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 Corporate goals
Jeannet and
organisational Mission
Hennessey (1994)
design Objectives

Strategies

External Internal
forces influences
Geographic
distance
Organisation Percentage
design of sales
Types of
customer Diversity of
markets
Govt. regulations
Management style Human resources
Structural basis
Focus on decision Flexibility
 E.g. Organisation by product or
brand
P r o d u c t D i v i s i o n a l i s a t i o n

B o a r d o f
D i r e c t o r s

C e n t r a l D i v i s i o n aD l i v i s i o n aD l i v i s i o n a Fl i n a n c e
D e p a r t m e M n at s n a g e rM a n a g e rM a n a g e Dr e p a r t m e n
P r o d u c t Pg r o du up c A t Pg r o du up c B t g r o u p C

A r e a A 1r e a A 2r e a A 3r e a 4
 Area 1 Area 2 Area 3

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