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Abstract
The paper presents four international strategy configurations, namely, emphasize on local responsiveness, emphasize on global efficiencies with some local advantages, emphasize on global efficiencies, and seeking to exploit local advantages and global efficiencies. Also, the paper presents the peculiarities of multinational companies' structure and design.
Within the paper there are examples in order to illustrate the tradeoffs between local responsiveness and global efficiency and, also, examples that present the differences between organization structures in Japan and in the West. The paper underline the importance of formulation and implementation of international strategy in order to centralize/decentralized the value - chain activities.
Keywords: international strategy; global efficiencies; local responsiveness; local advantages; multinational structure.
Introduction
In order to implement global strategies, the firms confront with two critical needs. These are: the need for efficiency and the need for local responsiveness. It is important to know that international strategy configuration is as much about strategy formulation as it is about implementation, because management is making choices about which value-chain components to centralize, where to centralize those operations geographically, and the degree to which those decentralized and centralized value-chain activities will be managed and coordinated. Also, the strategy helps a firm to manage important tradeoffs that differentiate it and its products from competitors.
Of course, international strategies are even more challenging than strategies limiting to national borders. As international strategies are more complex, (Radu, 2010) pointed out the main risks associated with strategic alliances as a way of competing successfully and also the reasons for which more than 60 % of strategic alliances fail.
The present business environment places a high pressure on organizational capabilities in order to be able to meet the numberless challenges brought by a fast spreading economic crises and a suspicion with regard to managerial competencies of people at the top of organizations (Nastase, 2010).
For many years companies have experienced different managerial systems and policies and have learned many lessons from the implementation of those methodologies in their permanent attempt to improve their business processes. One of the most important lessons to be taken into consideration is the one that supports the idea that it is not only necessary to do things right, but it is also vital to ensure that one is...