Readings

The readings for this course include articles, book chapters, and case studies of established companies from around the world. There is no required textbook; however, two books are very relevant to this subject and recommended:

Bartlett, Christopher A., and Sumantra Ghoshal. Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution. Harvard Business Review Press, 2002. ISBN: 9781578517077. [Preview with Google Books]

Doz, Yves L., José Santos, and Peter Williamson. From Global to Metanational: How Companies Win in the Knowledge Economy. Harvard Business Review Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780875848709. [Preview with Google Books]

The material indicated as cases are to be treated as pre-readings that should be read in preparation for each class session. Students will benefit more from the material indicated as post-readings if the texts are studied after the sessions, together with the class slides and notes.

LEC # TOPICS READINGS
1

How Local Context Matters

Study Questions

  1. Silicon Valley was the "global hotspot" of semiconductors. Is that still the case? Why?
  2. Is HP locally embedded (an "insider") in Singapore? How did it achieve such status?
  3. What specific competencies emerged in Singapore? How? Why?

Case

Leonard, Dorothy A. "Hewlett Packard: Singapore (A)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-694-035, September 27, 1993.

Post-Reading

Schneider, Susan C., and Jean-Louis Barsoux. "Culture and Organization." Chapter 4 in Managing Across Cultures. 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, 2002, pp. 85–117. ISBN: 9780273646631.
2

Realizing a Global Performance

Study Questions

  1. Suppose you could compare two full "pictures" of Nissan: one taken in early 1999, the other in 2002. Which differences would you spot to explain Nissan's dramatic performance improvement during that period? List up to 10 differences, and rank them according to your judgment.

Case

Yoshino, Michael Y., and Masako Egawa. "Nissan Motor Co. Ltd—2002." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-303-042, October 15, 2002.

Post-Reading

Ghosn, Carlos. "Saving the Business Without Losing the Company." Harvard Business Review 80, no. 1 (2002): 37–45.
3 The Relevance of Organization

Post-Reading

Bartlett, Christopher A., and Sumantra Ghoshal. "Managing Across Borders: New Strategic Requirements." MIT Sloan Management Review 28, no. 4 (1987): 7–17.
4

Global Integration: The Value

Study Questions

  1. Why the metaphor of "global concert"? What does it actually mean?
  2. Is SAP's "global concert" an imperative or hubris? Why?
  3. What does the "global concert" mean for the various people in the case?

Case

Rangan, S. "SAP in 2006: Aiming for Global Concert." INSEAD. Case: 307-309-1, August 2007.

Post-Reading

Doz, Yves, José Sants, and Peter Williamson. "The Metanational: The Next Step in the Evolution of the Multinational Enterprise." Chapter 12 in The Future of the Multinational Company. Edited by Julian Birkinshaw, Sumantra Ghoshal, Constantinos C. Markides, et al. Wiley, 2003, pp. 154–68. ISBN: 9780470850657. [Preview with Google Books]
5

Global Integration: The Challenge

Study Questions

  1. What advantages are there for TEVA in the "New Organizational Framework" proposed by Shaldor?
  2. What will determine the success or failure of such "New Organizational Framework"?
  3. What should be the priorities for the "integrators" over the next six months? And the next three years?
  4. How should the performance of the integrators" be measured in six months? And in three years?

Case

Doz, Yves L. "Teva Pharmaceuticals: Global Integration." INSEAD, 2002.

Post-Readings

Ghoshal, Sumantra, and Nitin Nohria. "Horses for Courses: Organizational Forms for Multinational Corporations." MIT Sloan Management Review 34, no. 2 (1993): 23–35.

Galbraith, Jay R. "The Front-Back Hybrid Organization." Chapter 13 in Designing the Global Corporation. Jossey-Bass, 2000, pp. 238–69. ISBN: 9780787952754.
6

Navigating the Maze of a Globally Integrated Organization

Study Questions

  1. The Swiss manager who speaks in the case seems preoccupied, even angry. Why?
  2. Have you ever been in a similar situation? Did you feel like the Swiss manager? Why?
  3. If the Swiss manager in the case asked you what he should do, what would you say?
  4. Suppose you were the CEO of ABB and were informed of this case. What would you do?

Case

Simons, Robert L. "ABB: Accountability Times Two (B)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-191-142, May 19, 1992.

Note on ABB organization in the 1990's.

Post-Reading

Bartlett, Christopher A., and Sumantra Ghoshal. "Developing Flexibility: Specialized Roles and Responsibilities." Chapter 6 in Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution. Harvard Business Review Press, 2002, pp. 109–30. ISBN: 9781578517077. [Preview with Google Books]
7

Managing Global Clients

Study Questions

  1. What is "Siemens One" and why is it so important?
  2. Why is the relation between a Siemens and a global customer so complex?
  3. Why an "Account Management Team"? What is its main role?
  4. What is the nature of the issue with Eurobric? Is it a "global-local" matter?

Case

Yip, G., and T. Yue. "Siemens Key Account Management: Lost in Central Asia?" Rotterdam Business School Case. RSM Case Development Centre. Case: 311-256-1, 2011.

Post-Reading

Arnold, David, Julian Birkinshaw, and Omar Toulan. "Can Selling Be Globalized? The Pitfalls of Global Account Management." Reading 4–3 in Transnational Management: Text and Cases. 4th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2003, pp. 445–55. ISBN: 9780072482768.
8

Managing Global Innovation

Study Questions

  1. Is HP locally embedded (an "insider") in Singapore? How did it achieve such status?
  2. What kinds of knowledge were transferred to Singapore over the years? How?
  3. What specific competencies emerged in Singapore? How?
  4. Why did Project Alex fail?

Case

Leonard, Dorothy A. "Hewlett Packard: Singapore (A)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-694-035, September 27, 1993.

Post-Reading

Santos, José, Yves Doz, et al. "Is Your Innovation Process Global?" MIT Sloan Management Review 45, no. 4 (2004): 31–7.
9

Virtual Teamwork

Study Questions

  1. What is your reaction to the "US perspective" and the "Indian perspective" in the case? Are such perspectives surprising or not? Why?
  2. How do you evaluate Howard's solution? Why?
  3. Did Howard miss anything about the root cause of the problem?

Case

Metiu, A., and L. Selhat. "Shield: Product Development in a Distributed Team." INSEAD. Case: 405-028-1, April 2008.

Post-Readings

Santos, José. "On Virtual Teams."

Siebdrat, Frank, Martin Hoegl, et al. "How to Manage Virtual Teams." MIT Sloan Management Review 50, no. 4 (2009): 62–9.
10

Building the Globally Integrated Company

Study Questions

  1. What global forces drove IBM to become a globally integrated enterprise?
  2. How has IBM adapted thus far? Have they been successful?
  3. If you were Jon Iwata and John Kelly, what recommendations would you make to Sam Palmisano? How would you implement them?

Case

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. "IBM in the 21st Century: The Coming of the Globally Integrated Enterprise." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-308-105, March 31, 2008.

Post-Reading

Palmisano, Samuel J. "The Globally Integrated Enterprise." Foreign Affairs 85, no. 3 (2006).
11

Creating Metanational Advantage

Study Questions

  1. Why the difference of geographic configuration between ST and Intel?
  2. What is the relevance of strategic partners for ST? Why?
  3. What do you find special about ST?

Case

Santos, José. "STMicroelectronics in 1997." INSEAD, 2008.

Post-Reading

Doz, Yves L., José Santos, and Peter Williamson. "The Metanational Advantage." Chapter 1 in From Global to Metanational: How Companies Win in the Knowledge Economy. Harvard Business Review Press, 2001, pp. 1–10. ISBN: 9780875848709. [Preview with Google Books]
12 Global Integration Going Forward

Post-Reading

Santos, José. "Strategy Lessons from Left Field." Harvard Business Review 85, no. 4 (2007): 20–1.