Organizational Structures For International Operations: An Experiential Activity

Abstract

In multinational business ventures, as in domestic operations, organizational structure is determined by corporate strategy-structure follows strategy. The portion of the strategic plan related to international operations may range from simple export to worldwide operations. Resultantly, the organization structure used to carry out the strategy may range from a small export department to a chart reflecting a fully integrated multinational operation based on geography, product, or function. The purpose of this experiential exercise is to give participants the opportunity to extend their understanding of the organizing function to international applications. Specifically, you are asked to draw the organization charts for a hypothetical firm, Koca Cola, as it evolves through various stages from early international involvement of production and marketing through subsidiaries companies in host countries.