Dear cello,
Thank you for your question.
Definition I:
MIT Sloan School of Management uses a very specific meaning of global
Global
As distinct from "Global Coordination," a "Global" organization is
simply one which has sales internationally, but doesn't necessarily
coordinate work globally. The company isn't a multinational company
either, in that it doesn't have a big presence in multiple nations.
Rather, the keyword "Global" denotes that the company is small but
offers its products or services worldwide. (Concept)
Global Coordination
An interesting process of coordination within a company across
different countries. (Process)
http://ccs.mit.edu/21c/iokey.html
_____
Definiton II
However there are many other instances where global can include or be
used interchangeably with transnational:
University of North Carolina:
Although not confined to the financial industry this paper describes
various global organisational structures and strategies:
“The transnational model sometimes characterizes very large
multinational firms with subsidiaries in many countries and with both
global and multidomestic strategies. The transnational model may be
viewed at the structure corresponding to very high values on both
dimensions in the model of internaitonal advantages, so it is "off the
chart" in the upper-right direction in the graph representing the
model.
Characteristics of the transnational model are
· differentiation into many centers of different types (flexible
centralization)
EX: some function centralized in one country, some in another
· corporation strategies & innovations initiated by subsidiaries
("bottom up")
· coordination through corporate culture rather than vertical
hierarchy
· alliances established with other subsidiaries and other companies,
creating strong interdependencies “
http://www.unc.edu/~nielsen/soci110/nm13/nm13.htm
This presentation from the University of Wisconsin also uses global to
mean transnational:
instruction.bus.wisc.edu/rdunham/EMBA/ppt/global.ppt
_____
In the wider financial community and even in academic circles and MBA
courses, global is often used to describe multinational or
transnational organizations.
Examples include:
Westwood, John, P., and Holland, Christopher, P., Size and Strategy in
Global Banking
http://www.wmrc.com/businessbriefing/pdf/Globalbanking2001/Ref%20Section/Ref7.pdf
Adams, Charles, Litan, Robert E., Pomerleano, Michael, Managing
Financial and Corporate Distress: Lessons from Asia (2000)… Emerging
market strategy
http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/press/books/chapter_1/open_doors_ch1.pdf
Other link of possible interest:
World Economic Forum: Global Competiteness
http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programme%5CReports%5CGlobal+Competitiveness+Report+2001-2002
_____
Note: At the strategy level, rather than the organisational level,
global has a more specific meaning (ie alternative to multi-domestic
strategy) as this Berkeley presentation shows:
http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/graham/BA188/SumNotes/chap10.pdf
and again from University of North Carolina, Nielson above:
· “globalization strategy: product design (and possibly advertising
and marketing strategy) can be standardized throughout the world (EX:
Coca-Cola and Levi jeans: only advertising needs to be tailored for
different regions); forces in that direction are also called forces
for global integration
· multidomestic strategy: product design & advertising must be
tailored to specific circumstances of each country (EX: French do not
drink OJ at breakfast; Germans like to boil their clothes; no va means
"doesn't work" in Spanish); forces in that direction are also called
forces for national responsiveness “
____
Although I am loathe to differ from the Sloan School of Management,
the use of global to describe an organization appears to be more
widely accepted as an alternative to international or as a synonym for
transnational or multinational. I would suggest that the context of
your question could guide your selection of the most suitable
definiton.
I would suggest that Citibank, ING, JP Morgan Chase, and Deutsche Bank
could all be described as global organizations (and multinationals).
However, they would all lie at different points on the transnational
spectrum described by Nielson…
http://www.unc.edu/~nielsen/soci110/nm13/m7006.gif
____
Search strategy:
“global organization” OR “global organization” definition
global multinational multidomestic oganisation OR organization
Please select clarify answer to provide guidance for any further
research that you would like.
Regards, |
