Đang tải... (xem toàn văn)
HELEN HỌC CÙNG_ For Ref _Sejong University_Strategy an Organization in the international Firm
International Business by Prof Yong-Sik Hwang Sejong University Sun Tzu What Is Strategy? A planned set of actions that managers take to make best use of the firm’s resources and core competences to gain a competitive advantage • When developing strategies, managers examine the firm’s strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and challenges facing the firm • They then decide which customers to target, what product lines to offer, how best to contend with competitors, and how generally to configure and coordinate the firm’s activities around the world International Strategy • Strategy carried out in two or more countries • Managers develop international strategies to: Allocate scarce resources and configure valueadding activities on a worldwide scale Participate in major markets Implement valuable partnerships abroad Engage in competitive moves in response to foreign rivals Global, Sustainable Competitive Advantage • Managers should aim to “…develop, at one and the same time, global scale in efficiency, multinational flexibility, and the ability to develop innovations and leverage knowledge on a worldwide basis.” • Thus, the firm that aspires to become a globally competitive enterprise should simultaneously strive for three strategic objectives: – Efficiency – Flexibility – Learning Three Strategic Objectives • Efficiency: Lower the cost of the firm’s operations and activities on a global scale • Flexibility: Manage diverse country-specific risks and opportunities by tapping resources in individual countries and exploiting local opportunities • Learning: Develop the firm’s products, technologies, capabilities, and skills by internalizing knowledge gained from international ventures • Often, even successful firms excel at only one or two of these objectives Key Dimensions of Successful International Firms Visionary Leadership A quality of senior management that provides superior strategic guidance for managing efficiency, flexibility, and learning International mindset and cosmopolitan values: Openness to, and awareness of, diversity across cultures Willingness to commit resources: Financial, human, and other resources Strategic vision: Articulating what the firm wants to be in the future and how it will get there Willingness to invest in human assets: Emphasizing the use of foreign nationals, promoting multi-country careers, and training to develop international “supermanagers” Examples of Visionary Leaders • Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, oversees a $63 billion family conglomerate whose companies market a range of products, from cars to watches • His group made numerous international acquisitions, reflecting a change in strategic vision from local to global • Recently, Tata developed a $2,500 car, the Nano, targeted to emerging markets worldwide Organizational Culture The pattern of shared values, behavioral norms, systems, policies, and procedures that employees learn and adopt • • • Employees acquire the culture as the correct way to perceive, think, feel, and behave in relation to new problems and opportunities that confront the firm Usually derives from the influence of founders and visionary leaders or some unique history of the firm Management should seek to build a global organizational culture, key to the development and execution of successful international strategy Global Strategy • • • • Headquarters seeks substantial control over all country operations in order to minimize redundancy and to achieve maximum efficiency, learning, and integration worldwide Global strategy asks, “Why not make the same thing, the same way, everywhere?” Products, marketing, and company practices are relatively standardized R&D, manufacturing, marketing, and other activities tend to be concentrated at headquarters, where they can be centrally coordinated and controlled Management views the world as one large marketplace Transnational Strategy • A coordinated approach to internationalization in which the firm strives to be more responsive to local needs while retaining sufficient central control of operations to ensure efficiency and learning • The firm seeks to combine the major advantages of multidomestic and global strategies while minimizing their disadvantages • It’s a flexible approach: standardize where feasible; adapt where appropriate • However, most firms find implementing transnational strategy very challenging Transnational Strategy Requires the Firm to: • Exploit scale economies by sourcing from a reduced set of global suppliers and concentrating production in relatively few locations where competitive advantages can be maximized • Organize production, marketing, and other valuechain activities on a global scale • Optimize local responsiveness and flexibility • Facilitate global learning and knowledge transfer • Coordinate global competitive moves—that is, deal with competitors on a global, integrated basis How IKEA Strives for Transnational Strategy • • • Some 90% of the product line is identical across more than two dozen countries IKEA modifies some furniture offerings to suit tastes in individual countries An overall, standardized marketing plan is centrally developed at the firm’s headquarters in Sweden, but is implemented with local adjustments Management decentralizes some decision-making to local stores, such as product displays and language to use in advertising Organizational Structure The reporting relationships inside the firm, “the boxes and lines” that specify the linkages among people, functions, and processes, that allow the firm to carry out its operations • In large MNEs, these linkages are extensive and include the firm's subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, and other partners worldwide • A fundamental issue: How much decision-making should the firm retain at headquarters and how much should it delegate to foreign subsidiaries and affiliates? This is the choice between centralization and decentralization The Most Experienced Global Firms: • Encourage local managers to identify with the broad objectives of the firm • Visit subsidiaries periodically to instill corporate values and priorities • Rotate employees within the corporate network to promote development of a global perspective • Encourage country managers to interact and share experiences with each other through regional and global meetings • Provide incentives and penalties to promote compliance with headquarters’ goals How Value Chain Activities Are Shared in the Typical Global MNE Alternative Organizational Arrangements • Export department • International division • Geographic area structure • Product structure • Functional structure • Global matrix structure Export Department A unit within the firm charged with managing the firm’s export operations • • • Most closely associated with home replication strategy The firm’s resource commitment is small Export activities are unified under one department, providing efficiencies in selling, distribution, and shipping Headquarters has minimal control over foreign operations, with strong potential to rely too much on intermediaries, and few opportunities to learn about foreign markets International Division All international activities are centralized within one division in the firm, separate from domestic units • • • • Associated with increased focus on international business Concentrates international expertise, with greater coordination and management of international operations However, can result in fierce competition between domestic and international units for company resources, with limited knowledge sharing among the foreign units and with headquarters Can result in little coordination between this division and other divisions in the firm Geographic Area Structure Management and control are decentralized to individual geographic regions, whose managers are responsible for operations within their region • • • Results in greater responsiveness to customer needs and wants in each market, providing a good balance between global integration and local adaptation However, managers’ orientation is more regional than global, which affects development and management of products Global economies of scale may suffer Product Structure Management of international operations is organized by major product line • • • • Each product division is responsible for producing and marketing a specific group of products worldwide The firm develops expertise with specific products on a global basis, ensuring scale economies and knowledge sharing among units worldwide for a given product line However, it can result in duplicating the firm’s support functions in each product division There is also potential for excessive focus on products and too little on developing the firm’s markets Functional Structure Management of international operations is organized by functional activity • • • For example, oil companies tend to organize their worldwide operations along two major functional lines: production and marketing of petroleum products The approach implies a small central staff that provides strong central control and coordination, with a focused global strategy and concentrated functional expertise However, coordination becomes unwieldy when the firm has many product lines, and the approach may not respond well to specific buyer needs in individual markets Global Matrix Structure Blends the geographic area, product, and functional structures to leverage the benefits of a purely global strategy while the firm remains responsive to local needs • Simultaneously leverages the benefits of global strategy and responsiveness to local needs • Emphasizes interorganizational learning and knowledge sharing among the firm’s units worldwide • However, the dual reporting chain of command means employees may receive contradictory instructions from multiple managers, which can lead to conflicts • Managing many subsidiaries or products, or operations in many foreign markets, is complex Global Matrix Structure ... resources: Financial, human, and other resources Strategic vision: Articulating what the firm wants to be in the future and how it will get there Willingness to invest in human assets: Emphasizing the. .. entire firm • Global information systems: Global IT infrastructure, together with tools like intranets and electronic data interchange, provide virtual interconnectedness within the international firm. .. decision-making to local stores, such as product displays and language to use in advertising Organizational Structure The reporting relationships inside the firm, ? ?the boxes and lines” that specify the