ABSTRACT
In this chapter, you will read about important multinational issues as they relate to organization design and coordination. As the competitive environment gets more complicated for multinationals and as they are pressured to become more innovative while at the same time integrating global and local expertise, organization design and coordination issues will become even more crucial in the future. In the first section, you will learn about the many important functions that organizational design plays. Additionally, you will read about traditional structures such as the export department, international division, worldwide geographic and product structures and mixtures of the more traditional structures including the matrix and transnational structures. While organizational structures show how the multinational can separate subunits, there is also a strong need to coordinate these subunits. The chapter discusses the many options available to multinationals, including the hierarchy of authority, direct contact, liaison roles, and task forces. Because teams are becoming so widely used, you will also read about the many challenges facing multinationals as they use both global and virtual teams.
