Deck 7: Implementing the Strategy: Building Multidimensional Capabilities

Question 1

The global business manager does not need to be located in the MNE's home country.

Answer 1

True
Indeed,in the true transnational company,the global business manager may not even be located in the home country and great benefits can accrue to relocating several such management groups abroad..

Question 2

In general,the global business manager,the geographic (country)subsidiary manager and the worldwide functional manager respectively cope with challenges of developing global efficiency and competitiveness,national responsiveness and flexibility,and worldwide innovation and learning capabilities.Nevertheless,it does not mean that they undertake their tasks unilaterally.

Answer 2

True
New challenges encountered by MNEs in 21ˢᵗ century require them to develop multiple strategic assets: global-scale efficiency and competitiveness,national responsiveness and flexibility,and world innovation and learning capabilities.The fundamental task of the global business manager is to see opportunities and risks across national boundaries and functional specialties,and to coordinate activities across barriers to capture the potential benefits.The country subsidiary manager needs to defend the company's market positions against global competitors,satisfy the demands of the host government,and respond to the needs of local customers.The worldwide functional manager's job is to provide support to line managers,particularly by diffusing innovations and transferring knowledge on a worldwide basis.

Question 3

Worldwide functional managers are principally responsible for diffusing products and services worldwide between the MNE's geographic units.

Answer 3

False
Worldwide functional managers have the specialist responsibility for activities like R&D,manufacturing and marketing.Their job,broadly speaking,is to diffuse innovations and transfer knowledge on a worldwide basis.

Question 4

The role of the geographic (country)subsidiary manager has become more difficult in an era of global business units and global customers due to the fact that the manager is accountable for results,but exercises limited authority over the employees and assets situated within the country.

Question 5

All of the following forces are contributing to the complexity and diversity encountered by MNEs in the 21st century,except:

A) the acceleration of product and technology life cycles.
B) the globalization of markets.
C) the assertion of national government demands.
D) the devaluation of some national currencies.

Question 6

In the transnational organization of today,top management must control global business management,worldwide functional management and geographic (country)subsidiary management,so that three groups would not attempt to provide divergent influence on the corporate strategies.

Question 7

The major challenge facing all MNEs is to allocate their major strategic tasks and organizational roles among key management groups.

Question 8

It is not important to assign a qualified person to the global business management role.

Question 9

When products of high strategic importance are transferred internally between an MNE's business units,global business managers will prefer to facilitate these transfers via internal quasi-markets,rather than exerting direct control over quantities shipped and prices charged.

Question 10

When commodity-like products are transferred internally between an MNE's business units,global business managers will principally develop internal quasi-markets to coordinate cross-border flows of materials,components and finished products.

Question 11

In light of the dramatic changes in the organizational form of MNEs,which of the following do not receive enough attention from those who manage modern MNEs

A) a review of the new roles and responsibilities of the firm's managers.
B) the analysis of new international environmental forces.
C) the refinement of global strategy.
D) the study of characteristics that contribute to effective transnational organizations.

Question 12

As an information broker,the geographic (country)manager must understand the national culture well,and thereby decide how to modify the MNE's goals,strategies and values so that that they become appropriate for the local context.

Question 13

In the transnational,worldwide functional managers are often linked most effectively through informal networks that are nurtured and maintained through frequent meetings,visits and transfers.

Question 14

The biggest challenge facing transnational organizations is to create a generation of managers that have the requisite skills and the perspective needed to operate in a multibusiness,multifunctional,multinational system.

Question 15

Two key tasks associated with the geographic (country)manager's role as a national defender and advocate are both the responsibility for advocating the subsidiary's role in the MNE's worldwide organization and the responsibility for championing transnational innovations.

Question 16

To respond to the heightened complexity and diversity associated with managing global operations in the 21st century,MNEs can be expected to increasingly adopt organizational forms characterized by hierarchical structures which emphasize either-or choices in place of forms that emphasize flexible coordinative processes and integrated networks of assets and resources.

Question 17

To succeed in the modern international operating environment,managers must be able to do all of the following,except:

A) build and manage complicated yet subtle new organizations that deliver coordinated worldwide action.
B) sense and interpret complex and dynamic environmental changes.
C) develop and integrate multiple strategic capabilities.
D) respond aggressively to below-budget financial results.

Question 18

Innovations can be stimulated by all of the following - revolutionary technological breakthroughs,emerging consumer trends,new competitive challenges and pending government regulations.

Question 19

The global business manager alone is responsible for formulating the strategic priorities of the MNE.

Question 20

While the global business manager must routinely incorporate the perspectives of the geographic (country)managers when formulating the MNE's global business strategy,there is no need to incorporate the perspectives of the worldwide functional managers because these perspectives are incorporated into the formulation of the broader corporate strategy.

Question 21

In overseeing the worldwide distribution of key assets and resources,the global business manager is responsible for all of the following,except

A) linking the assets and resources in a configuration that resembles the integrated network form.
B) seeking the input of geographic and functional managers.
C) complying with the wishes of local municipal governments responsible for governing the regions within which the assets and resources are situated.
D) leveraging existing resources and capabilities.

Question 22

Which of the following is not considered a key management category in the modern transnational company

A) the top-level corporate executives / managers.
B) the country subsidiary manager.
C) the integrated services manager.
D) the global business manager.

Question 23

You are employed at the headquarters of a large MNE.While visiting one of the firm's foreign operations,you overhear the following comment,"Top-level corporate management has become an increasingly burdensome cost centre in the modern transnational.Our company employs well-trained and highly skilled individuals as global business managers,worldwide functional managers and geographic (country)managers.To enhance performance,our firm should thin the ranks at the corporate executive level and allow the business,functional and geographic managers more liberty to coordinate their own activities." Upon returning to headquarters,you are advised that you are being promoted to a country manager position within the MNE.However,you have been asked to prepare a report on your observations from your recent trip before you leave to start your new role.Use this report as an opportunity to discuss your position in support of,or against,this perspective regarding top-level management.

Question 24

An effective approach by a transnational manager to the first sign of difficulty at a subsidiary is to

A) Delegate clear responsibilities
B) Back responsibilities with rewards that align them with corporate goals
C) Send in the headquarter experts
D) Support the relevant management group

Question 25

The characteristics that distinguish an effective and energizing global strategic vision do not include

A) shared by all in the transnational organization.
B) simple, relevant and continuously reinforced.
C) tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual group in the MNE.
D) provides direction and purpose.

Question 26

To overcome the not-invented-here (NIH)syndrome that often prevails in international firms,which of the following techniques are not employed by the worldwide functional manager when facilitating the transfer of new ideas and innovations throughout the MNE

A) identifying best practices through informal contacts and formal evaluations.
B) replacing geographic (country) managers that resist the adoption of best practices.
C) arranging cross-unit visits and transfers.
D) hosting conferences and forming task forces.

Question 27

The role of geographic (country)manager is often considered the acid test of general management potential and a necessary qualification on the resume of any candidate for a top management position.Discuss the critical role of the geographic (country)manager as a bicultural interpreter and detail some of the reasons for failure in both upward communication and downward communication between the subsidiary and headquarters.

Question 28

Worldwide functional managers would not occupy the following executive role in the MNE

A) Vice-President, Research and Development.
B) President, Marketing.
C) Chief Financial Officer.
D) Vice-President, South America.

Question 29

The challenges facing a geographic (country)manager's who must convert corporate strategy into actionable plans for the subsidiary do not include

A) the multiplicity and diversity of constituents whose demands and pressures compete for the geographic (country) manager's attention.
B) failure of the country manager to identify and communicate worldwide best practices.
C) the expectations of headquarters that the country manager will translate broad corporate goals and strategies into specific actions which are responsive to the needs of the subsidiary's national environment.
D) the need to garner commitment and enthusiasm for the among constituents of the subsidiary with respect to the corporate strategy and the associated actionable plans.

Question 30

Worldwide functional managers are frequently promoted into their positions after having demonstrated functional knowledge that is highly specialized,such as technological capability,marketing expertise or manufacturing know-how,to name a few.This promotion requires that functional managers evolve from secondary staff roles to take active roles in transnational management.While the tasks facing worldwide functional managers will vary widely by specific function,the core roles and responsibilities that all worldwide functional managers should be expected to fulfill are more predictable.Discuss the three core roles and responsibilities,explaining why they are integral to the success of the modern transnational organization.Provide examples to illustrate these roles and responsibilities.

Question 31

In executing responsibilities for cross-border coordination,the global business manager will not typically

A) decide on sourcing patterns.
B) manage cross-border transfer processes.
C) enforce fair market value transaction pricing between all global business units.
D) employ coordination mechanisms ranging from direct control over pricing and quantities shipped to the establishment of rules that create an internal market.

Question 32

In their role as worldwide intelligence scanners,worldwide functional managers lead efforts to diffuse innovations throughout the MNE by engaging in all of the following activities,except

A) sensing strategically important changes or information in the environments of foreign subsidiaries.
B) acting as repositories for specialist information.
C) leading disruptive innovations.
D) facilitating the communication and transmission of strategically important information to specialists in the business groups or geographic groups.

Question 33

Top-level management teams strive to pursue continual renewal within the transnational by engaging in all of the following activities,except

A) defining the corporate mission and values
B) devoting considerable time and effort to reviewing below-budget financial results.
C) constantly orienting the organization to its customers.
D) forcing adaptation and learning.

Question 34

In the geographic (country)manager's role as an information broker,the individual must engage in all of the following activities,except

A) formulate and implement cross-border transfer policies to be used when coordinating the flow of materials, components and finished products from the host country to related business units situated in other host countries.
B) interpret the environmental and cultural differences of the host country, using this information to predict feasible outcomes to the headquarters.
C) translate corporate goals, strategies and values into meaningful objectives for employees situated in the host country.
D) communicate the corporation's goals, strategies and values to the employees situated in the foreign country.

Question 35

Which of the following expressions is used to describe one class of transnational innovation developed by worldwide functional managers

A) internally initiated innovations.
B) nationally integrated innovations.
C) globally linked innovations.
D) internationally targeted innovations.

Question 36

The top-level management team should balance all of the following processes in order to fully exploit the MNE's assets and resources and greatly leverage its performance,except

A) formalizing goods flow.
B) decentralizing decision making.
C) centralizing scarce resources.
D) socializing information and knowledge.

Question 37

Which of the following do not constitute part of the strategic tension facing the geographic (country)manager

A) initiating the worldwide diffusion of best practices and innovations developed within the host country.
B) presenting the "face" of the entire organization at the country level.
C) responding to the needs and demands of the host country government.
D) leveraging the MNE's local resources and capabilities to strengthen the firm's worldwide competitive position.

Question 38

While the role of the geographic (country)subsidiary manager has traditionally concentrated on responsibilities such as identifying sales and profit opportunities,accessing local factors of production and leveraging parent company assets and resources,the modern geographic subsidiary manager's role has evolved to include an expanded set of responsibilities.Discuss the tasks executed by the country manager and propose an associated set of skills that you think would be required by a country manager.Be sure to link these skills to the list of tasks.