(b) Global Business Strategy and IT. Some business strategies are more dependent
than others on timely, accurate, and complete information on overseas operations.
There are two broad strategy options for running international operations: country
specificandglobally integrated.
(i) Country Specific. When coordination needs are relatively light, home offices
often concede considerable autonomy to foreign business. These country specific
strategies minimize reporting and information flows between home office and sub-
sidiary. Information technology, under these conditions, is primarily used locally and
is probably decentralized.
(ii) Globally Integrated. As competition increases and firms search for economies of
scale and scope globally, their needs for coordination and control increase. This creates
greater demand for information flow between home office and subsidiaries. Bartlett and
Ghoshal^14 identify four broad strategies that an international firm may pursue:
1.Multinational—where foreign subsidiaries are operated nearly autonomously
or in loose federation so as to sense and response quickly to diverse local needs
and national opportunities.
2.Global—where worldwide activities are closely coordinated from headquarters
so as to capitalize on economies associated with standardized product design
and world scale manufacturing.
3.International—that exploits parent company knowledge through worldwide
diffusion and adoption.
4.Transnational—which seeks to retain local flexibility while simultaneously
achieving global integration and efficiencies along with worldwide diffusion of
innovations. As Bartlett and Ghoshal put it, “Dynamic interdependence is the
basis of a transnational company, one that can think globally and act locally.”^15The development of a successful international business over time corresponds to the
progression from multinational to transnational strategies. This progression from
simple to more complex organization requires increased information for coordination
and control and, correspondingly, places greater emphasis on IT in relation to other
firm activities.
(c) Global IT Strategies. Four generic strategies have been identified for the man-
agement of IT globally^16 related to a firm’s global business strategy (see section
28.3(b)).
(i) Independent Global Operations. Subsidiaries pursue independent system initia-
tives mirroring the more general multinational strategy of minimum control from
headquarters. Technology choices reflect the influence of local vendors as well as
prevailing national communication standards and offerings. Technology platforms,
28.4 CENTRAL CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES 28 • 11(^14) Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1987.
(^15) Id., p. 69.
(^16) Ives and Jarvenpaa, 1991.