Organising for international marketing Factors affecting organisational design organisation by product or brand/Matrix organisations Guidelines for the organisation Factors influencing the international organisation Centralisation v decentralisation The impact of business culture Human resource implications Expatriate managers

Factors affecting organisational design Jeannet and Hennessey (1994) Corporate goals Mission Objectives Strategies Jeannet and Hennessey (1994) External forces Internal influences Organisation design Geographic distance Types of customer Govt. regulations Percentage of sales Diversity of markets Human resources Flexibility Management style Structural basis Focus on decision

E.g. Organisation by product or brand

Area 1 Area 2 Area 3 Matrix Organisation Product Manager A Product Manager B Product Manager C Matrix Organisation Unity of command is sacrificed to co-ordination across business functions. E.g. people reporting to both product managers and area bosses.

Guidelines to the organisation Concerns: the division of labour the allocation of responsibilities delegation/power/authority

There must be: a clear chain of command everyone must know who to report to/who reports to whom responsibility must be matched with authority few levels of authority the span of control should not be too great the structure must be flexible

Factors influencing international marketing organisation Size of the firm number of foreign countries involved level of involvement firm’s objectives for its foreign business firm’s experience in international business the value and variety of its products the nature of the marketing task

Centralisation v decentralisation I.e. the global division of labour or specialisation by subsidiary? advantages of centralisation? better for planning better co-ordination optimum use of resources disadvantages of centralisation poor motivation amongst subsidiary staff due to too much control misunderstandings and delays in communication

The impact of business culture Influenced by: the organisation’s founder the organisation’s history leadership and management style original structure and systems the industry itself e.g. ‘Silicon Valley’ and software

Human resource implications - expatriates v locals? Think global and act local Local managers could lead to loss of control Is there such a thing as a global manager, if so is he/she available?

Expatriate managers (reverse for local managers) Advantages where there are poor educational opportunities where senior managers believe expatriates are better where there is control at the top. Disadvantages they cost more! E.g. relocation growth in dual career households culture shock substantial training programme