What is a global manager?

Question 1

what do transnational organizations do?

Answer 1

Transnational integrate assets, resources and diverse people in operating units around the world.

Question 2

What three strategic capabilities can transnational companies build?

Answer 2

1. global-scale efficiency and competitiveness;
2. national-level responsiveness and flexibility
3. cross-market capacity to leverage learning on a worldwide basis

Question 3

what are the three groups of managers/specialists in a transnational org?

Answer 3

1. The business manager
2. Country Manager
3. Functional managers

Question 4

describe the business manager

Answer 4

• Strategist + Architect (of worldwide asset and resource configuration) + Coordinator (of transactions across borders)
• global business manager’s overall goal is to capture the full benefit of integrated world wide operations
• the business manag- er is still the architect who usually initiates and leads the debate on where major plants, technical centers, and sales offices should be located - and which facilities should be closed
• coordination likely takes up more of business manager’s time –> need administrative and interpersonal skills

some tools:
- simple centralized control to management of exceptions identified through formal policies to
- indirect management via informal communication channels.

Question 5

Country manager

Answer 5

• Sensor (and interpreter of local opportunities and threats) + Builder (of local resources and capabilities) + Contributor (to and active participant in global strategy)
• manages national subsidiary
• be sensitive and responsive to the local market
• plays pivotal role in satisfying the host government’s requirements and de- fending their company’s market positions against local and external competitors.
• country manager must be good at gathering and sifting information, interpreting the implications, and predicting a range of feasible out- comes –> and must convey the importance of such intelligence to higher ups
• they are no longer mere implementers of programs and policies shaped at head- quarters; many have gained some influence over the way their organizations make important strategic and operational decisions

Question 6

Functional manager

Answer 6

Scanner (for specialized info) + Cross-Pollinator (leading-edge knowledge and best practice) + Champion (innovations that may offer transnational opportunities and applications)

• at a time when information, knowledge, and expertise have become more specialized, an organization can gain huge benefits by linking its technical, manufactur- ing, marketing, human resources, and financial ex- perts worldwide –> functional manager
• addresses strategic challenge of resolving conflicts that arise in achieving worldwide learning
• senior functional executives serve as linchpins, connecting their areas of specialization throughout the organization. Using informal networks, they create channels for communicating specialized information and repositories for proprietary knowledge.

Question 7

what is the biggest constraint when companies globalize

Answer 7

limited human resources

Question 8

corporate manager

Answer 8

Leader + Talent Scout + Developer

• critical
  –> finds and negotiates connections between the rest of the managers, and develops their talent and abilities