International management part 2

Ubuntu philosophy

"I am because we are"

Tatemae

A Japanese term that means "doing the right thing" according to the norm.

Honne

A Japanese term that means "what one really wants to do."

international entrepreneurship

A combination of innovative, proactive, and risk-seeking behavior that crosses national borders and is intended to create wealth in organizations.

Theory Z manager

A manager who believes that workers seek opportunities to participate in management and are motivated by teamwork and responsibility sharing

Identify a strategy often adopted by multinational corporations to meet the demand for global integration.

A strategy that focuses on globalization and mass customization

Which of the following is a possible example of a macro consideration of political risk by firms?

A study of what would happen to a firm's investment if opposition government leaders were to take control

Conglomerate investment

A type of high-risk investment in which goods or services produced are not similar to those produced at home.

Economic Imperative

A worldwide strategy based on cost leadership, differentiation, and segmentation

value-creating activities

Activities within a firm's value chain that act to increase the value of its products and services for its customers. These can take the form of either primary activities or support activities.

horizontal investment

An MNC investment in foreign operations to produce the same goods or services as those produced at home

Theory W Management

Approach to software project management in which the project manager tries to make winners of each party involved in the software process. Suggested by Barry Boehem

Which of the following factors encourage the centralization of decision making in subsidiary operations?

Fewer highly competent managers in host country and much experience in international business Small geographic distance between home office and subsidiary and high interdependence between units

Expropriation

Forced transfer of assets from a company to the government with little, if any, compensation

Value Claiming activities

In negotiation, doing whatever is necessary to take the reward, the bigger share or the largest piece possible. The bargainer has a position and stays close to it.

Identify the advantages of an international division structure adopted by a firm.

It allows the firm to develop an overall, integrated approach to international operations, as well as a team of internationally experienced managers. The clustering of international actions under one senior executive makes sure that the international focus gains the top management's attention.

Ringisei

Japanese consensus-forming group decisions

Kaizen

Japanese term for continuous improvement

Which of the following factors encourage the decentralization of decision making in subsidiary operations?

Low interdependence between units and little experience in international business Large geographic distance between home office and subsidiary and more highly competent managers in host country

Identify the true statements about the decision-making process.

Managerial involvement in this process depends on the locus of decision making. It is often linear by nature. Managerial involvement in this process depends on the structure of subsidiaries.

Identify the true statements about the managerial system in German multinational companies.

Managers stress more on services and productivity than on managing subordinates. Companies tend to be fairly autocratic. Management education is highly technical.

Theory Y managers

Managers who assume that engaging in effortful behavior is natural to human beings; they recognize that people seek out responsibility and that motivation can come from allowing employees to suggest creative and meaningful solutions.

global integration

Production and distribution of products and services of a homogenous type and quality on a worldwide basis

What are the examples of protective and defensive techniques that are used by a multinational corporation (MNC) to respond to political risk?

Raising capital from local banks and the host government as well as outside sources Curbing the responsibility of local personnel and hiring only those who are vital to the operation Carrying out as little local manufacturing as possible and conducting all research and development outside the country

Identify the forms of the micro risk issues that businesses face.

Restrictive local laws, taxes on specific kinds of business activity, Industry regulation

Quality Imperative

Strategic formulation and implementation utilizing strategies of total quality management to meet or exceed customers' expectations and continuously improve products or services

Political Imperative

Strategic formulation and implementation utilizing strategies that are country-responsive and designed to protect local market niches

Base of the Pyramid Strategy

Strategy targeting low-income customers in developing countries

What is the theory behind the relative bargaining power of a multinational corporation (MNC)?

The MNC operates to have a bargaining power position stronger than that of its host country.

National responsiveness

The need to understand different consumer tastes in segmented regional markets and respond to different national standards and regulations imposed by autonomous governments and agencies

environmental scanning process

The process of providing management with accurate forecasts of trends related to external changes in geographic areas where the firm currently is doing business or is considering setting up operations is known as

vertical investment

The production of raw materials or intermediate goods that are to be processed into final products.

authoritarian leadership

The use of work-centered behavior designed to ensure task accomplishment

In the context of the choice of location for setting up a multinational corporation's (MNC's) operations, identify a true statement about frontier markets.

They are a peculiar subset of emerging economies.

What is a similarity between the global structural arrangement and the international division structure?

They both have an international scope.

Which of the following is true of multinational corporations that use the political imperative approach to strategic management?

They sell products that have a large part of their value added in the downstream activities of the value chain.

What is the primary objective of a firm's internal resource analysis?

To match external opportunities with internal capabilities

Identify the disadvantages of using wholly owned subsidiaries as an entry strategy by multinational corporations (MNCs).

Wholly owned subsidiaries are not very efficient with entering several countries or markets. Wholly owned subsidiaries encounter a high risk with a large investment in one area. Home-country unions are likely to oppose the creation of foreign subsidiaries. Wholly owned subsidiaries cause low international integration or multinational involvement.

Strategic Management

a process that involves managers from all parts of the organization in the formulation and the implementation of strategies and strategic goals

A(n) _______ is any type of cooperative relationship among two or more different firms.

alliance

alliance declining

alliance termination or complete remediation

Joint venture (JV)

an agreement under which two or more partners own or control a business

What do MNCs regard as individuals who will respond to their directives?

an extension of the central management staff

transitional strategy

an integrated business strategy that emphasizes the demands for both global integration and local responsiveness.

Global structures come in three common types. Which of the following are included in the 3 common types?

area, product, functional

In the context of international management, an evaluation tool that is used for identifying individuals with the potential to be promoted to or selected for higher-level positions is known as a(n)

assessment center

Theory X managers

assume that employees are basically lazy and extrinsically motivated.

_______ is an organizational management system in which important decisions are made at the top.

centralization

Larger organizations may choose to _________ authority for critical decisions in order to ensure efficiency through greater coordination and integration of operations.

centralize

Born Global Firm

company that adopts a global perspective and engages in international business from or near its inception

Alliance start-up

conception and strategic development

alliance sustaining

conflict resolution, redefinition of success. Lawyers play large and active role

industrial economy sector

consists of manufacturing operations

In the context of international management, the process of evaluating results in relation to plans or objectives and deciding what action, if any, to take is known as

controlling

In deciding which form of control to use, MNCs must determine whether they want a more bureaucratic or a more

cultural control approach

_______ involves pushing decision-making down the line and getting the low-level personnel of an organization involved.

decentralization

In an organizational context, the process of choosing a course of action among alternatives is known as the ___ ___ ___

decision making process

In the context of international management, the use of face-to-face or personal meetings for the purpose of monitoring operations is known as

direct controls

The use of defined structures and systems in decision making, communicating, and controlling is called ________

formalization

A(n) _______ is a business arrangement under which one party allows another to operate an enterprise using its trademark, logo, product line, and methods of operation in return for a fee.

francise

A(n) ________ ________ _______ is a structure under which global operations are organized on a geographic rather than a product basis.

global area division

A _________ is a structural arrangement in which domestic divisions are given worldwide responsibility for product groups.

global product division

What is the focus of the global area division structure?

goods that are proven winners and now are being marketed conveniently worldwide

alliance hockey stick growth

growth and achievement of initial growth or success-related milestones

In the context of mergers/acquisitions, a major challenge in the post-merger environment involves

high transition costs

service economy sector

includes transportation, finance, insurance, and related industries.

Some takeovers in the old days were caused by ________ laws, which required that nationals hold a majority interest in the operation.

indigenization

Techniques that help the overseas operation of a multinational corporation (MNC) become a part of the host country's infrastructure are known as

integrative

a _______ _______ _______is a structural arrangement that handles all international operations of a business out of a division created for this purpose.

international division structure

Primary Economy Sector

involves obtaining raw materials from the earth; agriculture, ranching, fishing, etc.

Wholly owned subsidiary (WOS)

is a subsidiary located in a foreign country that is entirely owned by the parent multinational.

A(n) _______ is an agreement that allows one party to use an industrial property right in exchange for payment to the owning party.

license

Which of the following is the stage of the life cycle of a firm's alliance with foreign partners that typically involves potential termination and reorganizing of team members and composition?

maturing

alliance mature

maturing stage of alliance life and restructuring of goals and milestones potential termination and reorganization of team members and composition

The cross-border purchase or exchange of equity involving two or more companies is known as a(n)

merger or aquisition

The unanticipated likelihood that a business's foreign investment will be constrained by a host government's policy is called ______

political risk

3 sectors of the economy

primary, industrial, service

Lobbying, campaign financing, advocacy, and other political interventions designed to shape and influence the political decisions prior to their impact on a firm are termed

proactive political

alliance professional

professionalizing of the alliance activity and metrics adjust team changes and maturing

techniques that are designed to discourage the host government from interfering in operations of a multinational corporation (MNC), mainly by avoiding complex ties to the host country's economy, are called

protective and defensive techniques

International Strategy

refers to a mixed strategy that combines low demand for integration and responsiveness.

A decision-making process that is used in Japan where decisions are made by consensus is known as ________

ringisel

administrative coordination

strategic formulation and implementation in which the MNC makes strategic decisions based on the merits of the individual situation rather than using a predetermined economically or politically driven strategy

A benefit of a firm's global product structure is that _______

the creation of specialized product sets results in effective alterations

multi-domestic strategy

the strategy adopted by multinational corporations when the requirement for differentiation is high and the need for integration is low.

Leaders who are visionary agents with a sense of mission and who are capable of motivating their followers to accept new goals and new ways of doing things are called _______ __________

transformational leaders