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CHAPTER 10
Organizational Design and Control
Learning Objectives
LO10-1 Explain why the design of organizational structure is important to international companies.
LO10-2 Discuss the organizational dimensions that must be considered when selecting organizational
structures.
LO10-3 Discuss the various organizational forms available for structuring international companies.
LO10-4 Explain why decisions are made where they are among parent and subsidiary units of an
international company.
LO10-5 Discuss how an international company can maintain control of a joint venture or of a
company in which the IC owns less than 50 percent of the voting stock.
LO10-6 List the types of information an international company needs to have reported to it by its
units around the world.
NOTE:
International business statistics, data, and facts about countries, regions, governments, and companies
can change rapidly and dramatically. We recommend that you update this information regularly.
As an adopter of this text, McGraw-Hill offers you a complementary online resource each month, the
International Business Newsletter. The IB Newsletter gives you an array of timely and relevant
articles, videos, country profiles, teaching suggestions, and data resources to add breadth, depth, and
richness to the ever-changing topic of international business.
iGlobe is also a way to keep your courses current. In partnership with PBS, iGlobe is a free video
service for McGraw-Hill adopters that allows you to download breaking news videos onto your
desktop to show in class or online. Updated monthly, these streaming videos are complete with
teaching notes and discussion questions. Key concepts for each video are identified to save you time!
Visit www.mhhe.com/ball, or talk to your McGraw-Hill sales representative for more information
about iGlobe or the IB Newsletter.
Overview
Organizational design is integrated with strategic planning. For IB, firms may (1) have an
international division, (2) be organized by product, function or region, or (3) have a mixture of them
(hybrid form such as matrix). A matrix form tries to attain a balance between product and regional
expertise, but its disadvantages have led some firms to use a matrix overlay in combination with the
traditional product, regional or functional form. Managements are now examining two developing
organizational forms, the virtual corporation and the horizontal corporation.
Because the operations of an IC are far flung around the world and because events in one country may
affect the entire enterprise, two needs are information and control.
When decisions must be made which affect more than one unit of the IC, balance must be struck
between the interests of the parent company, the subsidiary companies, and the enterprise as a whole.
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Chapter 10 - Organizational Design and Control
Control, decisions, and measurements are easier when the subsidiary is 100 percent owned than when
it is less than 100 percent owned or when an independent joint venture company is involved. In a JV,
control capability can be supported by maintaining control over necessary technology, staffing the key
positions, providing the capital and marketing the product.
A focus on reporting issues (financial, technological, political and economic) and managing in a
world out of control conclude the chapter.
Guest Lecturers
1. Your school’s management and organization people could speak on control and information.
2. Executives from ICs located near you could add to those subjects.
3. Virtual organizations may be described by local IC managers.
Worldview
The focus of this Worldview explores “Life in a Virtual Organization.” The virtual organization,
Accenture Ltd., is an example of new-order 21st Century organizations operating without a “bricks &
mortar” HQ and formal branch facilities. They outsource various functions and professional services
through a virtual existence. Asking questions such as, “Is this the wave of the future for the
corporation?,” “What do you think might be the greatest strengths and weaknesses of working in a
virtual organization like this?,” and “Do you think you would enjoy working in a virtual organization?
Why or why not?,” will serve as a starting point for class discussion on organizational structure and
design, control in organizations, and how these organizational elements are changing as technology
provides the infrastructure for virtual environments.
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Global Debate
The focus of this Global Debate explores “GlobalSoft: Profiting from International Transfer
Pricing.” Transfer pricing in international companies has recently received increasing attention in the
business and popular press, and this Global Debate is intended to help shed some light on why
transfer pricing has become the focus of so much attention. The discussion provides a vignette of a
hypothetical company that is using transfer pricing to alter its corporate tax bill by over $500 million
per year. This brief scenario provides an interesting base to explore a range of different financial,
political, ethical, and other issues associated with a management decision such as transfer pricing
practices, and can allow the discussion to consider these issues from a variety of different
perspectives. Asking questions such as, “If you were a shareholder in GlobalSoft, would you be
supportive of the company’s approach to transfer pricing? Why or why not?,” “If you represented the
government of Ireland, would you be supportive of GlobalSoft’s approach to transfer pricing? Why or
why not?,” and “If you represented the U.S. government, or the government of one of the other
nations in Europe, would you be supportive of GlobalSoft’s approach to transfer pricing? Why or why
not?” can serve as the foundation for a lively discussion.
Lecture Outline
I. Opening Section
The opening section examines Kraft’s restructuring. This narrative is a good way to walk in to
the general organizational design area. Note the close ties between organizational design and
strategy. Remind your students that the strategic planning process assures that managers have a
clear understanding of the company’s mission, a vision for how to achieve that mission, and an
understanding of how they will compete with other companies. Organization design is the next
step and there are different organizational structures based on the firm’s level of international
involvement. Organizational structure sets control mechanisms into place and control is
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II. What Is Organizational Design, and Why Is It Important for International Companies?
Organizing normally follows planning. In designing the organizational structure, management
faces two concerns: (1) finding the most effective way to take advantage of specialization of
labor and (2) coordinating a firm’s activities to enable it to meet its overall objectives. (Fig.
10.1)
A. Organizational Design Concerns
1. Finding the most effective way to departmentalize for efficiencies from specialization of
labor
2. Coordinate departmental activities to meet overall objectives
3. Four dimensions to consider in designing the IC:
a. Product and technical expertise
b. Geographic expertise
c. Customer expertise
d. Functional expertise
B. Evolution of the International Company
1. Companies often enter foreign markets by exporting, then forming sales companies and
finally setting up production facilities.
2. As its foreign involvement changes, the firm’s organization often changes. Each domestic
product division may be responsible. When firm begins to invest overseas, it might form
an international division that often is organized on a regional basis (Fig. 10.2).
3. As overseas operations increase in importance, some firms eliminate international
divisions and establish worldwide organizations based on product, region or function. In
some cases, customer classes are also a top-level dimension. Paths for IC design and
evolution are shown in Fig. 10.3.
4. Some firms eliminate the international division and organize operations based on product,
region or geography, function, or customer classes and at lower levels organize based on
process, national subsidiary, and international or domestic dimensions. Management that
makes these changes will realize:
a. Greater capability to develop competitive strategies to confront global competition
b. Lower production costs thorough worldwide standardization and manufacturing
realization
c. Enhanced technology transfer and resource allocation
5. Global Corporate Form – Product (Fig. 10.4)
The product division is responsible for global line and staff operations. Each division has
regional experts. This organizational form avoids duplication of product experts common
in a company with an international division; it creates a duplication of area experts. Some
firms have a group of regional experts in an international division that advises the product
divisions but has no line authority over them.
6. Global Corporate Form – Geographical Regions (Fig. 10.5)
These firms put responsibility for all activities under area managers who report directly to
the CEO. This form is used for both multinational and global companies. It is popular
with companies that manufacture products with low or stable technological content that
require strong marketing ability. Product coordination across regions presents problems
and management often places specialized product managers on the headquarters staff to
provide input to corporate decisions regarding products.
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III. Control – successful firms use controls to put plans into effect, evaluate plan effectiveness, make
corrections, and evaluate and reward or correct executive performance. Subsidiaries and
affiliates are interchangeable terms.
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f. repeat ad infinitum
2. The most successful companies will advance by involving and adapting in this organic,
bottom-up way. Successful leaders will have to:
a. relinquish or relax control,
b. honor error because a breakthrough may be indistinguishable from a mistake,
c. constantly seek disequilibrium
IV. Control: Yes and No
A. Timely and accurate reporting is necessary for successful control within the IC
B. Trends and IT lead to decentralization and de-jobbing
C. Hierarchies are dissolving and leaders often give up direct control to workers trained and
rewarded for coping with evolving tasks.
2. What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the use of an international division as
part of a company’s organizational structure? Under what circumstances might such a
structure be an appropriate choice for a company?
An international division takes control of the IC’s international involvement. After beginning
with an international division, most companies move on to organize their international
activities based on product, function, classes of customer, or region. The international division
structure is limited in its ability to deal with complexity of doing business internationally. At
the same time, some large companies, such as Wal-Mart, use an international division to
organize their international involvement.
3. Compare and contrast geographic and product structures for international companies.
Geographic structures bring marketing issues such as distribution and localization to the fore,
whereas product structures lend a focus to product development. The points of comparison are
in specialists. Product structures have regional expert duplication, and geographic structures
have product and functional expert duplication.
4. Your company’s matrix organization isn’t working; decisions are taking too long, and it
seems to you that instead of best solutions, you’re getting compromises. What can your
company’s CEO do to address this problem?
Set up an organization based on product or region and install a matrix overlay. Establish a
group of regional experts at headquarters if your new organization is based on product. Make
clear to the product managers that the regional experts will have input to the product decisions.
5. You are the CEO of Mancon Incorporated, and you have just acquired Pozoli, the Italian
small-appliance maker (electric shavers, small household and personal care appliances).
It has been in business for more than 40 years and has manufacturing plants in Italy,
Mexico, Ireland, and Spain. Its output is sold in more than 100 markets worldwide,
including the United States. Your company is now organized into two product groups—
shaving and personal care—along with an international division at the top level. How are
you going to include Pozoli in your organization? Explain your rationale.
You could break up Pozoli and put its product divisions in the Mancon divisions Pozoli is
already a multinational that has been in business for years. Its brand names are well known all
over the world. Probably better to locate the entire company in the international division unless
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this division’s job is only to handle exports for the two product groups. If so, either you need to
change the international division’s thrust or establish Pozoli as a separate division on the same
level as the international division and the two product divisions.
9. What measures can be utilized to control subsidiaries that are less than 100 percent
owned by the firm or joint venture partners in which the firm has no ownership?
The company can exercise control if it is providing necessary ingredients such as money,
technology, management skill, production management or sales distribution.
10. Some companies use standardized organizational controls across their entire
organization, in that the same control systems are used for each unit or operation
worldwide. For example, companies such as Starbucks, Kentucky Fried Chicken, or
McDonald’s apply the same rigid quality controls throughout all aspects of their
organizations, even as they expand internationally. Why would a company such as these
impose rigorous corporate quality standards, regardless of the country in which it
operates? What modifications in these quality standards, if any, should the company
permit because of differences across nations or regions of the world? Why is the company
allowing these modifications to occur?
Companies might implement rigorous quality standards, regardless of country of operation, if
they are developing standardized froducts for global markets. There may also be a preference to
standardize because it is easier for the headquarters’ personnel to be able to oversee and
understand international operations when activities are done in the same manner everywhere
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the company operates. The decision on whether to permit modifications to quality standards
will depend on consideration of a number of different factors, including the specific
circumstances in different countries (such as legal and regulatory differences), the company’s
international strategy, analysis of competitors, and the nature and extent of potential subsidiary
detriment, among other factors. Adjustments might be considered due to factors such as the
impact of differences in language, regulations, profit potential, competence of subsidiary
managers, and the size and age of the IC.
GlobalEDGE Answers
Exercise One
1. You work at a U.S.-based food and beverage company that is currently planning to
expand operations to other parts of the world. To design the structure of the international
organization, management has requested additional information on the food and beverage
sector abroad. Use the Industry Profiles in the globalEDGE website to prepare a risk
assessment of the Food and Beverage industry that can help management gain a better
understanding of the external environment in foreign markets.
Answer:
http://globaledge.msu.edu
Search Phrase: “Food and Beverage Industry”
Resource Name: globalEDGE Industry Profiles
globalEDGE™ Category: “Industries: Food and Beverage”
Website: http://globaledge.msu.edu/industries/food-and-beverage/
In the globalEDGE site, click on the “Industries” tab and select “Food and Beverage.” Go to “risk
description” to obtain the requested information.
Exercise Two
2. Fortune magazine conducts an annual survey and publishes the rankings of the “World’s
Most Admired Companies.” Locate the most recent publicly available ranking, follow the
link to the best and worst companies, and focus on the nine factors highlighted by Fortune
magazine. Based on these data, prepare an executive summary of the strategic and
organizational success factors of a company of your choice.
Answer:
http://globaledge.msu.edu
Go to Resource Desk: http://globaledge.msu.edu/ResourceDesk/
Search Phrase: “Fortune”
Resource Name: Fortune: World’s Most Admired Companies
globalEDGE™ Category: “Research: Rankings”
Website: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2011/index.html
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