fluent in the local language include the following: Having the ability to directly communicate with employees and customers Understanding the manner of speaking within business in the local area to improve overall productivity Gaining respect of customers and employees from speaking with them in their native tongue In many cases, it plays a crucial role. It is truly impossible to gain an understanding of a culture's buying habits without first taking the time to understand the culture. Examples of the benefit of understanding local culture include the following: Being able to provide marketing techniques that are specifically tailored to the local market Knowing how other businesses operate and what might or might not be social taboos Understanding the time structure of an area. Some societies are more focused on timeliness ("being on time") while others focus on doing business at "the right time". Associating with people who do not know several languages. Language barriers can affect transaction costs. Linguistic distance is defined as the amount of variation one language has from another. For example, French, and Spanish are both languages derived from Latin. When evaluating dialogue in these languages, you will discover many similarities. However, languages such as English and Chinese or English and Arabic vary much more strongly and contain far fewer similarities. The writing systems of these languages are also different. The larger the linguistic distance there, the wider language barriers to cross. These differences can reflect on transaction costs and make foreign business operations more expensive. Importance of studying international business The international business standards focus on the following: raising awareness of the inter-relatedness of one country's political policies and economic practices on another; learning to improve international business relations through appropriate communication strategies; understanding the global business environment—that is, the interconnections of cultural, political, legal, economic, and ethical systems; exploring basic concepts underlying international finance, management, marketing, and trade relations; and identifying forms of business ownership and international business opportunities. By focusing on these, students will gain a better understanding of Political economy. These are tools that would help future business people bridge the economic and political gap between countries. There is an increasing amount of demand for business people with an education in international business. A survey conducted by Thomas Patrick from University of Notre Dame concluded that bachelor's degree and master's degree holders felt that the training received through education were very practical in