The Organization of International Business
Read the case on Philips NV.
Why did Philips' organizational structure make sense in the 1950s and 1970s? Why did this structure start to create problems for the company in the 1980s?
What was Philips trying to achieve by tilting the balance of power in its structure away from national organizations and toward the product divisions? Why was this hard to achieve?
What were the points of the organizational changes made by Cor Boonstra? What was he trying to achieve?
In 2008, Philips reorganized yet again. Why do you think it did this? What is it trying to achieve?
Write three pages comparing the Hyundai and Kia experience and the Avon experience including what you assess are the negatives or positives to each of their strategies.