This book argues that the focus of the global economy in the years to come will be the new, larger Europe following the breakdown of the old East-West divide. This can be attributed to the strong economic integration of a 600 million-strong European Union, the problem of faltering markets in the Far East and the strength of peace in Europe. In view of the growing Europe, organisations need to widen their horizons to seize on the new opportunities offered. The inclusion over the next few years of the ex-Soviet bloc into the European Union economy offers major growth opportunities for multinationals, but few are organised appropriately to exploit them. To date, the traditional corporate organisation of a multinational company operating within Europe has been to split reporting lines by individual national boundaries i.e.general manager of Italy, general manager of France etc. Within the expanding Europe this structure is no longer valid according to the author because (i) it will create an unworkable number of reporting lines (ii) as regions/countries develop at different rates, a rigid geographical organisation structure cannot anticipate and evolve with the changes that the future brings – the old structure cannot therefore be desirable and will require constant reorganising – bringing with it disruption and reduced productivity. (iii) the changing structure of business must be a business-based organisation i.e. ideally developing the product offering not the geographical market. The only realistic approach, therefore, must be to develop an organisational structure now that will take account of the above problems. Managers should learn to think of greater Europe as consisting of four ‘clusters’ of states, each with its own distinctive characteristics. Once equipped with this mental model, companies can then set about the task of developing efficient, pan-European organisations. The central theme is that Eastern Europe is not the homogenous, ev-Soviet bloc that most managers within organisations assume. its countries are very different from each other, and are integrating with the west European and global economies at very different rates. The book uses a novel categorisation of all European countries that divides them into four clusters – the Northern Bee, the Russian Bear, the Southern Gazelle and the Anglo-American stork. It then addresses such crucial contemporary issues as innovation, brands, pricing and the design of the supply chain within that framework, which will help companies think more clearly about how to adapt their organisations to a much enlarged Europe.
Book Details:
- Author: Gianni Montezemolo
- ISBN: 9780470358436
- Year Published: 2000
- Pages: 206
- BISAC: BUS041000, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/Management
About the Book and Topic:
This book argues that the focus of the global economy in the years to come will be the new, larger Europe following the breakdown of the old East-West divide. This can be attributed to the strong economic integration of a 600 million-strong European Union, the problem of faltering markets in the Far East and the strength of peace in Europe. In view of the growing Europe, organisations need to widen their horizons to seize on the new opportunities offered. The inclusion over the next few years of the ex-Soviet bloc into the European Union economy offers major growth opportunities for multinationals, but few are organised appropriately to exploit them. To date, the traditional corporate organisation of a multinational company operating within Europe has been to split reporting lines by individual national boundaries i.e.general manager of Italy, general manager of France etc. Within the expanding Europe this structure is no longer valid according to the author because (i) it will create an unworkable number of reporting lines (ii) as regions/countries develop at different rates, a rigid geographical organisation structure cannot anticipate and evolve with the changes that the future brings – the old structure cannot therefore be desirable and will require constant reorganising – bringing with it disruption and reduced productivity. (iii) the changing structure of business must be a business-based organisation i.e. ideally developing the product offering not the geographical market. The only realistic approach, therefore, must be to develop an organisational structure now that will take account of the above problems. Managers should learn to think of greater Europe as consisting of four ‘clusters’ of states, each with its own distinctive characteristics. Once equipped with this mental model, companies can then set about the task of developing efficient, pan-European organisations. The central theme is that Eastern Europe is not the homogenous, ev-Soviet bloc that most managers within organisations assume. its countries are very different from each other, and are integrating with the west European and global economies at very different rates. The book uses a novel categorisation of all European countries that divides them into four clusters – the Northern Bee, the Russian Bear, the Southern Gazelle and the Anglo-American stork. It then addresses such crucial contemporary issues as innovation, brands, pricing and the design of the supply chain within that framework, which will help companies think more clearly about how to adapt their organisations to a much enlarged Europe.
Looks at a highly important area and recognises that with a rapidly changing Europe, companies must change the appropriate parts of their business in equally fundamental ways. Moves beyond the traditional North/South divide method of looking at Europe. It is very important to note that these changes can be made at a divisional level, not just a company-wide level e.g. the reorganizations of a sales force or a marketing programme.
This book addresses such contemporary issues as innovation, brands, pricing and the design of the supply chain within that framework, which will help companies think more clearly about how to adapt their organizations to a much enlarged Europe. Research interviews are also included from the CEOs of over 30 well-known global companies with involvement in Europe. * Provides excellent use of statistical evidence to illustrate the potential for a company within the New Europe. * Includes a model of a potential European organization.
About the Author
Gianni Montezemolo was born in Italy and educated at the University of Rome and the Harvard Business School. He worked for over thirty years for Buitoni, Pfizer and SC Johnson Wax as a general manager in Argentina, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the USA. He started subsidiaries in Eastern Europe and was European CEO. He was also chairman of an American-Japanese joint venture. Since 1996 he has been a Director of A.T. Kearney, the leading management consulting firm, helping clients organize business across borders, enter new markets and support innovation. He is running projects in the Ukraine for the European Bank (EBRD), to help the development of private enterprises. He is NE Director of several companies. He lives in London with his wife Joan, and has two children.