please rewrite in your own words and add some research into each thought with your own references 16 – www.savvyessaywriters.net
please rewrite in your own words and add some research into each thought with your own references 16 – www.savvyessaywriters.net
DISCUSS INTERNATIONAL CONFIGURATIONS USING THE PARAMETERS OF EXHIBIT 7.9.
Carpenter and Sanders (2008) state firms attempt to be responsive to local needs and remain globally efficient, which creates firm tensions. Carpenter and Sanders moreover state that additional trade-off in a firm’s value chain must be made to achieve local needs customization and to maintain global efficiencies; said another way, which activities will remain standardized in the firm and which will be tailored to the local market. Prahalad and Doz (1987) state “local responsiveness refers to resource commitment decisions taken autonomously by a subsidiary in response to primarily local competitive demands†(p. 15). Prahalad and Doz also say in businesses that have limited to no economies of scale need to make local adaptions to their products or differences in the distribution. Bartlett and Ghoshal (2003) state it is a business manager’s objective to achieve global-scale efficiency and competitiveness and the local manager to be sensitive and respond to local markets.
My take on multinational configuration is that it must align with an international strategy that understands that not everything will be able to fit within the firm’s domestic strategy. A firm must make trade-offs. In my business, e-learning, I am building the system to be able to automatically track and respond to the different languages spoken in different countries. There will obviously be specific courses designed for each foreign country, but that is no different from me creating dynamic content modifications for each of the fifty states and U.S. territories. As I decide which countries to enter, I need to make decisions that pertain to adapting my user interface based on country, and currently, it seems that the interface will remain consistent and the courses will be translated into different languages. A market research study will help determine whether e-learning standards or expectation are different in other countries. I want to make this firm as successful as possible while not sacrificing the profit opportunities, so the more I can keep elements standardized with marketing and strategy, the fewer trade-offs there will be. However, I acknowledge that my firm will be born global and that I must have trade-offs between my resources and capabilities and how the firm sets its international strategy.
DISCUSS THE FOUR EFFECTIVE TACTICS FOR DEVELOPING A GLOBAL MIND-SET.
As Ghemawat (2012) inferred in his TEDtalk video, the world may seem like it is saturated with MNCs reaping all the profits, but there are plenty of opportunities to expand and be competitive in internationalization and create a competitive advantage. Carpenter and Sanders (2008) state that having a global mindset along with appropriate capabilities can change a stable competitive market into vibrant one. Carpenter and Sanders also say that executives with a global mindset can see that each country has different cultural, socioeconomic, and sociopolitical views and practices that are seen as opportunities and not threats.
According to Gregersen, Morrison, and Black (1998), “Organizations seeking to globalize need look no further than their own leaders to determine if their efforts will succeed or fail†(p. 28). Carpenter and Sanders (2008) state there are four effective tactics for developing global leaders: travel, teams, training, and transfers. Gregersen et al. state that global leaders need to be immersed in the local culture, economy, political system, and market, which provides uninsulated and impartial thinking free from the corporate cocoon. The reason for this travel is to foster a better view of the local country by becoming familiar with the people that make up the consumer market. In my previous business, I was encouraged by subscribers located in Florida to expand into Puerto Rico, which struck enthusiasm in me. I went to Puerto Rico to see if our e-learning model would translate into a profitable expansion. I went and toured the cities and looked at local medical supply companies and most were dilapidated homes with no Internet connectivity. If I had not made this trip, I could have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars translating courses only to find that the infrastructure of Puerto Rico could not support our business model.
Gregersen et al. (1998) state the second strategy is to establish teams of diverse backgrounds and perspectives to work on the projects. When I was starting to look outside the U.S. to expand my e-learning business, I needed people that had differing views and perspectives. I found that in the corporate world most people will not state their honest opinion to their superiors because of fear of reprisal. My wife will not stand up to her boss because she knows it is futile. I admire people that can stand up and speak their mind. Having a diverse set of team members that are willing to put the hours in and collaborate with each other can be beneficial, and as Gregersen et al. state “Contrasting views and values can force members to think globally. Managed well, a culturally diverse team can also produce better business decisions†(p. 30).
Training, the third strategy, can provide the project team members and managers with the skills necessary to confront and contrast the local environment (Gregersen et al., 1998). Gregersen et al. state that training should have the following characteristics:
- Participants should come from the company’s worldwide operations.
- Programs should include topics on international strategy and vision, worldwide organizational structure and design, change management, cross-cultural communication, international business ethics, multicultural team leadership, new market entry, dynamics of developing countries and markets, and managing in uncertainty.
- To ensure that the training encourages people to rearrange and stretch their minds, programs should include action learning components such as a field-based business project. (p. 30)
Transfers, according to Gregersen et al. (1998), is the most powerful strategy of providing overseas assignments. Gregersen et al. surveyed leaders and eighty percent stated that working in a foreign country was the most influential experience shaping their lives, which made it possible to alter their minds and come up with “head-cracking experiences†(p. 30).
Bowen and Inkpen (2009) saliently state that “It is essential that global leaders of change start the change process with an understanding of cultural contexts†(p. 257). Bowen and Inkpen also state organizations that can manage cross-culturally complex change may find new sources of competitive advantage and opportunities for acquisitions and alliances. After researching the global mindset, it is obvious that leaders must optimally utilize their resources to achieve their global goals. Beechler and Javidan (2007) state, “The challenge to global leaders is to mobilize global resources to achieve their companies’ ambitions†(p. 164).
STRATEGIC SUPREMACY THROUGH DISRUPTION AND DOMINANCE
D’Aveni’s (1999) concept of strategic supremacy is purported to offer a unifying view of strategy. D’Aveni states that firms (and researchers) need to pay attention to the strategies of dominant incumbents and challengers. By performing an analysis of the competitive environment, a firm can better understand the interactions between strategy and the environment, which allows for the tailoring of strategies. D’Aveni also addresses turbulent versus stable markets and that “turbulence creates different competitive environments characterized by different patterns of disruption†(p. 130).
STRATEGIC SUPREMACY: OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IS NOT SUFFICIENT; YOUR FIRM NEEDS A POWER STRATEGY
Strikwerda (2002) addresses the inconsistencies or challenges in traditional business strategy frameworks by stating that businesses are coming under increasing rivalry and competitiveness and only by understanding “its power position vis-à -vis other players and needs to develop a power strategy†(p. 9). Strikwerda uses a military based strategy (and I did not like Sun Tzu’s Art of War) to discuss the three principles defined by D’Aveni (2001):
- The power of perception.
- The power to capture the hearts and minds of core customers.
- The power to fashion a favorable world by using different combinations and patterns of competition and cooperation. (pp. 11-12)
Strikwerda (2002) states that the heart of these three principles is the sphere of influence, which consists of the core or center of interest, vital interests, buffer zone, pivotal zone, and forward positions; this sounds like I am laying out a battle plan, which many would argue is the goal of business. I struggled with this article. It did not engage with me. This white paper was written at a level that was difficult to ascertain its primary purpose. Maybe the cohort can help with my take on this article.
CORPORATE SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
D’Aveni (2004) explains the four spheres of influence that can make up and support a businesses’ strategy. The core of the sphere is the base of power from where a firm generates most of its revenues and profits. The vital interests sphere are complementary business avenues that support and leverage the core. Buffer zones are defensive areas that protect against attack from competitors. D’Aveni states that “If battles must be fought and territory lost, it’s better done in the buffer zone than in the core†(p. 40). Pivotal zones are areas where there may be a future use. I can state that one of my websites I built under my corporate umbrella was built because I saw a future business opportunity. I realized that the number of people needing CPAP therapy was growing every year, and a method for taking the patient’s data and sending it to physicians and care team members could be a significant form of revenue. Power vacuums are areas where there is no firm in the market. In the StratSim there are car segments that are not in the market, and these are power vacuums because a firm could act on these and reap a significant competitive advantage.
Regarding how the CAGE distance framework and the Strategic Supremacy model have synergies, it seems as though Strategic Supremacy model can be utilized in geographic ways, like setting up strategic power spheres in specific countries to fend off entry by other firms.
REFERENCES
Bartlett, C. A., & Ghoshal, S. (2003, August). What is a global manager? Harvard Business Review, 81(8), 101-108.
Beechler, S., & Javidan, M. (2007). Leading with a global mindset. In M. Javidan, R. Steers, & M. Hitt (Eds.), Advances in international management: Special issue on global mindset (Vol. 19, pp. 131-169). JAI, Oxford: Elsevier.
Bowen, D. E., & Inkpen, A. C. (2009, June). Exploring the role of “global mindset†in leading change in international contexts. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 45(2), 239-260.
Carpenter, M. A., & Sanders, W. M. (2008). Strategic management: A dynamic perspective—Integrated StratSim simulation experience. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
D’Aveni, R. A. (1999, Spring). Strategic supremacy through disruption and dominance. Sloan Management Review, 40(3), 127-135.
D’Aveni, R. A. (2004, Summer). Corporate spheres of Influence. MIT Sloan Management Review, 45(4), 38-46.
Ghemawat, P. (2012, June). Actually, the world isn’t flat [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/pankaj_ghemawat_actually_…
Gregersen, H. B., Morrison, A. J., & Black, J. S. (1998, Fall). Developing leaders for the global frontier. Sloan Management Review, 40(1), 21-32.
Prahalad, C. K., & Doz, Y. L. (1987). The multi-national mission: Balancing local demands and global vision.New York, NY: The Free Press.
Strikwerda, H. (2002). Strategic supremacy: Operational excellence is not sufficient; your firm needs a power
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