Managing the Multibusiness Corporation

1. Managing the Multibusiness Corporation OUTLINE • Structure of the Multidivisional Company • Theory of the M-form • The divisionalized firm in practice • The Role of Corporate Management • Managing the Corporate Portfolio • Portfolio planning techniques • Value-creation through corporate restructuring • Managing Individual Businesses • Managing Internal Linkages • Recent Trends

2. The Multidivisional Structure: Theory of the M-Form Efficiency advantages of the multidivisional firm: • Recognizes bounded rationality—top management has limited decision-making capacity • Divides decision-making according to frequency: —high-frequency operating decisions at divisional level —low-frequency strategic decisions at corporate level • Reduces costs of communication and coordination: business level decisions confined to divisional level (reduces decision making at the top) • Global, rather than local optimization:- functional organizations encourage functional goals. M-form structure encourages focus on profitability. • Efficient allocation of resources through internal capital and labor markets • Resolves agency problem-- corporate management an interface between shareholders and business-level managers.

3. The Divisionalized Firm in Practice • Constraints upon decentralization. • Difficult to achieve clear division of decision making between corporate and divisional levels. • On-going dialogue and conflict between corporate and divisional managers over both strategic and operational issues. • Standardization of divisional management • Despite potential for divisions to develop distinctive strategies and structures—corporate systems may impose uniformity. • Managing divisional inter-relationships • Requires more complex structures, e.g. matrix structures where functional and/or geographical structure is imposed on top of a product/market structure. • Added complexity undermines the efficiency advantages of the M-form

4. The Functions of Corporate Management —Decisions over diversification, acquisition, divestment —Resource allocation between businesses. Managing the Corporate Portfolio • —Business strategy formulation • —Monitoring and controlling business • performance Managing the individual businesses —Sharing and transferring resources and capabilities Managing linkages between businesses

5. The Development of Strategic Planning Techniques: General Electric in the 1970’s Late 1960’s: GE encounters problems of direction, coordination, control, and profitability Corporate planning responses: • Portfolio Planning Models—matrix-based frameworks for evaluating business unit performance, formulating business strategies, and allocating resources • Strategic Business Units—GE reorganized around SBUs (business comprising a strategically-distinct group of closely-related products • PIMS—a database which quantifies the impact of strategy on performance. Used to appraise SBU performance and guide business strategy formulation

6. Portfolio Planning Models: Their Uses in Strategy Formulation • Allocating resources-- the analysis indicates both the investment requirements of different businesses and their likely returns • Formulating business-unit strategy-- the analysis yields simple strategy recommendations (e.g..: “build”, “hold”, or “harvest”) • Setting performance targets-- the analysis indicates likely performance outcomes in terms of cash flow and ROI • Portfolios balance-- the analysis can assist in corporate goals such as a balanced cash flow and balance of growing and declining businesses.

7. Portfolio Planning Models: The GE/ McKinsey Matrix High B U I L D Industry Attractiveness H O L D Medium H A R V E S T Low Low Medium High Business Unit Position Industry Attractiveness Criteria Business Unit Position - Market size - Market share (domestic, - Market growth global, and relative) - Industry profitability - Competitive position - Inflation recovery - Relative profitability - Overseas sales ratio

8. Portfolio Planning Models: The BCG Growth-Share Matrix Earnings: low, unstable, growing Cash flow: negative Strategy: analyze to determine whether business can be grown into a star, or will degenerate into a dog Earnings: high stable, growing Cash flow: neutral Strategy: invest for growth ? HIGH Annual real rate of market growth (%) Earnings: high stable Cash flow: high stable Strategy: milk Earnings: low, unstable Cash flow: neutral or negative Strategy: divest LOW LOW HIGH Relative market share

9. Portfolio Planning Models: Applying the BCG Matrix to BM Foods Inc. Frozen food division Health foods division -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 Annual real rate of market growth (%) Fruit juices division Bakery division 0.10.5 1 1.5 2.0 Relative market share Current position Previous position. Area of circle proportional to $ sales.

10. Do Portfolio Planning Models Help or Hinder Corporate Strategy Formulation? • ADVANTAGES • Simplicity: Can be quickly • prepaired • Big picture: Permits one page • representation of the corporate • portfolio & the strategic • positioning of each business • Analytically versatile: • Applicable to businesses, • products, countries, • distribution channels. • Can be augmented: A useful • point of departure for more • sophisticated analysis • DISADVANTAGES • Simplicity: Oversimplifies the • factors determining industry • attractiveness and competitive • advantage • Ambiguous:The positioning • of a business depends • critically upon how a market is • defined • Ignores synergy: the analysis • takes no account of any • interdependencies between • businesses

11. Corporate Restructuring to Create Value: The McKinsey Pentagon Current market value 1 Current perceptions gap Maximum raider opportunity Optimal restructured value Company value as is 2 5 RESTRUCTURING FRAMEWORK Strategic and operating opportunities Total company opportunities 3 4 Potential value with internal improvements Potential value with external improvements Disposal/acquisition opportunities

12. Exxon’s Strategic Planning Process Economic Review Energy Review Discuss- -ion with contact director Approval by Mgmt. Committee Business Plans Stewardship Review Stewardship Basis Financial Forecast Corporate Plan Investment Reappraisals Annual Budget

13. Corporate Control over the Businesses 2 basic approaches Input control Output (or performance) control Monitoring & approving business level decisions Setting & monitoring the achievement of performance targets Primarily through strategic planning system & capital expenditure approval system Primarily through performance management system, includingoperating budgets and HR appraisals

14. Goold & Campbell’s Corporate Management Styles: Financial and Strategic Control High Centralized Strategic planning CORPORATEINFLUENCE Strategic control Financial control Holding company Low Flexible strategic Tight strategic Tight financial CONTROL INFLUENCE

15. Corporate Management Applications of PIMS Analysis • Setting performance targets • —feeding business unit strategic and industry data into the PIMS • regression model gives performance norms for the business • (PAR ROI). • Formulating business unit strategy • — PIMS model can simulate theimpact of changing strategic • variables. • Allocating investment funds between businesses • — PIMS Strategic Attractiveness Scan comparison different • business units’strategic attractiveness and their cash flow • characteristics

16. Managing Linkages between Businesses KEY ISSUE—How does the corporate center add value to the business? • BASIS OF BUSINESS LINKAGES—Sharing of resources and capabilities. • SHARING OCCURS AT TWO LEVELS: • Corporate level—common corporate services • Business level—sharing resources, transferring capabilities • PORTER’S ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS LINKAGES AND CORPORATE • STRATEGY TYPES • Portfolio management— Parent creates value by operating an internal • capital market • Restructuring—Parent create value by acquiring and restructuring • Inefficiently-managed businesses • Transferring skills—Parent createsvalue by transferringcapabilities • between businesses • Sharing activities—Parent createsvalue by sharing resources between • businesses ROLE OF DOMINANT LOGIC—importance of corporate managers’ perception of linkages

17. What Corporate Management Activities are Implied by Porter’s “Concepts of Corporate Strategy” • (1) Portfolio Management • Using superior information and analysis to acquire attractive companies at • favorable prices (e.g. Berkshire Hathaway). • Minimizing cost of capital (e.g. GE) • Create efficientt internal system for capital allocation (e.g. Exxon-Mobil) • Efficient monitoring of business unit performance (e.g BP-Amoco). (2) Restructuring: Intervening to cut costs and divest under performing assets (e.g. Hanson during 1980s & early 1990s) (3) Transferring skills: —Transferring best practices (e.g. Hewlett-Packard) —Transferring innovations (e.g. Sharp) —Transferring key personnel between businesses(e.g. Sony) (4) Sharing activities: —Common corporate services (e.g. 3M) —Sharing operational resources and functions (e.g. sales and distribution, manufacturing facilities).

18. Rethinking the Management of Multibusiness Corporations: Lessons from General Electric Jack Welch’s transformation of GE’s structure and management systems: • Delayering --- from 9 or 10 layers of hierarchy to 4 or 5 • Decentralizing decisions. • Reformulating strategic planning—from formal, document-intensive analysis to direct face-to-face discussion of key issues. • Redefining the role of HQ—from checker, inquisitor, and authority to facilitator, helper, and supporter. • Coordinating role of HQ— corporate HQ to lead in creating the “boundaryless corporation” where innovations and ideas flow and where horizontal coordination occurs to respond to new opportunities. • HQ as change agent— corporate HQ driving force for continual organizational change (e.g. “workout”, “six-sigma”).

19. Rethinking the Management of Multibusiness Corporations: Lessons from ABB Key features of ABB’s corporate management system: • Matrix organization—both product and country / regional coordination, but reporting requirements flexible. • Radical decentralization—ABB’s corporate HQ is tiny (<100 staff). Decision making authority lies with individual national subsidiaries (mostly small or medium-sized businesses). • Bottom-up management. Each business has its own balance sheet and can retain 1/3 of net income. • Informal collaboration and integration. Yet, for all of ABB’s apparent success at reconciling coordination with Decentralization, by 2002-03, deteriorating profitability and complexity of matrix structure causes ABB to adopt simpler line of business structure

20. Rethinking the Management of Multibusiness Corporations: Bartlett & Ghoshal’s Analysis of Key Management Processes RENEWAL PROCESS Managing the tension between short-term ambition Managing operational interdependencies and personal networks Creating and pursuing opportunities Shaping and embedding corporate purpose Developing and nurturing organizational values Establishing strategic mission & performance standards Creating and maintaining organizational trust Linking skills, knowledge, and resources Reviewing, developing, and supporting initiatives INTEGRATION PROCESS ENTREPRENEURIAL PROCESS Front-line Management Middle Management Top Management