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International synergy management: A strategic approach for raising efficiencies in the cross-border interaction process

eBook
ANCHOR ACADEMIC PUBLISHING
ISBN/EAN: 9783954895021
Umbreit-Nr.: 5468200

Sprache: Englisch
Umfang: 98 S., 2.97 MB
Format in cm:
Einband: Keine Angabe

Erschienen am 01.06.2013
Auflage: 1/2013


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  • Zusatztext

    • Global economic integration has changed business conditions significantly. Corporations operating internationally and establishing foreign subsidiaries are facing the obligation as well as the challenge to profit from cross-border interaction. However, potential synergetic benefits provided by the international environment are accompanied by even more demanding challenges. This study elaborates to which extend German small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses could benefit from the implementation of a strategic cross-border synergy management. The study is based on a single case study deriving the research hypotheses and a survey investigating cross-border interaction throughout a sample of small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses. Based on the research findings, this paper proposes a holistic framework, designed for strategists of small and medium-sized manufacturing business. It outlines the establishment of the cross-border synergy management concept as part of the corporate strategy and the efficient and effective management of international interaction. Synergies are not realized by themselves - they have to be identified and actively developed within a professionally coordinate process. Management of synergy seeking organizations is asked for intensive efforts beyond daily operations' (Weber and Roventa, 2006).

  • Kurztext

    • Despite the fact that there actually exists a large number of pornographic and romantic texts about male homosexuality consumed and produced by American women since the 1970s, the &quote;abnormality&quote; of those female cross-voyeurs is constantly underlined in U.S. popular and academic culture. As the astonished, public reactions in the face of a largely female (heterosexual) audience of &quote;Brokeback Mountain&quote; (2005) and &quote;Queer as Folk&quote; (2000-2005) have shown, a woman's erotic/romantic interest in male homosexuality is definitely not as accepted as its male counterpart (men consuming lesbian porn). In the academic publications on female cross-voyeurs, the application of double standards with regard to male/female cross-voyeurism is even more obvious. As Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse note in their &quote;Introduction&quote; to &quote;Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Internet&quote; (2006), slash fiction - fan fiction about male homosexual relationships mainly produced and consumed by women - has stood in the center of fan fiction studies so far, despite being merely a subgenre of it. The reason for this seems to be an urge to explain the underlying motivations for the fascination of women with m/m romance or pornography within the academic discourse - a trend which differs completely from the extremely under-theorized complex of men interested in &quote;lesbians.&quote; It is this obvious influence of conventional gender stereotypes on the perception of these phenomena that provokes me to examine the way in which the works of female cross-voyeurism and their consumers/producers are conceptualized in the U.S. scholarly accounts. In many ways, this thesis explores unknown territories and respectively tries to take a closer look at academic problems that have not been adequately addressed yet.

  • Autorenportrait
    • In 2007, Patrick Daum completed his Business Administration degree at the SRH Hochschule in Heidelberg. Subsequently, he started his professional career working for the globally operating sport marketing agency IFM Sports. After working for the international department of IFM Sports headquarters, he worked as an expatriate for the US branch office in Saint Louis (Missouri). The author deepened his competencies in international business transactions through his Master studies, International Business Management, at the London South Bank University.After working for a business consultancy in Frankfurt, the author is presently working in the department of business development for Europes leading sport-law marketer, Sportfive.
  • Leseprobe
    • Text Sample:Chapter 1.1, Research Background:Every four years the global sports community follows 32 teams fighting for the World Championship in the most popular global sport, football. The best eleven players from each country are brought together to compete for the worlds most prestigious trophy. The following phenomenon occurs regularly, catching the attention of both attendees as well as media outlets: Although on an individual basis position players from one team may not physically or mentally match up with or be able to compete well against their counterpart, the inferior team may be able to outperform the favourite as such happened in the 2010 World Cup. The French team, consisting of highly skilled athletes, lost the group matches against the less competitive teams from Mexico and South Africa. Media afterwards critically asked: ,When will the French players realize that there is more to football then having the foot with the ball? (Johns, 2010) ,Football is hard when you can't play together - with his reaction the French player Yoann Gourcuff has underlined the discrepancies within his team regarding the approach how to perform successfully (Soufi, 2010). In contrast, the winning teams from Mexico and South Africa took advantage of their ability to interact in a synergetic way, leading to the fact that the overall team performance was greater than the sum of the individual player performances.Interaction within businesses can be compared to the characteristics in team sports. Skilled individuals are requested to interact within a system and perform together in order to accomplish a common objective. However, efforts of individuals and entire units might lack alignment and coordination or in the worst case scenario there is not interference at all. In team sports the coach plays a central role in managing interaction between the individual players, providing the overall team direction and creating a team spirit which should prevent or reduce any form of personal exploitation, mistrust and jealousy and get everyone in the system going in the same direction. Kaplan and Norton (2006) dedicated this role within a corporation to the corporate management: ,Synergies will not occur unless the corporate level plays an active role to identify and coordinate opportunities for integrating the behaviour of its decentralized business units. According to Goold and Campbell (1998) executives can obtain additional value with excising capabilities and resources if they understand how to manage synergies.Corporations expect from synergetic interaction, for example economics of scale, a better level of capacity utilization, learning effects, the elimination of double and multiple activities and advantages through higher order quantities or knowledge sharing (Johnson et al., 2008). In this context Freeman (in Moran and Harris, 1982) outlines the challenges for organizations operating across borders: ,Multinational organizations have a special role not only in building cross-cultural bridges. But in innovating synergies through their practical knowledge of putting together human and natural resources with the knowhow of managing both in the most effective ways.1.2, German small and medium-sized businesses as research object:International business opportunities are relevant for numerous companies throughout the German economic landscape. 72% of all small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are heavily involved in international business activities (KPMG, 2007). From an economical perspective this business segment is characterized as the backbone of the German economy as it counts for 99.7% of all German businesses, 39.7% of the total turnover generated by German corporations and 60.8% of all jobholders officially registered (IFM, 2009). Export is still the dominating internationalization mode applied within this businesses sector; however, the local presence in foreign markets becomes even more important (KPMG, 2007). Small and medium-sized businesses establishing and running foreign subsidiaries are consequently facing the opportunity as well as the challenge to benefit from synergetic headquarter-subsidiary interrelationships. Exploiting this potential effectively can add additional value to the corporate network and provide or enlarge a competitive advantage. ,In addition to identifying a companys potential sources of cross-border value, executives must identify the organizational barriers to achieving it (Ghislanzoni et al., 2008). The McKinsey consultants Ghislanzoni, Penttinen and Turnbull emphasize the challenges in regards to synergetic cross-border interrelationships and underline the level of strategic management efforts required, in order to design an effective and efficient international corporate network.This research project aims to investigate to which extent German small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses could benefit from the implementation of a strategic cross-border synergy management.In order to discuss this research question a basic understanding of the specific characteristics of small and medium-sized businesses is required. Resources available to corporations of this business segment can have a restricting effect. First, the application of strategic management tools is limited due to the unity of ownership and management which is quite common within small and medium-sized businesses. The decision making process is consequently heavily based on intuition (Amschlinger, 2011). Second, this business segment is facing insufficient financial reserves in comparison to large corporations whereby their creditworthiness might be limited. Third, small and medium-sized businesses do not have such a broad and diversified staff as large businesses, whereby specific skills might not be available within the corporation. In regards to internationalization and cross-border interaction of small and medium-sized businesses these specifics are in particular relevant and will be addressed throughout the paper.1.3, Research Problem and Objectives:According to Johnson et al (2008) corporations can select between two major alternatives in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. Businesses can either seek external market opportunities by positioning itself advantageously in relation to the competitors operating in the same field (market-based view) or base their competitive advantage on the application of company specific valuable resources and capabilities (resources-based view). According to Porter (1985), the competitive advantage obtained via the second option can be strengthened and developed by sharing activities / resources and / or transfer skills / competences along individual business units. Business synergies are a key aspect in the field of strategic management and strongly influence corporate decisions. Synergetic interrelationships can be established between different types of business units and implemented within different business scenarios. Interaction is obviously not limited to specific markets, in fact, multinational corporations have the chance to utilize and profit from synergetic potential provided by their international network. However, potential benefits provided by the international environment are accompanied by even more demanding challenges. In this context the strategic design and management of cross-border interaction between the corporate parent and foreign subsidiaries is specifically relevant for both parties to achieve positive effects.In order to elaborate the main research question presented above it is necessary to delineate between individual sub problems. This research project specifically aims to examine the following subordinated research objectives:- First, the analysis shall provide an understanding to which extend German small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses have implemented synergetic headquarter-subsidiary interrelationships or whether this field provides further potential. For this purpose it is required to identify the degree of synergetic cross-border interaction along the respective company value chains.- Second, the project seeks to identify if and what kind of barriers are negatively influencing cross-border interaction.- Insights gathered via both sub problems presented above shall provide an understanding for the need for a strategic cross border synergy management. How this demand for management efforts is currently meet in a comprehensive way shall be investigated in a third step.