Exam 10: The Organization of Global Business

Mirkhani Mining Supplies is the industry leader in the production of underground mining equipment. The company has its headquarters in South Africa and has been in operation there since its inception in 1987. Mirkhani is known worldwide for the safety features it incorporates in its equipment. This company conducts its operations with the safety of the underground miner as its guiding objective. Mirkhani Mining was recently called in to respond to the latest mine accident in China. Mirkhani not only provides safe mining equipment, it also makes superior mine rescue equipment. The company will be receiving a global award for freely rendering the use of its rescue equipment to China during a mine collapse. Mirkhani Mining Supplies will be recognized around the globe as saving the lives of forty underground miners in China. The company states, "Saving those lives is better than receiving a billion dollars for mining machinery." -All of the following characteristics would be seen if Mirkhani Mining Supplies was considered a stateless corporation except which one?

Scenario - Windmere Technologies Windmere Technologies has been in operation since 1984. Today, Windmere is actually considered to be a globally-based firm with corporate offices in thirteen foreign nations. There is not one office of this company with higher authority or more decision making power than any other of the thirteen in operation. Windmere Technologies is recognized as a business leader in all thirteen nations in which it has corporate offices. According to the CEO of the company, "Windmere considers the world to be its home base." The management has done a good job of creating its organizational structure where people are grouped simultaneously by function and by division. Windmere is best known for its work in creating alternative energy sources. As this is of vital concern to all nations of the world today, Windmere's ideas and products are welcomed by all nations. This business takes in revenues in excess of $8 billion per year and expects it to substantially increase in the future. -Which one of the following would Windmere Technologies not claim as a purpose of its organizational structure?

According to Ms. Bartz, former CEO of Yahoo!, organizational structure promotes innovation.

The first step a domestic firm takes when entering an international arena is usually to create an international division.

According to C.K. Prahalad, global businesses establish foreign subsidiaries to handle the exports from their home country in which stage of globalization?

According to C.K. Prahalad, global firms set up operations in another country in which stage of globalization?

Bayer AG clustered all of its business operations into six groups under an umbrella company called Bayer World. Each of these six groups have included several subgroups comprised of product categories such as as dyestuffs, fibers, or chemicals. At the same time, each of its administrative and service functions were placed under Bayer World into one of several functional groups, such as marketing, human resources, plant administration, or finance. In addition, top executives who had headed functional groups in the past, were given authority over different geographical regions, which, like the product groups, were supported by and intertwined with the functional groups. The final result of the new organizational structure divided the original nine functional areas into 19 multidisciplinary, interrelated business groups. The new organizational structure that Bayer AG adopted was a _____structure.

Limited Clothing Inc. has a corporate headquarters with three divisions: North American Division, European Division, and Asia Division. Limited Clothing Inc. has a _____ structure.

Of the following, which is NOT an advantage of an international division?

The varying functions of ExxonMobil's Upstream, Downstream, and Chemical subunits demonstrate its product organizational structure.

Hilton Hotels Corporation has the following divisions which cater to different customer classes around the world: Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton, and Timeshares. Hilton Hotels Corporations has a _____ structure.

How are hybrid structures different from matrix structures? Explain.

Differentiate between functional and divisional organizational structures. Provide an example of each.

The organizational structure that results from combining functional and divisional structures is called a geographic region structure.

Of the following, which is NOT listed in the text as a purpose of organizational structure?

C.K. Prahalad postulates that stateless corporations represent the _____ stage of globalization.

A market structure is also called area structure.

"For a global business, organizational structure is not important." Do you agree with this statement? Defend your position.

The functional organizational structure has three main advantages: It promotes economies of scale, promotes in-depth skill development, and helps eliminate competition from the market.

A functional structure is one where an organization: