Multidomestic Structure Essay

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Multidomestic  structure  is a multinational firm’s organizational  structure  that reflects the philosophy that  the  world  is comprised  of many  unique  markets—usually defined  at  the  national  level. By this multidomestic  philosophy,  for example, many  food companies acquire and/or  establish business units in as many countries in which they do business, granting these units autonomy  to choose products,  suppliers, and marketing strategies to suit their local contexts.

To  understand multidomestic  structure,  we first explore  the  multidomestic  concept  (or  philosophy) and  then  see how  it  can  be applied  to  industries, firms, and organizational  structures.  The core issue is whether  one  sees the  world as one  more-or-less monolithic  market  with  similar  tastes  and  preferences or whether  one sees the world as made up of many more-or-less unique markets, each with its distinct  tastes  and preferences.  The former  may be called a “global” and the latter a “multidomestic” philosophy. Parenthetically,  the position  between  these two  extremes   is  called  regionalism,  whereby  one sees the world as being made up of a small number of regions—for example, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa/Middle-East.

Authors  like George  Yip (who  prefers  the  term multilocal) and Michael Porter show how some industries, by their natures, lend themselves to more multidomestic  (as opposed  to global) strategies; for example, if competition  is independent from country to country  as is the case in retail banking, caustic chemicals, and retail groceries. Many competitors in these industries tend to be local, as the benefits of integrating into a global business are necessarily limited.  According  to  Klaus Agthe, the  multidomestic business organization  may thus  actually be a group of “national” subsidiary  companies  whose  ultimate headquarters is structurally  separate  from each and equally supportive of all of them.

Multidomestic   structures   are  thus  the  patterns of intraorganizational  reporting  relationships  that enable the multinational firm to manage its operations  so that  subsidiary  (or affiliate) organizations have  suitable  levels of autonomy  to  implement   a multidomestic strategy. Implementation of this subsidiary autonomy  is a key concept.  Stuart  Paterson and  David Brock suggest that  autonomy  is necessary as a way to improve local responsiveness,  and is a prerequisite  and a desirable result of subsidiary development. Subsequently, they discern an increasing emphasis  on  autonomy  in  research  related  to multinationals and their subsidiaries.

Multidomestic structures fit well within global area or geographic structures. For example, the Nestlé Group  has  three  global geographic  zones  (Europe, Americas, and Asia/Oceania/Africa)  for most  of its food business (with the exceptions of Nestlé Waters and Nestlé Nutrition,  which are managed on a global basis). Then each of the geographic zones is divided into individual countries or country groups. For example, the Americas zone contains Latin America and  the  Caribbean  (groups), and  the  United  States and Canada. This structure  allows each country  (or homogeneous  group  of countries)  to adapt  to local tastes and regulations that are relevant to their food and beverage offerings.

Similarly, global product  divisions are commonly structured into  area  and/or  country  divisions. For example, Nippon Steel Chemical Group has 15 companies structured into three global product divisions, namely Chemicals, Electronic Materials, and Coke & Coal Tar Chemicals. However the Chemicals division has branches  in Osaka, Seoul, Taipei, and Shanghai in order to provide country-level customization and support  for their  products.  Further,  even the  most global firm may have some  multidomestic  features to their structure.  For example, Intel and Microsoft, both of whom are known for their globally integrated processes and standardized  offerings, have hundreds of local offices around  the world to take care of customer needs and to fine-tune their marketing efforts from location to location.

We thus see that the multidomestic concept is more relative  than  taxonomical.  Just as there  is no  pure global strategy or structure,  so, too, are multidomestic strategies  and structures  deployed by firms only to limited degrees. As implied by C. A. Bartlett and S. Ghoshal, effective firms in dynamic markets need to find the  appropriate  balance  between  the  global and multidomestic  aspects of their  operations.  This is how they define the challenge of effective transnational management.

Bibliography:  

  1. Klaus E. Agthe, “Managing the Mixed Marriage—Multinational Corporations,” Business Horizons (January–February 1990);
  2. A. Bartlett and S. Ghoshal, Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution (Harvard Business School Press, 1989);
  3. Julian Birkinshaw, Entrepreneurship in the Global Firm (Sage, 2000);
  4. David M. Brock, “Autonomy of Individuals and  Organizations: Towards a Strategy Research Agenda,” International  Journal of Business and Economics (v.2/1, 2003);
  5. Stuart Paterson and David M. Brock, “The Development of Subsidiary Management Research: Review and Theoretical Analysis,” International Business Review (v.11/2, 2002);
  6. Michael Porter, Competition  in Global Industries  (Harvard  Business School Press, 1986);
  7. K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel, “The Core Competence   of  the  Corporation,”  Harvard  Business Review (May–June 1990);
  8. George Yip, Total Global Strategy II (Prentice  Hall, 2003);
  9. Stephen Young and Ana Teresa Tavares, “Centralization and Autonomy: Back to the Future,” International Business Review (v.13/2, 2004)

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