Instant homework answers

Source: Adapted from C. Hill, International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace, 2nd edn (MoGraw Hill, Newark, 1997) © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Reproduced with permission.

In Figure 3.9, area managers are responsible for the performance of all products w i t h i n the various countries chat comprise their regions, while product managers are responsible for sales of their specific product ranges across the areas. For example. Product A Manager may be

CHAPTER 3 THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

concerned w i t h sales of Product A in Europe, the Americas and in the Asia-Pacific area. Product managers typically report to a Vice President Global Products (or similar title) for matters per-taining to product and to another Vice President (perhaps a VP International) w h o is responsible for geographical matters. There is a similar dual reporting line for functional staff, including H R staff. Country/Area H R managers may also be involved in staffing issues involving product division staff (reporting indirectly to Vice President Global Products). There may be additional reporting requirements to corporate H R at headquarters. One early and public supporter of the m a t r i x organization was Percy Barnevik, former chief executive officer of Asea B r o w n Boveri (ABB), the European electrical systems and equipment manufacturer. The decade-long efforts by ABB at m a t r i x control were very influential in the popular and academic press, intriguing executives at a number of global firms .

Overall, efforts to successfully implement the m a t r i x solution have been problematic . Bartlett and G h o s h a F ' comment that, in practice, particularly in the international context, the m a t r i x has proven to be all but unmanageable. They isolate four contributing factors:

Dual reporting, which leads to confiict and confusion.

The proliferation of communication channels which creates informational logjams.
Overlapping responsibilities, which produce turf battles and a loss of accountability
The barriers of distance, language, time and culture, which often make it very difficult for managers to resolve conflicts and clarify confusion.
Bartlett and Ghoshal conclude that the most successful M N E s focus less o n searching for the ideal structure and more on developing the abilities, behavior and performance of individual managers. This assists in creating 'a m a t r i x in the minds of managers', where individual capabil-ities are captured and the entire firm is motivated to respond cooperatively to a complicated and dynamic environment . I t seems clear that if the M N E opts for a m a t r i x structure, particular care must be taken w i t h staffing. As Ronen^'* notes: