Students will learn about the Spanish-speaking business
environment and will enhance their ability to communicate in
Spanish in both business and social situations.  They will gain a
foundation in business vocabulary and discourse related to
functional business areas such as the organization of a company,
management, banking, capital investment (property, plant, and
equipment), personnel, office systems, production of goods, and
services, and marketing.  They will examine the geography,
economy, demographics, and politics of Spanish-speaking countries
and their relation to commerce.  They will practice writing
business letters and translating business documents.  They will
acquire awareness of the social and cultural contexts in which
commercial transactions take place.

I. Economics and Commerce:  Comparison of demographic and
geographical data; business terms and concepts; the importance of
culture in business.
II Companies:  Organization and classification of companies;
influence of family in business.
III. Spain today:  geography, demography, government, economy,
commerce.
IV. Management:  Business administration; the importance of
social norms and address forms.
V. Mexico today:  geography, demography, government, economy,
commerce.
VI. Banking and accounting:  Money management; types of banks and
accounts; loans and debt; the World Bank.
VII. Capital investment:  land, plants, equipment; short and
long-term investments; rent contracts; urban and rural life;
emigration to cities.
VIII. Office systems:  Equipment and modern communications
systems; men and women in the job force.
IX. Business letters and documents:  types of written
communication; parts of a letter; translation exercises.
X. Personnel and labor relations:  Department of Personnel;
employment compensation; labor unions; the curriculum vitae; the
job search and interview.
XI. Goods and Services:  Products; services; manufacturing;
production and control; attitudes toward time and technology.
XII. Marketing:  Investigating markets; advertising; Hispanic
consumers; slogans, commercials, trademarks; translation
blunders; Spanish television commercials.
XIII. International Trade:  International markets; economic and
cultural analysis; business trips abroad.