Homework answers / question archive / Chapter 4 Developing a Transnational Organization: Managing Integration, Responsiveness, and Flexibility True/ False 1)Companies have found that installing a matrix structure is the most effective way to transition from an organization based on multiple regional divisions to one able to manage both geographic and product diversity

Chapter 4 Developing a Transnational Organization: Managing Integration, Responsiveness, and Flexibility True/ False 1)Companies have found that installing a matrix structure is the most effective way to transition from an organization based on multiple regional divisions to one able to manage both geographic and product diversity

Management

Share With

---

Chapter 4

Developing a Transnational Organization:

Managing Integration, Responsiveness, and Flexibility

True/ False

1)Companies have found that installing a matrix structure is the most effective way to transition from an organization based on multiple regional divisions to one able to manage both geographic and product diversity.

 

 

 

2. Companies that pursue a multinational strategy are inclined to adopt the decentralized federation organizational model.

 

  

 

3. The degree of control and coordination exercised by the headquarters is greater in the context of the decentralized federation model than it is in the coordinated federation organizational model.

 

 

 

 

4. MNEs that adopted a centralized hub organizational model were able to develop competitive advantage through their ability to transfer knowledge and expertise and adapt it to markets worldwide.

 

Answer:  False

 

 

5. In the transnational organization, capable managers situated in the national subsidiaries act as the primary source for sensing and analysing worldwide opportunities and threats.

 

 

 

 

6. In a transnational organization, knowledge is developed at the headquarters and transferred to foreign units.

 

 

 

7. Summit Corp. is transitioning from a multinational strategy to a transnational strategy. It would probably be more effective and less costly if the company commenced its accompanying organizational transition by focusing on changing employees’ attitudes and mentalities, than it would be if it led its efforts by engaging in structural change.

 

 

 

 

8. The key strategic capability associated with the coordinated federation organizational model is global-scale efficiency.

 

 

 

9. A transnational organization integrates its dispersed assets, resources, and capabilities through flexible processes involving centralization, formalization and rationalization.

 

 

 

10.  In a transnational organization, the asset and capability configuration can be described as dispersed, specialized and interdependent.

 

 

 

 

Multiple Choice

 

11. Which of the following strategy-structure pairs cannot be associated?

1. Coordinated federation and multinational strategy.
2. Decentralized federation and international strategy.
3. Centralized hub and global strategy.
4. Integrated network and transnational strategy.

 

and b

 

12. Which of the following is not a core characteristic of the decentralized federation structure?

1. Most key assets and resources are decentralized.
2. Subsidiaries are highly autonomous.
3. Corporate management regards subsidiaries as largely independent national operations.
4. Reporting and oversight conflicts prevail.

 

 

 

13.  Which of the following is not a core characteristic of the coordinated federation structure?

1. Most assets and resources are decentralized but well controlled by the headquarters.
2. Subsidiaries are regarded as key sources of knowledge and expertise.
3. Subsidiary control exercised by the headquarters is usually quite formal and rigorous.
4. Corporate managers tend to regard offshore subsidiaries as extensions of domestic operations.

 

 

 

 

14. Which of the following is not a characteristic of the centralized hub structure?

1. Most of the key assets and resources are concentrated in the home country.
2. Tight strategic and operational controls are maintained over the subsidiaries.
3. Most of the manufacturing and product development is executed by the subsidiaries.
4. Corporate management regards its subsidiaries as delivery pipelines to the global market.

 

 

 

 

15. Which of the following statements regarding knowledge diffusion is correct?

1. In a decentralized federation, knowledge is developed in national subsidiaries and diffused throughout the organization  
2. In a centralized hub, knowledge is developed and retained at the center.
3. In a coordinated federation, knowledge is developed at the center and transferred to overseas units for local adaptation.
4. Knowledge diffusion is independent of structure, such that knowledge diffuses in a quite similar manner in all organizational structures.

 

 and c

 

16. Which of the following is not characteristic of a transnational strategy?

1. Multiple diverse perspectives are developed and legitimized.
2. Physical assets and management capabilities are internationally distributed, yet interdependent.
3. Integrative processes are flexible and robust.
4. Knowledge is developed centrally and adapted locally.

 

 

 

17. Isatis Co. has successfully transitioned from a global strategy to a transnational strategy. Which of the following describes the likely configuration of assets and capabilities that now most likely prevails at Isatis?

1. Decentralized and nationally self-sufficient.
2. Centralized and globally scaled.
3. Dispersed, specialized, and interdependent.
4. Core competencies are centralized; other assets and capabilities are decentralized.

 

 

 

18. Which of the following describes the preferred sequencing of changes associated with implementing the typically more effective emerging change process model?

1. Change in individual attitudes and mentalities; then, change in interpersonal relationships and processes; and finally, change in the formal structure and responsibilities
2. Change in the formal structure and responsibilities; then, change in interpersonal relationships and processes; and finally, change in individual attitudes and mentalities
3. Change in interpersonal relationships and processes; then, change in the formal structure and responsibilities; and finally, change in individual attitudes and mentalities.
4. Change in individual attitudes and mentalities; then, change in the formal structure and responsibilities; and finally, change in interpersonal relationships and processes

 

 

 

 

Essay

 

19. The CEO of SemChem Co. was considering how to reorganize the company following the management team’s decision to create four new product divisions, while maintaining SemChem’s existing three regional divisions. A consultant has recommended a solution that centers on driving the change by restructuring the organization around a matrix. Briefly describe the matrix structure and discuss some practical difficulties associated with this organizational structure?

 

 

 

20. Name and briefly describe three organizational characteristics that distinguish the transnational organization from multinational, international or global organizations.  

 

 

 

 

21. The CEO of AgiTec Co. has decided to transition his firm into a transnational organization.  What advice would you give to the company about a change process that could avoid the undesirable outcomes that have often been associated with traditional processes of complex organizational change?

 

 

 

 

22. What is the key lesson behind the metaphor that develops an organizational change model based on a framework related to anatomy, physiology, and psychology?

 

 

 

 

23. Briefly discuss the characteristics of the decentralized federation organizational model.

 

 

 

24. Briefly discuss the development and diffusion of knowledge in the decentralized federation, the coordinated federation and the centralized hub, respectively.