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Leaders examine global economic risks in International Business Law certificate program

Gavel in foreground, world map in background.

From repeat wholesale international transactions to the one-time hire of a consultant abroad, companies of all sizes must now understand the liabilities they might take on during global business operations. Celia Bigoness, a clinical professor at the Cornell Law School and director of the Blassberg-Rice Center for Entrepreneurship Law, developed eCornell’s International Business Law certificate to help professionals understand and mitigate business risks. Bigoness recently discussed her online certificate with the eCornell team.

Why would a ‘domestic business’ need an understanding of international law?

“We tried to make sure that this course would be relevant for a whole variety of companies and individuals, including many who may not think they are necessarily involved in cross-border transactions. So, for example, there’s a module on dealing with tariffs — you could be in a company that thinks that what they do is purely domestic, but the [company] may import products or be looking to import products in the future. There could be cost implications there, and they [need to] understand how to deal with tariffs.”

What tools can businesses use to protect themselves from liability?

“Professionals should be able to look at a particular business strategy or a particular question or set of facts and be able to identify the red flags there, to be able to ask: How is [hiring a consultant in Venezuela] different from hiring a consultant in New York state? What are the risks that a business takes on when it is operating outside of its home environment? And how can that business begin to identify those risks, prioritize them and figure out which risks are acceptable and which risks are not. And then, as a practical matter, once you’ve said the risks are not acceptable, ask ‘what do we do about it?’ That’s where we get into a specific sort of contract techniques and other ways outside of a contract in which a business can protect itself. For example, getting insurance against a specific foreign risk.”

How does the course respond to an evolving geopolitical world?

“We rely heavily on a case study method … and we focus particularly on political risks. What if you are doing business in a country that has a change in leadership which is hostile to working with Americans, or, more broadly, more hostile to working with foreign investors. [The government] may decide that it wants to take action against foreign investors, and that action could be everything ranging from expropriation at the most extreme level to something that is much more common, such as raising taxes or saying you can no longer send American workers. What do you do? What rights do you have as a U.S. business when a foreign government seeks to put pressure on you?

Gain the tools to understand your business’ place in the increasingly globalized world in the International Business Law certificate program from Cornell. Learn more and enroll now.

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

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Professionals apply techniques for digital transformation in AI certificate program

AI has broadened how companies integrate technology and digital transformation into their operations. For Karan Girotra, the Charles H. Dyson Family Professor of Management in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, AI prompts questions about a new wave of automation..

The AI for Digital Transformation certificate program, authored by Girotra, combines academic theory and practical executive experience in business and technology into one seamless journey through the new opportunities and potential pitfalls that AI brings. Girotra explains how businesses can utilize these new tools for success through data collection and experimentation. The program concludes with tips for encouraging a culture of learning and leadership through AI.

Girotra discussed the power of data-driven AI enhancements and digital transformation in a recent conversation with eCornell.

How essential is learning AI for professional development right now?

“That really comes down to the question: How is the world going to change [from this breakthrough]? We’ve seen from previous generations of automation that when we automate physical work, the new efficiency forms a pattern. This time, the automation of cognitive language work allows us to benefit in certain ways, including increasing productivity of individuals and organizations. People who don’t work on implementing these ideas risk being left behind and won’t reap the benefits of automation.”

How have you worked to make digital transformation, specifically with AI, accessible for a general audience?

“The program is not basic in ambition, but it is basic in style. The technical language is minimized, and [the courses] do not use jargon. In fact, there is a whole module that I call ‘Cut through the techno babble.’ So it’s designed to be extremely accessible.”

With AI constantly evolving, does this course have longevity in its application?

“Right now, there are so many hyper-specific courses in the AI boom. You have marketing with AI or trading with AI or one of a million other subspecialties. The problem with specific versions is that they change and lose their value with [any procedural innovation]. But if you learn AI more generally – what it can do for any role – then you can invent new ways to use it without copying the current ways people are using it. In a way, there’s a trade-off. When you get more narrow, AI becomes more relevant [for current issues], but it becomes less useful as the world changes. With this course, we teach the conceptual knowledge behind AI in digital transformation to let individuals chart their own procedures in a changing environment.”

Keep pace with the rapid advancements in AI and digital technologies in the AI for Digital Transformation certificate program. Learn more and enroll.

Quotes have been edited for clarity.

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Family business owners strategize for longevity in new certificate program

Workers review documents while standing in front of items on a store shelf

For Joseph Astrachan, a co-author of Cornell’s Family Business Leadership online certificate program, a family-run business is a generational tradition. Since Astrachan was young, his family has operated businesses in fields ranging from pharmaceuticals to shipping. He is no stranger to the difficulties that come with owning a company tied to the fabric of a family, including managing close relationships in the face of business challenges.

With Daniel Van Der Vliet, executive director of the Smith Family Business Initiative within the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, John Engels, president and CEO of Leadership Coaching Inc. and Holly Isdale ‘86, founder of WealthHaven, Astrachan has blended academic theory and industry practice in a certificate program that helps others navigate the obstacles and opportunities of running a family business successfully.

“There is no way around it: Navigating a family business is distinctly different from the traditional corporate model,” said Astrachan, a Professor Emeritus and former executive director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business.

The certificate program uses a hands-on approach to address how the personal and professional overlap in family businesses. Courses include:

  • Family Business Leadership Fundamentals
  • Managing Family Relationships
  • Stewarding Family Wealth and Values
  • Implementing Family Governance Systems

Just like with any other business, management in a family-run venture evolves over time. For family businesses, there is often an added layer of grief associated with leadership changes. Sometimes assumed agreements and familial relationships complicate these transitions.

“Continuing a family-run business requires perpetuation through transition, passing it from one generation to the next,” Van Der Vliet said in a recent conversation with eCornell. “Even though all business begins with family . . . some of this expertise around family business does not exist in academia. Family business is very specialized.”

To help learners understand the nuances, the Family Business Leadership program combines advisory parties – like lawyers and accountants – and family members into one cohesive group of learners. The courses organize behaviors in family businesses into familiar workplace relationships and help make sense of common patterned dynamics. Learners gain practical insights they can immediately apply to their own operations.

“Family members are not asked to share anything deeply personal,” Van Der Vliet said. “Their projects could become more personal if they choose, which can be beneficial for their takeaways from the course… and for those that are not family members in the family business, on the advisory or service side, they can have an opportunity to realize [how family dynamics] broadly affect the company.”

Discover how to manage relationships, steward wealth and implement governance structures in Cornell’s Family Business Leadership certificate program. Learn more and enroll now.

Quotes have been edited for clarity.

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Leaders strategize for new corporate environment in Hybrid Work Strategy certificate

Woman sits in an office set up. In front of her, there is a meeting on her monitor with six people displayed.

Since 2020, organizations all over the world have shifted to hybrid work models. This change has forced leaders to reevaluate how remote collaborative processes can still drive organizational culture. Brad Bell , Donna Haeger and Theomary Karamanis , faculty authors of Cornell’s Hybrid Work Strategy Program, spoke to the eCornell team about the challenges and opportunities posed by hybrid work.

Is it possible to replicate an in-person environment in a virtual workspace?

Theomary Karamanis, Senior Lecturer, SC Johnson College of Business: “That’s the biggest mistake that organizations make: They feel that they need to simulate everything that happens organically in an in-person environment into a virtual environment, and you cannot do that. Instead, try to have less live meetings, less synchronous communication and a bit more asynchronous [work]. Live meetings should usually be limited to problem solving, creativity and conflict resolution.”

How does the hybrid work environment affect the leadership structure of an organization?

Brad Bell, Professor, ILR School: “In these semi-remote environments, leaders can’t be as hands-on, they can’t see everything that’s happening, so a lot of the leadership has to be assumed by the team members themselves in these hybrid and remote settings. This opens a gap [inside the organization’s leadership structure]. Someone that is not a leader might look at courses like [Hybrid Work Strategy] and assume they need to be in a management role to benefit from this. But without usual in-office interaction, those concepts and tools have become importantly applicable to both the leaders and the members.”

What can leaders do to ensure that their hybrid organizations are consistently productive?

Donna Haeger, Professor of Practice, SC Johnson College of Business: “Oftentimes at work, whether it’s hybrid or not, everyone’s focused on ‘task, task, task’, ‘get the work done.’ That’s become even more of a pressure because things do become disjointed when people are not colocated . . . An organization’s culture and productivity are tied together. Tasks and relationships, and the synergy between those, are what really create productivity. [Fostering that synergy] is really essential in a hybrid work environment: The research has shown that the stronger the culture, the more productive the workplace will be.”

Begin developing your confidence as a hybrid team leader with eCornell’s Hybrid Work Strategy certificate program. Learn more and enroll now.

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Justin Heitzman, an eCornell writing intern, contributed to this post.