Strategy and organisation

Question 1

Strategy

Answer 1

planned actions to best use firm’s resources and core competences to gain C.A.

Question 2

International Strategies

Answer 2

help firm allocate scarce resources through: value adding activities on worldwide scale, go into major markets, valuable partnerships abroad, competitive moves in response to foreign rivals

Question 3

How to build sustainable competitive advantage?

Answer 3

Efficiency=
- international value chains
- lowering costs of operations and activities
Flexibility
- worldwide flexibility → accommodate diverse country specific risks and opportunities
- tapping local resources and opportunities
- adapt marketing and country conditions
Organisational Learning
- ability to learn from international environments and use on worldwide basis

Question 4

What is essential for building a successful firm

Answer 4

strategy, visionary leadership, organizational culture, structure and processes

Question 5

Visionary Leadership and characteristics

Answer 5

• provides superior strategic guidance for managing efficiency, flexibility and learning
• the leaders needs to have a vision, mission statement, purpose, look at the long term, motivate employees
• international mindset, cross cultural openness and awareness
• willingness to commit resources, believe in eventually success
• strategic vision → helicopter view (macro), firm in future, how to get there as a driving force for everyone
• invest human assets

Question 6

Organisational culture

Answer 6

• pattern of shared values, behavioural norms, systems and policies for employees to learn/adopt
• how to think, perceive, feel, behave in situations and solve problems
• derives from founders, visionary leaders or history
• accomplish: global perspective, competence among employees, corporate language for communication and ethical standards

Question 7

Integration responsiveness

Answer 7

summarises two basic strategic needs companies have: 1. integrate value chain activities globally and 2. create product and process that are responsive to local market needs

Question 8

Multi-domestic industries vs Global Industries

Answer 8

Multi-domestic =adapt to suit laws, culture, income levels etc (country to country basis, translate books, food, fashion)
- Global industries= - competition on regional/global/worldwide scale - always offer the same (like cars, chemicals, computers, flights)

Question 9

Global Integration vs local responsiveness

Answer 9

Global Integration= - coordination of value-chain across borders to gain worldwide efficiency, take advantage of cross cultural similarities
Local responsiveness= - individual countries (often in multidomestic industry) value chain country by country

Question 10

Home Replication Strategy

Answer 10

• extension of home advantage, usually at the beginning of internationalisation
• create products for home market, sell abroad for additional sales (smaller companies with little resources)
• temporary, not long term approach

Question 11

Multi-domestic/local Strategy

Answer 11

• generate to (don’t share knowledge) manager (often national manager) in each country/market to operate independently = local responsiveness
• meet needs in each market, so less economies of scale

Question 12

Global Strategy

Answer 12

• headquarters seek substantial control to achieve max efficiency, learning and integration worldwide
• sees the world as one big marketplace, and uses economies for scale to minimize cost- universal products and services

Question 13

Transnational Strategy

Answer 13

• think globally, act locally
• more responsive to local needs but retaining sufficient central control over operations to ensure efficiency and learning
• combine major advantages of multidomestic and global strategies, minimise disadvantages (eg: Ikea) - BUT difficult to implement

Question 14

Centralisation/decentralisation

Answer 14

where should decision making happen? Headquarters or delegate to other?

Question 15

Important in experienced global firms

Answer 15

• local managers should identify with broad objectives of firm
• subsidiaries should be visited periodically to check on values and priorities
• rotate employees to promote development of a global perspective
• managers should interact, share experiences

Question 16

Organisational Arrangements

Answer 16

Export department, international devision, geographic area structure, product structure, functional structure, global matrix structure

Question 17

What are the different strategies based on the integration responsiveness framework?

Answer 17

• Home Replication Strategy
• Multidomestic strategy
• Global strategy
• Transnational strategy