Page 134 - International Marketing

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136 International Marketing BRILLIANT'S

subsidiaries report directly to the company president, or his or her delegate
without assistance from a headquarter group. As international business
grows, the complexity of co-ordination and direction will extend beyond
the scope of a single person. Assembling a staff group to take responsibility
for growing international activities will become necessary. This evolutionary
process dictates the choice of structure at any given point in time.
3. Nature of Business: A company with minimum product diversity
in different markets may effectively organize itself functionally. In other
words, when the same products are sold worldwide for similar end-users,
through similar channels of distribution and advertising themes, the
functional domestic may be extended overseas as well. Where product
lines are diverse and where local expertise is requisite to adequately serving
the market, a geographic organizational structure may be more appropriate.
4. Management's Orientation: The cultural attitudes and orientation
of a company's management toward different aspects of doing business
overseas is another factor that affects, the choice of an organization's struc-
ture. These aspects include such considerations as management's attitudes
toward foreigners and overseas environments, management's willingness
to take risks and seek growth in unfamiliar circumstances and management's
ability to make compromise to accomodate foreign perspectives.
5. Availability of Qualified Managers: The final criterion that
determines the choice of organizational structure is the availability of
internationally trained executives. If an adequate number of trained
managers is not available, a company may be forced to accept a different
structure for the short run than the one which is considered appropriate. In
the long run, however, managers could be trained and the organization
appropriately restructured. But the investment needed for developing
internationally trained executives would have to be justified in terms of
future potential and foreign business expansion plans.
To evaluate a company's justifiable long-run development of managerial
talent, it is helpful to consider the different conditions under which the
organizational designs appear to be suitable. 

Q.20. “The structure of International marketing organization is
decided on the basis of geographical locations, function and
products.” Given this statement, discuss different international
marketing organization structures with their relative
advantages and disadvantages. [MBA (FT) 2009, 2004]
OR
Discuss the various types of organizational structures in the
foreign market. [MBA (FT) 2008]