Designing the Global Corporation - Assignment Example

What determines the manner in which a firm will internationalise its operations? What options are available for the international firm in servicing its foreign markets? The organizations worldwide face a number of challenges when they decide to go global. This is a common problem that they face since they do not have any prior knowledge or understanding of the new territory that they will do their business from. However what best they can do is to find out and research the strengths and weaknesses of this area and hence upon getting the much needed knowledge, base their theories and strategies in a much more effective and efficient manner. This will help one and all to better understand what the new territory, region or country offers the business and the people associated with it. The best thing is that the benefits and disadvantages are determined even before the organization goes the global way and thus it saves itself from embarrassment which it might face without having proper knowledge and adequate research within it. The significant thing here is to get prepared and be ready for what is to come in the future as concerns to the organization that we are talking about here. The ways and means that are usually taken care of whilst managing a business are aplenty and it is only up to the top management within a company that the same can be handled in a several different methods. They are the ones to decide as to what is the real manner in which the firm’s operations would be handled as well as who will head the respective departments, lead the business strategic units and act as legal and media representatives of the said business. The business, as marketers say, exists to satisfy its target audience through fulfilling a need courtesy its products and/or services or a combination of the both, the same being true in case of a retail outlet which sells gasoline to local consumers, thus giving in petrol plus extra services in the form of window cleaning, fuel gauge checks and so on and so forth. A company or an organization needs sound management framework at its top so that the staff and the employees working at different levels feel at ease with the job as well as the working environment. This indeed is very important as it builds long-term credibility of the organization that it cares about its employees and not just the customers and in cases profits and revenues only. A formal organization takes into account the role of leadership at the top and the manner in which this leadership is basically carried about, both in the interests of the people within the company as well as the company itself so that the end result is one on which everyone solemnly agree, that is to make the company thrive from a revenue-generating angle and image building aspect in the long run. A business does not come into its own overnight. It takes a lot of research, planning and proper execution to take it where the marketers, the business professionals and the stakeholders want it to proceed and end up as something quite extraordinary and out of the blue, when one compares other similar businesses in a particular market. The problems that these firms face at the hands of being international and renowned on a global level are something that we will delve into in this paper. We will examine the problems as and when they occur in the timeline of a business or an organization so to speak and we will also discuss the exact basis for these problems to happen. Furthermore, we will highlight the grey areas where work needs to be done in the wake of the organizations understanding themselves and their environments in a better and more cohesive manner. Having said that, we also must rationalize the decisions that have been made time and again by the top management who are present within an organization and which have been proven wrong over a period of time. We will also check the motivational levels of the firms as to why they want to go into new frontiers and earn revenue from there. The reasons for doing so would surely include gaining the relevant target market within the new area which closely matches the profile of the products and/or services offered by this firm and a number of other factors. But before we move any further we will take a close look at the different kinds of businesses which are done on an international level and try to find out the need for these organizations as to why they aim to go the global way when their revenues and profits are more than enough staying within the country of the origin. The reason which comes to mind here is that the firm wants to become an international name and not just play on its local image and it is only possible with the passage of time and money spent that it will become an international organization and thus have a long list of clientele under it which would benefit one and all in the end. As far as the different international businesses are concerned, firstly we need to find out what constitutes a business initially. A business is created to gain some sort of value both for the end consumers as well as the people who are running that very business. This means that the business is run to earn a profit but this is not stated as such in the mission and vision statements of the business that we are talking about here. What these mission and vision statements as well as the objectives of the business mention is the fact that they will strive to work very hard on a daily basis so that they could create some sort of cutting edge value for one and all and mostly the primary target audiences of the business itself. What they miss is the fact that the consumers do not just want value for their money. They want something more than that. They want a relationship with the business, its products and/or services and the different offerings that it makes towards the end consumers. Sadly the business forgets this very fact and confuses itself with something totally different. Now moving on towards the basis of the different kinds of businesses, we find that the organizations that run these businesses could either be global or they could be local. If they are global, that means their mission is to explore more and more countries and that they are doing their best to make themselves heard in the clutter of so many international organizations and firms. If they are local, then this might suggest that they do not know as such what they are basically looking out for. This could either be somewhat of a problematic situation where they just do not know which road to take or the desire to become an international concern where its products and/or services would be appreciated by the whole world. However the problem here is in understanding what this firm actually wants. The question is that does it want fame and recognition or it seriously wants to give value to the global customers through high product/service quality levels or is it a combination of all these things? The answers could be varied and so very similar at the same time. However the desire to become an international company is something that every firm has within it and one should appreciate the advancements that a company strives for. This must go on and the aim should always be set higher but the important thing to understand is that could the firm actually deliver on its promise that has been made? International businesses get introduced in different nations due to other reasons as well. This could be due to their interest and potential in the growth environment of the new country which could have a good impression on the target audiences of the new country. This increases the sales potential of the organization’s products and/or services and in the end everyone is a winner. However the local organizations face a lot of problems in the whole setting since they are the ones who have a cut down on their share of spending and revenue coming from the similar set of target audiences. Furthermore, there is a race to cut through the clutter and make the organization heard amongst the different firms which are present with respect to their own respective offerings, services and products. The mergers and alliances are made with different companies and hence they are forced to come into a region where they never thought of even entering in the past. This is made more discouraging by the fact that this new company which is entering an alien market has to face challenges much like the companies which are already in the business and are facing problems on a regular basis. Therefore it would not be wrong here to state that the initial basis is wrong for these new entrants and hence they have to face pressure right from the very beginning which is a serious concern for them. Since the mergers and alliances are held so as to make the product and/or service available to a select set of audience, the need is to find out what will make the organization stand out from the pressure that it has to deal with, with the passage of time. Then there is the discussion of the different conglomerates and international franchises which make their entry into a nation so that they could capture the relevant market. The incentives that these international concerns bring are endless since they bring a touch of global-ness to the whole retail and marketing environment and not only that but also provide the mannerism for smooth and professional conducting of other firms present within the industry. However these conglomerates, mergers and franchises worry about the idea that their name and image could be diluted if they are not welcomed in the new territory or if there are political, legal and cultural pressures in the line of their operations. What best these organizations would like is to have an easy sailing so that they could build on their global image and competitive ability and not be caught up within the political and cultural issues. However this varies from country to country and could be very different as and when we speak of a variety of nations. The bottom line is to understand the country better and more than anything else, to understand what the business is like and in what capacity it would reach the right target audiences and thus provide them with the needs that they want them to be fulfilled. In the end, it is important to understand that the management must know the limits of its operations abroad. The operating margin for the expense of establishing and starting operations abroad should be easily recoverable within a reasonable time period. The design should also include the managements goals, which come down from the investors of the company. The goals of management should be to acquire specific knowledge of the partner, in a joint venture situation, as well as the financial aspects, and the business-environment. The currency of the host country along with the political situation, and the economy are finer points of detail that the study must cover when analyzing the business-environment. In a less formal sense the design of the study should cover relevant material so that when viewing the final report decision-makers will know with what they are becoming involved. Staffing a feasibility study is of major importance. Not only must the members be competent in communication and understanding, but the management selecting the team must be confident in the abilities of each individual. Communication in international affairs plays a great role for the fact that different languages spoken and unspoken are involved. The communication through a translator let alone person-to person communication can be vastly misconstrued. The individuals communication skills should be top-notch in order to be selected for the team. The members of the team should also be aware of the cultural factors that play a role in communication. Cultural interpretation and adaptation are a prerequisite to the comparative understanding of national and international management practices. Bibliography APPLBAUM, Kalman. (2004). The Marketing Era: From Professional Practice to Global Provisioning. Routledge BARR, Pamela S. (2000). When Firms Change Direction. Oxford University Press BENTON, Ted. (1994). 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