CHAPTER 2 CASE 2;

CHAPTER 3 CASE 2:
Tableau staffs its international offices primarily with host country nationals. What are the advantages

and disadvantages of this staffing strategy?

There are different staffing strategies a company can implement when entering an overseas market,

with each having its advantages and disadvantages. The staffing strategy, Tableau company has selected

is a host-country national strategy, which means to employ people who were born in the country in

which the business is operating. Here are few advantages and disadvantages for such staffing strategy:

Advantages:

 Better communication with the clients, as there is no languages barrier.

 Great knowledge of local rules and laws.

 Better management of the company’s operations within the country’s laws and rules.

 Less costly in both moving expenses and training to hire a local person i.e. no need to provide

booking flight, housing allowance, international salary, etc.

 Host-country national may be more productive from the start, as he or she does not have

many of the cultural challenges associated with an overseas assignment.

Disadvantages:

 Host-country staff may not understand business objectives as well without proper training. 

There might be a difficulty with the familiarity with headquarters operations.

 Lack of technical skills and expertise that are needed by Tableau Company.

 Lack of knowledge related to the company’s core values and strategic objectives.

2. Do you agree with Chabot that the company will benefit if more executives spend time in

international offices? Why or why not?

 Yes, I do agree with Chabot that the company will benefit if more executives spend time

international offices, as there are a lot of benefits accompanying this decision that include:  Executives

are accountable for all the work of their organizations, so there is a need to move around all offices to

encourage employees to work harder and achieve business objectives.  Awareness of workplace

dynamics of a different country and this will also assist the executives in identifying the activities that

are essential to achieving success around the world and specify the positions that hold responsibility for

performing them.

 Build a global database to know who and where your talent, as this is one of tools to be used

if any company would like to expand globally, since most of the companies now have many more

strategic posts scattered around the globe and must monitor the career development of many more

managers.  This decision can also help in retaining the talent of Tableau Company, as global networks

that transfer knowledge and good practices run on people-to-people contact and continuity. Executive

continuity also cuts down on turnover, recruitment and opportunity costs.  Such decision would also

be beneficial in understanding the national staff culture and would help in earning awareness of the

world and its variety of people and cultures.  Gaining knowledge of other local customs and ways of

doing things in these offices. Despite the above-mentioned advantages, there are few points that

should be taken into consideration when taking such decision, such as:  The expenses required by the

company for such decision i.e. providing an international salary, housing allowance, flight tickets, etc. 

Different cultures, as every country has its own culture, beliefs, and values, understanding all those

immediately is very difficult. So suffering from cultural shock, the difference in the behavior pattern of

people from different countries is a great disadvantage of working abroad.  Some countries might

issues related to the safety and this might affect the Executives performance in the country.
 3. As Tableau executives get ready to spend time in the company’s international offices, how

can they prepare for the cultural differences they will encounter?

 Familiarize themselves with culture, beliefs, traditions and language of the country before

traveling.

 Limit interactions with local people from outside the company at the beginning, until they

reach a point where they are aware of the culture.

 Depending on local employees in decisions related to cultures.

 Observe, listen and describe.

 Try to be objective, but recognize that the filter of your own culture will always affect what

you see.

 Try to maintain a certain detachment. Practice being a participant and an observer at the

same time, taking part in an activity while you stand back from it to observe others and your own

reactions

4. What are some of the challenges Tableau will face as it hires 1,000 new employees in one

year?

Some of the challenges are listed below:  There may not be enough space for everyone to

work efficiently.  There may be a shortage of cash to meet expansion costs. Taking on more and more

work to generate more income places additional pressure on your premises and staff.  Management

may be under pressure, operating reactively rather than proactively.  The quality of products and

services could drop, causing an increase in customer complaints.  The company’s business may lose

touch with competitors' activities

Chap 4 – Case 2:
CHAPTER 5 CASE 2
 CHAPTER 6 CASE 2

1. Are you surprised about the impact that the iPhone has had on the technologymarketplace?

State your reason.

Yes, because at that time technology was not yet invented for various use in a smallcompact size.

Besides that back in 2000, telecom companies were not as competitive asnow because at that particular

time only few people have their own cell phone or anycommunication devices. Later, the Apple founder,

Steve Jobs had this idea of that oneday cell phones were going to become important devices for

mankind. Then heinnovated the traditional personal digital assistant (PDA) into something much

moreconvenient and accessible. Next, Apple was the first company to bring huge and drasticchanges to

the world after the first iPhone was released in 2007 and it came withutilizable features such as internet

browser and global positioning system (GPS). Sincethat, many other electronic companies followed

Apple step by producing their owncommunication devices.

2. Why is the iPhone considered a disruptive innovation?

Disruptive innovation scenario is when the innovation of products, services, orprocesses that radically

change in the market industry and later displacing establishedmarket-leading companies. There reasons

why iPhone is considered a disruptiveinnovation are the touchscreen technology, the build in important

feature such asinternet services, and the iPhone camera.First reason is the touchscreen technology.

iPhone 1st generation was the firstproduct of Apple that came with smooth touchscreen technology. It

was the firstinnovated devices that have had brought huge changes to the world. People started tolook

at iPhone as an advance and a perfect device to stay connected with others and toease day to day

tasks.Second reason is the build in important feature such as internet services. Back in 90s,the only

devices that can received internet connection were personal computer (PC) andpersonal digital assistant

(PDA). PDA was a small version and have almost same functionsas PC. However, after years of
innovation took part on these devices, Apple finallyproduced a portable device which was iPhone 1 st

generation that merged thefunctionalities of a PDA and a cell phone. iPhone is much convenient and

acceptedworldwide. Last but not least the iPhone camera itself. Not so long ago, people used film

camerato capture the contemplative moments. Later the disruption begun when the newinnovation is

introduced to the market which was digital camera. Years after that, Applewas introducing iPhone with

cell-phone cameras. iPhone was targeting the new users byoffering affordability, portability, and ease of

use of cameras. The integration of thecamera into the cell phone brought the economy of digital camera

became morecompetitive as people started to use cell phone camera in their daily life. The main

factorof this evolution was the cell camera was less expensive compared to digital camera and it is much

easier to use as it doesn’t have a separate device to set up. The conclusion is, the main reason of

innovation took part in people life is to make ease of daily basis tasks and discovering new processes,

ideas, and tools. For example, the transport innovations from horse to horseless carriage, and finally to

gas-powered vehicles really gave huge impact to the society. However, some of these innovations gave

negative or regressive effects to disruption.

3. Why do you think Apple has been able to stimulate innovation successfully?

In my opinion, Apple has been able to stimulate innovation successfully because of the effective leader

and team. In order to handle a great business plan, the chief executive officer (CEO) often plays

important role in leading his people. The CEO of Apple company, Steve Jobs had strong determination to

change the market to a new level. He was really passionate and high innovative to change an idea into

something much more useful products. Steve Jobs never got satisfied with his work and keep planning

and innovating again and again just to make sure his company, Apple, is always in the top place. Besides

that, even though some people may disagree and belittle his works, he took that as motivation and had

that burning desire to get success in life.