marketplace.

Hosting trainees from other countries is a low cost/low risk way for employees to gain an international perspective.
Respondents to surveys say that whether or not they had previous international experience, "the interactions with visitors continued to increase their comfort level, ability to understand, and ability to communicate with people from other cultures." Another respondent mentioned that "this knowledge of diverse customs could be useful when dealing in the global marketplace with multicultural customers." Not only did participants learn about how to build relationships with business people in cultures that require relationship-building, but they had an opportunity to practice doing that and developing a level of comfort in this new activity.

Hosting trainees from other countries provided participants with a new insight into the global marketplace.
Respondents mentioned that they "interpreted world news differently after meeting people from other countries." They learned to "read between the lines" of what was written, became more aware of foreign policy issues, increased their appreciation of the U.S. system of democracy, and increased their desire for the U.S. to have positive relations with other countries.

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