GLOBAL MANAGER

success in international climate demands highly

specialised functional managers
companies becoming transnational in nature
transnationals integrate assets, resources and diverse
people in operating units around the world
flexible management process
Business country and functional managementform a
triad of different perspectives and balance one
another to build the three strategic capabilities

global scale efficiency and competetiveness

national level responsiveness and flexibility
cross market capacity to leverage learning on world-
wide basis

Traditional organisations structured along product or

geographic lines hence do not have capabilities to
cope with three challenges at once.
In volatile world of transnational organisation, there is
no universal global manager.

There are three groups of specialists

Business Managers
Country Managers
Functional Managers

and the top executives as leaders managing complex

interactions between the three. He identifies and
develops talented executives for success of
transnational.
 A. The business manager : strategist + architect
coordinator

One over-riding responsibility :- to further company's

global scale efficiency and competitiveness.
Task requires the perspective to recognise opportunity and
risks across national and functional boundaries, also skill
to coordinate activities and link capabilities across those
barriers. His role is to capture full benefit of integrated
world-wide operations.

To be effective, three roles at core of business manager's

job are to serve as strategist for organisation, architect of
its worldwide asset and resource configeration and
coordinator of transactions across national borders.
 track product and market trends across borders
capture valuable global efficiencies to reap benefit of
flexible response to national market fragmentation
as strategist he relies on both corporate and local
managers and never assumes alone the ability and
understanding to form a global strategy
He solicits guidance on strategy from country managers
and functional managers
Global business manager has responsibility for distribution
of crucial assets and resources in shaping an integrated
strategy.
An architect he initiates & leads debate on facilities &
location of plants, tech centres, sales offices etc.
The global business manager has to achieve most efficient
distribution of assets & resources also protect and leverage
the competence at hand.

The business manager has to rationalise infrastructure and

avoid concentration of facilities in one country or region.
At the same time, he has to leverage matching each unit's
responsibilities with its particular competence.
He has to build a battery of approaches and tools involving
simple centralised control to management of exceptions
identified through formal policies to indirect management
via informal communication channels. Since coordination
takes more of global business manager's time, the role
demands great administrative and interpersonal skills to
ensure coordination & integration do not deteriorate into
heavy handed control.
 B. The country manager : Sensor + Builder +
Contributor

Building blocks of worldwide companies are the

national subsidiaries
While global business manager's objective is to
achieve global-scale efficiency and competitiveness,
country manager needs to be sensitive and
responsible to local markets

Country manager's role is to meet local customers

needs and to satisfy host government's requirements
safeguarding company's market positions against
local and external competitors.
Often local flexibility puts country manager in conflict
with global business manager.
Negotiations to resolve differences
country manager is not king of the country

Effective country managers play three very vital roles :

sensor and interpretor of local opportunities and
threats
builder of local resources and capabilities
contributor to and active participant in global
strategy
As a sensor, country manager must be good at
gathering and sifting information, interpreting the
implications and predicting a range of feasible
outcomes.

He has difficult task of conveying importance of such

intelligence to people higher up whose perceptions
may be biased by distance and ethnic reasons
Transnational has definite advantage of access to
scarcest resource - human resources hence they
develop local labs into global centers of technical
excellence. Hence country manager has burden of
identifying, developing and leveraging such
resources and capabilities.

Country manager has central role for control over

strategically important assets and information. He
has influence on strategic and operational decisions.
He participates in new product development
committees, product marketing task forces and global
strategy conferences.
 C. The Functional Manager : Scanner + Cross
Polinator + Champion

Every organisation needs to use learning to create and

spread innovation. Also requires skill to transfer
specialised knowledge and connect scarce resources
and capabilities across borders.

The functional manager scans for specialised

information worldwide, cross-pollinate leading
edge knowledge and best practice and champion
innovations
 he acts as a scanner to detect trends and move
knowledge across boundaries and build information
into strategic intelligence
he acts as linchpins connecting areas of
specialisation in organisations
he uses informal networks to create channels for
specialised knowledge

Playing role of champion, he demonstrates sensitivity

and responsiveness to consumer needs, brings
together dispersed technical knowledge and
expertise.
D. The Corporate Manager : Leader + Talent Scout +
Developer

No single model for global manager. Managers with

diverse skills are needed. He has to focus on intense
interchanges and subtle negotiations.

Well defined responsibilities, clear understanding of

organisation's transnational mission, sense of
accountability are integrated by corporate manager at
many levels.
He leads, identifies and develops talented business,
country and functional managers and balances
negotiations among the three.

Corporate manager promotes strong managerial

specialists who can turn company strategy into
effective operations around the world. Corporate
manager provides opportunities for achievement;
allows business, country and functional managers to
handle negotiations in worldwide context.
Thanks!!!