Transnational Management Take Home Examination

Transnational Management Take Home Examination

Part A: CASE STUDY

Based in Germany, WEK (a hypothetical company name) is an international company manufacturing automobiles. Globally, WEK is known for streamlined design, incredible luxury, top-notch performance and customer-oriented service. The company has more than 120,000 employees, delivers about 2.1 million vehicles annually, and has a revenue of 80 billion Euros. It produces automobiles, motorcycles, and aircraft engines. Innovation is one of the main success factors for WEK, and innovation is infused into all of WEK’s product lines.

Since 2000, WEK has expanded to Denmark, France, Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil and the United States, with recent attention on Asian markets. In general, WEK is trying to be responsive to different demands from different countries. In 2017, WEK made a significant step in its internationalisation process by acquiring a Japanese brand, HEC, which is famous for lean production and customer service. But the acquisition was not going as well as planned.

The foreign expansion has never been easy for WEK. For example, WEK had a corruption scandal in its Brazilian office. In 2018, an investigation uncovered a web of influence peddling in which fat monthly payments were given to local officials, totalling $50,0000. In exchange, the local officials used their position in government to obtain favors for WEK. After a lengthy investigation, in late 2019, 8 politicians and business executives were found guilty of crimes that included bribery and corruption.

Despite various problems in the internationalisation process, WEK never stopped internationalisation and top managers constantly learned from past experience and adapted their strategies to the changing environment.

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Based on this background, please answer the following questions:

1. The acquisition of HEC was not going well at the One of the main reasons was the significant culture differences between the two countries. Based on Hofstede’s culture dimensions, can German managers from WEK’s headquarters take key positions in the Japanese office and effectively manage Japanese employees? Justify your response using concepts studied in this subject. (10 marks) (Maximum word count: 600)
2. After so many years of international operations in various countries, WEK is now considering entering another potentially lucrative but challenging country: Bangladesh, for manufacturing Except for culture differences, what are the other two possible challenges WEK may experience after they enter Bangladesh and what might be the solutions? Please justify your answer based on concepts studied in this subject. (8 marks) (Maximum word count: 400)

3. To minimise the scandal impact on the Brazilian market, managers at headquarters are planning to assign a group of four team members to work on a project introducing a new model of car, particularly for the Brazilian Based on the following team member profiles, evaluate whether the company will benefit from such team diversity. Please justify your answer based on concepts studied in this subject. (8 marks) (Maximum word count: 500)

4. To effectively manage international operations in different countries, you will help WEK design a suitable internationalisation strategy (using the global integration and local responsiveness matrix) and an organisational structure using the following information. Please justify your design using concepts studied in this subject. (8 marks) (Maximum word count: 400)

5.Internationalisation portfolio: Denmark, France, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil and the United States Departments: Marketing, Production, Finance, Human Resources

Products: automobiles, motorcycles, aircraft engines

Innovation is very important for WEK’s sustainable success. To be able to remain innovative, WEK always encourages knowledge-sharing across subsidiaries around the world. What types of communication flow and leadership style would be suitable for WEK? Justify your answer using concepts studied in this (6 marks) (Maximum word count: 300)

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