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to assimilate to the special requirements by establishing individual processes for the local environment or by offering local variations of the products or services in order to be attractive for customers and partners alike.⁹

      Figure 1-4: The Global Integration/Local Responsiveness Framework¹⁰

      This Integration/Responsiveness Framework advises upon the choice of a global strategy for organisations facing high global integration pressures (for example due to a strong global competition) but being able to offer a highly standardised product as the pressures for local responsiveness are low. Organisations choosing this approach typically build cost advantages through centrally managed global-scale operations. These global organisations constitute the classic case of a global player, as most of the strategic decisions, responsibilities, resources and assets are centralised in the (home country) headquarters, which exerts a tight control over all overseas operations that deliver the products to a global market. Typical representatives of this kind of organisations are found for example in the aircraft or consumer electronics industry. In contrast, organisations facing low global integration pressures but instead high environmental forcers for local responsiveness follow a multinational (also called multidomestic) strategy approach and are formed as a decentralised federation of independent organisations. Many of their key decisions, responsibilities and assets are decentralised in order to better meet the individual market needs. The relationship between headquarters and subsidiaries is comparatively informal and usually focused on financial control. Multidomestic or multinational organisations are mainly found in industries whose products depend on languages or culture-specific tastes like for example publishing houses, foods and beverages. In cases where both forces contemplated are low, the resulting international organisations are largely based on transferring the products or processes of the parent company to their subsidiaries for worldwide diffusion. Foreign activities are seen as remote outposts that are highly dependent on the headquarters’ resources and support the parent company with their profits. Therefore, the organisation’s management and strategy is oriented towards the home country, exercising a tight control over their foreign subsidiaries but without systematically integrating host country organisations and their perspectives. These organisations are found for example in the textile industry.¹¹

      So far, all introduced strategies are dominated by a single strategic demand. However, in the current global competition organisations increasingly face high forces of global integration and high pressures for local differentiation with a growing emphasis on worldwide innovation. According to Bartlett and Goshal, the appropriate transnational strategy to compete effectively in this extremely demanding environment requires the simultaneous development of “global competitiveness, multinational flexibility and worldwide learning capabilities”¹². Transnational organisations are truly interdependent and make selective centralising or decentralising decisions. Essential resources are centralised within the home country headquarters to protect the core competencies and in part realise economies of scale. Other resources and learning opportunities are geographically dispersed in specialised locations which ensures the necessary flexibility. Products are adapted to local requirements where necessary despite being part of an integrated production process that provides standard components from a single location to all relevant subsidiaries worldwide. Improvements and innovations are promoted in all subsidiaries and headquarters alike and outcomes are shared between all operations and subsequently diffused around the globe. Transnational organisations are characterised by large flows of knowledge, capital, people and products between subsidiaries and between headquarters and subsidiaries. The resulting organisation can be described as an integrated network. The environment described is typical for the telecommunication, pharmaceutical and media industry. More and more industries are gradually developing towards the transnational sector, as is the case for example with the automobile and banking industry. It is obvious that a transnational strategy with its high demands on integration and coordination provides a huge challenge. Therefore, successful examples are rare.¹³

      When an organisation pursues a transnational strategy, decisions become far more complex, as multiple market requirements and the needs and capabilities of many different subsidiaries have to be taken into account and balanced out. In addition to that, non-business matters or soft factors require more management attention, especially the need for productive and harmonious cross-border relationships despite cultural differences and language barriers. Whereas the challenges presented by strategic, organisational and operational matters are anticipated and considered, corresponding soft factors are regularly ignored. A global survey of 572 executives explored internationalisation challenges and especially the role of cross-border collaboration and communication. More than 50 % of the respondents rated cross-border collaboration as very important, not only with all kinds of external partners but also within their business unit and their whole organisation. 64% reported cross-border collaboration as having been a critical factor in performance improvement. Despite its relevance, 51% admitted that linguistic and cultural diversity make it very difficult. Communication misunderstandings were reported to have stood in the way of establishing major cross-border transactions several times (6%) or a few times (43%) with incurred financial setbacks. Interestingly, due to a generally enhanced command of English, the diversity of languages across countries is no longer seen as the crucial cause for misunderstandings (only 27% reported this as most likely reason), instead different norms of workplace behaviour (49%) and differences in cultural traditions (51%) constitute the main challenges. Factors such as local customs and languages were stated to hamper their company’s international expansion plans significantly, especially in Russia (89%), Spain (88%), Brazil (70%) and China (67%).¹⁴

      In summary, dealing competently with intercultural issues constitutes one of the most important factors for a successful internationalisation. The basics of cross-cultural competence will therefore be addressed in detail in chapter 2 which is dedicated to this key issue.

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1.2	The Use of Holistic Management Models

      Managing any kind of organisation is a complex process and is made even more complex in an international and therefore usually unknown environment. The smaller and the more focused an organisation is, the easier it is for its (top) managers to rely on their experience and instincts for good management decisions. Consequently, the more an organisation is diversified, the more people are contributing to its success and the more it is dispersed over different locations, the more a clear structure is needed in order to not involuntarily overlook important matters.

      Holistic management models were developed to ensure a balanced and complete view on all management matters of different types of organisations. They provide generalised issues that have to be solved in order to steer an organisation effectively to longterm success. These models are used for guidance in the management process, for assessing the maturity of an organisation’s management system and for electing the best organisations at quality or excellence price competitions.

      Since the 1970s several holistic management models were published. To date, there are three models with international relevance: the (New) St. Galler Management Model, the model of the Baldrige Excellence Program and the EFQM Excellence Model.

      The New Management Model is an integrative framework that provides a system-oriented view of a company and is edited by the Management Institute St. Gallen. It therefore presents predominantly a scientific view. The distinctive graphic as presented in Figure 1-5 shows the company as a productive system in the centre of its surrounding network. It consists of six essential concepts: environmental spheres, stakeholders, interaction issues, structuring forces, processes and modes of development. These depict central dimensions of the management function. Whereas environmental spheres and stakeholder expectations have to be analysed with regard to important changes, interaction issues combine manageable matters concerning communication and resource allocation. Structuring forces should be set up to arrange the daily routines coherently, forming the company’s framework for value creating and

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