1.
What types of political risk would a company entering Russia face?
2.
Most firms attempt to quantify their political risk although without specific weights. Why is this approach so popular? Would assignment of weights be useful?
3.
How have terrorist attacks affected political relationshps between countries such as U.S. and Russia?
4.
What are some of the challenges associated with managing alliances? How do host governments affect these?
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter Objectives:
1.
PROVIDE comparative examples of decisionmaking in different countries.
2.
PRESENT some of the major factors affecting the degree of decision-making authority given to overseas units.
3.
COMPARE and CONTRAST direct controls with indirect controls.
4.
DESCRIBE some of the major differences in the ways that MNCs control operations.
5.
DISCUSS some of the specific performance measures that are used to control international operations.
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• Managerial decision-making processes: method of choosing a course of action among alternatives
• Process is often linear
• Looping back is common
• Managerial involvement in procedure depends on structure of subsidiaries and locus of decision-making
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• Decision making is a key role for any manager or leader. Surprisingly many people struggle when it comes to taking decisions. This might be due to:
• •
Fear of failure
• • Lack of a structured approach
• • Procrastinating
• • Lack of clarity
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• 1. Problem Definition
– Before you can start to take any decisions, you need to be absolutely clear the problem you are trying to reach a decision on. One simple technique is just to write out in a sentence what the problem is that you need to take a decision on.
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• 2. Assess the implications
– All decisions have implications. If it is a decision at work, it has implications for you, your peers, your team and your superiors.
Depending on the decision (e.g. a promotion at work) it may even have implications for your family, especially if it involves relocation.
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• 3. Explore different perspectives
– Perspectives are simply different lenses through which you look at the problem. By exploring different perspectives you start to get a feel for those that you are most attracted to.
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• 4. Get clear on your ideal outcome
– When you are faced with a big decision, it is easy to get lost in the detail and circumstances. An alternative is to get clear on your ideal outcome and use this ideal outcome to inform your choices.
Imagine you aspire to be a CFO of a Top 100 company. By having clarity on your outcome, you can make choices on promotions and experience linked to this ideal outcome.
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• 5. Weigh up pros and cons
– Another way of looking at a decision is to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each of the options open to you. Simply listing the advantages and disadvantages of each option is a powerful way of moving forward on decisions.
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• 6. Decide and act
– Once you have gone through the previous 5 steps, commit to a choice or course of action and start to make it happen. To avoid procrastination, give yourself permission to be okay with any failings that might arise.
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• At the end of the day there is no magic formula for decision making. Following some simple steps and acting can however move you into the realm of effective decision maker.
• Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Duncan_Brodie
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• Decision-making philosophies and practices from country to country:
– Do international operations use similar decisionmaking norms?
• French and Danish managers used different approaches to decision-making; each more adept at different stages of the process.
• French do not value time as much as counterparts
• German co-determination : managers focus more on productivity and quality of goods/services than on managing subordinates.
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• Most evidence indicates overall decisionmaking approaches used around the world favor centralization
• MNCs based in U.S.
– Use fairly centralized decision making in managing overseas units
– Ensure that all units are operating according to overall strategic plan
– Provide necessary control for developing a worldwide strategy
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• Japanese make heavy use of ringisei
(decision making by consensus)
• Other Japanese decision-making terms:
– Tatemae : “doing the right thing” according to the norm
– Honne : “what one really wants to do”
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• MNC methods to control overseas operations
– Most combine direct and indirect controls
– Some prefer heavily quantifiable methods; some prefer qualitative approaches
– Some prefer decentralized approaches; others greater centralization
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• Three common performance measures:
– Financial performance: typically measured by profit and return on investment
– Quality performance: often controlled through quality circles
– Personnel performance: typically judged through performance evaluation techniques.
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Models of PC Manufacturing
Traditional Model
Manufacturer orders
PC parts based on sales forecasts
PC parts are warehoused until needed by the manufacturer
Manufacturer builds
PCs & stores them in their warehouse
PCs are ordered by distributors & shipped to their warehouse
PC orders received from retailers are shipped to them by distributors
Customer buy PC from retailer & receives assistance setting PC up
Adapted from Figure 11–1: Models of PC Manufacturing
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
11-21
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Models of PC Manufacturing
Direct-Sales Model
Manufacturer orders a small number of PC parts from its suppliers
Business & individual customers place orders by phone or over the internet
Manufacturer builds PCs to customer’s exact specifications
Manufacturer ships PCs directly to customer
Adapted from Figure 11–1: Models of PC Manufacturing
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
11-22
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Models of PC Manufacturing
Hybrid Model
Manufacturer builds shells – a case, power supply, floppy disc, basic circuitry
Shells are shipped to distributors & components suppliers establish parts inventory with or near distributor
Customer orders
PC through retailer or direct from manufacturer – order is forwarded to distributor
Distributor gathers parts to assemble
PC to customer’s specifications
Adapted from Figure 11–1: Models of PC Manufacturing
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Distributor ships PC direct to customer on dealers behalf – dealer provides setup & additional services for separate fee
11-23
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• MNCs may experience control problems
– Objectives of overseas operation and MNC may conflict
– Objectives of joint venture partners and corporate management may not agree
– Degree of experience and competence in planning vary widely among managers running overseas units
– Basic philosophic disagreements about objectives and polices of international operations may exist
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• Two common complementary types:
1.
Internal or external control in devising overall strategy
2.
Looking at ways organization uses direct and indirect controls
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• Internal and external perspectives of control – one is often given more attention than the other.
• External control focus needed to find out what customers want and be prepared to respond appropriately
• Management wants to ensure market for goods and services exist
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• Use of face-to-face personal meetings for purpose of monitoring operations
• Examples: top executives visit overseas affiliates to learn of problems and challenges; design structure that makes unit highly responsive to home-office requests and communications
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• Use of reports and other written forms of communication to control operations at subsidiaries
• Financial statements
– Financial statement prepared to meet national accounting standards prescribed by host country
– Statement prepared to comply with accounting principles and standards required by home country
– Statement prepared to meet financial consolidation requirements of home country
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• Differences across countries:
• Great Britain
– Financial records are sophisticated and heavily emphasized
– Top management tends to focus on major problem areas; not involved in specific matters of control
– Control used for general guidance more than surveillance
– Operating units have large amount of marketing autonomy
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• France
– Managers employ control systems closer to that of German than British
– Control used more for surveillance than guidance
– Process centrally administered
– Less systematic and sophisticated than in
German companies
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• U.S. vs. Europeans:
– U.S. firms rely much more on reports and other performance-related data
– Americans make greater use of output control; Europeans rely more heavily on behavioral control
– Control in U.S. MNCs focus more on quantifiable, objective aspects of foreign subsidiary; control in European MNCs used to measure more qualitative aspects.
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• Financial performance
– Most important part of ROI calculation is profit; often manipulated by management
– Amount of profit directly related to how well or poorly a unit is judged to perform
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• Financial performance (continued):
– Bottom line (i.e., profit) performance of subsidiaries can be affected by a devaluation or revaluation of local currency
– If a country devalues its currency, subsidiary export sales will increase
– Price of goods will be lower for foreign buyers with currencies that have greater purchasing power
– If country revalues its currency, export sales will decline
– Price of goods for foreign buyers rises since currencies now have less purchasing power in subsidiary’s country
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• Quality performance: Why Japanese goods of higher quality than goods of many other countries:
– Quality control circle (QCC)
– Japanese firms train people carefully
– Staying on technological cutting edge
– Focus on developing and bringing to market competitively priced goods
– Design, engineer, and supply people to ensure product produced at prices customers can bear
– Fostering continuous cost-reduction efforts (kaizen)
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• Organizational strategy and accompanying techniques resulting in delivery of high quality products or services to customers
• Critical to achieve world-class competitiveness
– Manufacturing is primary area
– U.S. automakers have greatly improved quality of their cars in recent years
– Japanese have continuously improved quality and still have the industry lead
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• Concurrent engineering/inter-functional teams
– Designers, engineers, production specialists, and customers work together to develop new products
• Empowerment
– Give individuals and teams resources, information, authority needed to develop ideas and effectively implement them
• Many successful TQM techniques applied to manufacturing
– MNCs use TQM techniques
• Tailor output to customer needs
• Require suppliers use same approach
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• ISO 9000 Certification
– Indirectly related to TQM
– International Standards Organization (ISO) to ensure quality products and services
– Areas examined include design, process control, purchasing, service, inspection and testing, and training.
• Ongoing Training
– Wide variety of forms such as statistical quality control and team meetings --designed to generate ideas
– Objective is to apply kaizen (Japanese term for continuous improvement)
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1.
Which cultures are more likely to focus on external controls? Which cultures would consider direct controls more important than indirect?
2.
How would you explain a company’s decision to use centralized decision-making processes and decentralized control processes, considering the two are so interconnected? Provide an industry example.
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