Archive for the ‘Global Strategy’ Category

By Kannan Ramaswamy, Ph.D., and Bill Youngdahl, Ph.D.

Leaders get paid to think big, which means they sometimes announce ambitious initiatives and then leave the details for others to figure out. These leaders hand down the marching orders and expect targets to be hit. But they are not around at 3 a.m. to see the fallout on the rank and file. Leaders who pile on tasks and expect results — or else — use fear as their default motivational tool. A better way to inspire is to learn the strategic pathways, assess the organization’s capacity, recognize the individual and then convey the potential joy of accomplishment. | Video: Inspiring through fear (2:06)
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By Kannan Ramaswamy, Ph.D.

The rank and file in many organizations big and small is usually plagued by doubts about the strategy that their company is supposedly pursuing. Often, these are not questions about the specifics of the chosen direction but ones of a much more fundamental nature. They typically wonder whether their organization does indeed have a strategy in the first place. To them, the stutter steps that their firm is making, a quick market entry here, a new product launch there, a set of technology alliances and acquisitions all seem unconnected to any central purpose. | Video: Stumbling Without Strategy (1:54)
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By Karen Brown, Ph.D.

Assembling automobiles requires a different skillset than healing people, but many U.S. hospital executives are traveling to Japan to learn operational excellence from Toyota. The thought of health care administrators taking notes on an automobile assembly line might sound alarm bells to some. Medicine requires a human touch that does not apply to cars, and no two patients are the same. Yet Toyota has mastered many business behaviors that can be translated to service settings. Three of these involve putting quality first, preventing rework, managing handoffs.
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Sandeep Krishnamurthy, a digital media executive with Zee TV, sees the future of his industry when he watches his 6-year-old son bypass traditional television networks at home. “He manages to get to the exact show he wants on Netflix using his Wii,” Krishnamurthy said April 5, 2012, at Thunderbird School of Global Management. The trend, called OTT (over-the-top) distribution, allows viewers of all ages to access live television and other content through Internet-enabled devices such as smartphones and laptops. Zee TV, India’s largest media conglomerate, has embraced the technology with its recent launch of Ditto TV, India’s first and only OTT distribution platform. Krishnamurthy heads OTT strategy and distribution at Asia TV USA, the American holding company for Zee TV. “I think it means a sea change for traditional networks,” Krishnamurthy said. “The way they create content for the viewer is likely going to shift over time.” Advertisers also will have to rethink their strategies. Krishnamurthy discusses the trend in this Thunderbird Knowledge Network video (2:23)
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As global CEO of public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller, Mark Penn follows a simple formula to help his clients get the results they want: Numbers + creativity = strategy. Penn used the approach in the 1990s to help U.S. President Bill Clinton win re-election. The same formula has worked for Burson-Marsteller clients in dozens of countries. “I encounter a number of CEOs and others who want to operate by their gut,” Penn said Nov. 11, 2011, during a keynote address at the inaugural Thunderbird Global Business Dialogue in Glendale, Arizona. “They have great ideas, they have an inspiration, and they don’t want to be bothered by the numbers.” He also meets people at the other extreme who are completely numbers driven. “What I try to preach is, you’ve got to have the right combination for long-term renewal and success,” he said. Download the full podcast here from Thunderbird School of Global Management. | Podcast: Global Reputation Management (37:39)

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By Andreas Schotter, Ph.D.

Conflict between parent and child comes with the territory when multinational corporations set up overseas operations that span cultural, political and geographical boundaries. Subsidiary managers often resent the perceived meddling from headquarters, while corporate managers resent the perceived lack of teamwork and unity. Fortunately, conflict can drive innovation and boost productivity when organizations place managers in key positions who know how to function as “boundary spanners.” | Video: Solutions at Both Ends (2:09) | Video: No More Expatriates (2:55) | Video: Beyond Repackaging (2:52)
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Simple adjustments go a long way in emerging markets. But multinational companies will have to do more than just repackage their products or tweak their marketing messages to succeed in the 21st century. “That’s not good enough anymore,” says Thunderbird School of Global Management Professor Andreas Schotter, Ph.D. He says multinational companies in the 21st century will need boundary spanners who know how identify solutions that penetrate deep in emerging markets — and then communicate these solutions to corporate headquarters. “You have to learn from the different levels in these markets,” Schotter says. “There are huge segments of customers who need more than the unsophisticated repackaging processes that use little satchels instead of big boxes.” Learn more in this Thunderbird Knowledge Network video. | Video: Beyond Repackaging (2:52)
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As a white collar criminal defense attorney, Melissa Ho works closely with high-level executives when the “oh no” phone call comes. This is the middle-of-the-night call alerting the CEO about a pending search warrant, lawsuit or crushing media story that will hit newsstands in the morning. “There are so many things that flash through one’s head,” Ho said Sept. 22, 2011, at Thunderbird School of Global Management. Her job at Polsinelli Shughart, a U.S. firm with about 550 attorneys, is to help companies navigate the internal investigation process that often runs concurrently with criminal, civil or media investigations. She spoke with aspiring executives at Thunderbird about what they can expect if they ever find themselves on the receiving end of an emergency phone call from headquarters. | Video: Internal Investigations (2:53)
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Multinational organizations mean well when they promote their best subsidiary managers to corporate headquarters. But Thunderbird School of Global Management Professor Andreas Schotter, Ph.D., says organizations often benefit the most by leaving these people where they are. “That’s the biggest mistake firms do,” Schotter says. “When someone is successful at the subsidiary level, they promote them to headquarters.” Schotter, a global strategy professor with subsidiary experience in China, studies the effects of “boundary spanners” at the corporate and local levels. “Boundary spanners are managers who understand how to identify the best solutions at both ends,” Schotter says. “They push back toward headquarters when an initiative does not make sense for a subsidiary or the company overall. But they also push back toward subsidiaries when a corporate intitiative has the potential to make the network stronger.” Schotter says all boundary spanners share at least two traits in common. First, they possess a high level of functional knowledge and legitimacy in their organizations. “They know their stuff,” Schotter says. “They are not just entertaining.” Second, they have a high level of embeddedness at headquarters and at the subsidiary level. “They have dual embeddedness,” Schotter says. “They have networks. People know and trust them at both levels.” Schotter says multinational organizations need boudnary spanners more than ever as economic power shifts east toward emerging markets such as India, China and Indonesia. Learn more in this Thunderbird Knowledge Network video. | Video: Solutions at Both Ends (2:09)
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A corporate strategy article by Thunderbird students Joel Baughman, Srinivas Chundi, Mikhail Kholyavko, Chintan Patel and Chris Vadner

There are striking similarities between the colonial powers of past and contemporary beer conglomerates. For years, there has been an uneasy quiet in the world beer markets as brewers have carved out territories and regions for themselves, often finding themselves in close proximity with competitors. Until now, they have appeared reluctant to disturb the status quo and encroach on competitors’ turf in pursuit of increased market share. Nevertheless, consolidation has accelerated in recent years, leading to high industry concentration. The growth in demand for beer in emerging markets, coupled with saturation and stagnation in developed markets, promises to unsettle this uneasy calm and force brewers to rethink their strategy. Read the full article in Thunderbird Student Projects, a Thunderbird Knowledge Network blog that showcases research from the Global Strategy class of Thunderbird Professor Nathan Washburn, Ph.D.