CAB1-OD/OT
How to read book:
- First look at title, table of contents, summary
- Then scan the book for pictures, tables etc.
- Read the white texts first and only after that read the other texts.
Week 1- Chapter 1&2
The essence of international business: Effectiveness and efficiency.
Effective: You do what you wanted to do. You accomplish your goal.
Efficient: How many recourses did you need to accomplish your goal.
What is an organization?
Organizations are:
- Social entities that are goal directed,
- are designed as deliberately structured and coordinated activity systems
- are linked to the external environment.
What kind of organizations do we have?
- Large, multinational corporations versus family-owned businesses
- For-profit business versus non-profit business
Why do we organize?
Exhibit 1.1 importance of organizations in book P.12
How do you describe an organization?
- The extent to which you include its environment (open versus closed systems; exhibit 2.1)
- The extent to which you categorize its departments and functions (organizational
configuration; exhibit 2.2)
- The extent to which you define internal and external characteristics
Dimensions of organizational design (really important) exhibit 2.3 and 2.4
Structural dimensions:
- Formalization
- Specialization
- Hierarchy of authority
- Centralization
- Professionalism
- Personnel ratios
,CAB1-OD/OT
Contextual dimensions:
- Size
- Organizational technology
- Environment
- Goals and strategy
- Culture
When has an organization done its job (well)? Exhibit 2.5
Efficiency
- The amount of recourses used to achieve the organization’s goals
Effectiveness
- The degree to which an organization achieves its goals
Stakeholder approach
- Balancing the needs of groups in and outside of the organization that has stake in the
organization’s performance
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Chapter 3 Strategy, organization design and effectiveness
Goals
Organizational goal: a desired state of affairs or outcome that members of an organization are
entreated to reach.
Mission: conveys the organizations vision, shared values and beliefs.
Mission statement: communicates to current and prospective employees, customers, investors,
suppliers and competitors what the organization stands for and what it is trying to achieve.
Operative goals: describe specific measurable outcomes and are often concerned with the short run.
(They y provide direction to the day-to-day decisions and activities within the department)
Overall performance: overall performance goals are include profitability, growth and output
volume.
Resource goals: refer to the acquisition of needed materials and financial resources from the
environment.
Market goals: relate to the market share or market standing desired by the organization.
Employee development: refers to the training, promotion, health and safety, and growth of
employees.
Innovation and change: innovation goals refer to internal flexibility and readiness to
adapt to unexpected changes in the environment.
Productivity: productivity goals concern the amount of output achieved from available resources.
(Mostly: cost per unit of production, units produced per employee, resource cost per
employee)
