Pe s e w a Pr e s e n t a t i o n s
Marketing Organisation, Strategic
Planning, Organisation and Control
Why do we need to organise international
marketing activities?
• The way in which an organisation is structured helps
determine:
– how effectively and efficiency it exploits opportunities;
– its capacity for responding to problems and challenges.
• No one best way.
• Issues:
– definition of organizational units;
– centralization vs. decentralization;
– assignment of reporting and control system.
Centralisation vs decentralisation
• Factors influencing centralisation vs decentralisation:
– management philosophy and style.
• Centralisation:
– efficiency, consistency, avoidance of duplication.
– the challenge of rapid technological change may best be
met by centralised R&D.
• Decentralisation:
– local responsiveness and adaptation.
Organisational Structure
• Organizational Design
– Stages used when expanding overseas
• Export department
– The creation of an export department structure is usually the first
step in the functional organization toward entry into foreign
markets
– Usual initial form for export marketing.
– Allows the building up of international expertise.
• International division
– As the export revenue share increases and there are several
countries in the strategic portfolio, the firm changes to an
international division structure
– Provides single, coordinated management of international business
across product lines and countries.
– Problem: lack of built-in key product/technology competencies.
Organisational Structure
• Geographical/regional structure
– As overseas sales expand and the management of the countries takes
more time and resources, the firm usually subdivides the
international division into country groups or trade regions
– Area presidents have responsibility for profit and performance.
– Useful for companies with wide geographical spread and relatively
narrow product lines: food, beverage, automobile, pharmaceutical
industries.
– Emphasises importance of regional characteristics.
– Within regions, product managers have internal staff support.
– Problems: difficulty in spreading of new products; duplication of
staff; coordination of planning; coordination of R&D.
Organisational Structure
• Organisational Design
– Stages of expansion (cont’d)
• Global product divisions
– Regional and local managers’ authority is subordinated to that
of the global division chief, who approves and directs
– Used by companies with several dissimilar product lines.
– Meets special requirements of products and supporting
technologies.
– Most appropriate where standardised marketing mix is more
important than individualisation for local needs.
– Problems: duplication of staff and activities; lack of international
coordination between product lines.
– Product line coordinators may ease problems.
Organisational Structure
• Matrix organisations
– Organisations in which both country and product receive equal
emphasis.
– Mixed approach combines two or more competencies on a
worldwide basis: geographic knowledge; product knowledge;
functional competence; or knowledge of customer or industry.
– Staff members have two or more bosses; work as members of
more than one competency group.
– Advantages: emphasises more than one competency (e.g.,
provide market and product knowledge).
– Disadvantages: unclear decision-making structure; slower
decision making; built-in tendency for conflict.
People and Organisational Culture
• Local Acceptance
– Global marketing strategy often requires a great deal of
work on the part of local managers
• Local conditions are frequently different from other places
• Corporate Culture
– Methods that people and organizational culture use to
enhance effective communication
• Build a strong corporate culture internationally
• Build a common technical or professional culture
• Build strong financial and planning systems
People and Organisational Culture
• The Expatriate manager
– Typical leadership roles of the expatriate manager
• Role 1 – Customer representative
– The expatriate manager must serve as a high-level contact with
existing customers, prospects and suppliers in the local market
• Role 2 – Local champion
– The expatriate manager must be a champion for the local office at
headquarters
• Role 3 – Network coordinator
– The expatriate management must provide linkages with the firm’s
other offices in the worldwide network of the firm
Conflict Resolution
• Conflict Resolution Practices
– Let country managers retain local brands and marketing
budgets
– Solicit country managers’ input for new-product
development
– Give country managers lead roles in global teams
– Provide international transfers for country managers
– Involve the country manager in the formulation of the
global marketing strategy