Case Scenario 1: Compliance, Inc

question 80

Essay

Case Scenario 1: Compliance, Inc.
Compliance, Inc., (CI) conducts clinical human and animal trials for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Revenues are split evenly between early and late drug development services. While the bulk of its business is conducted in Europe and the U.S. (10 and 17 subsidiaries, respectively), CI also has subsidiaries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Australia. Historically CI operated under a multidomestic strategy, owing to the fact that the clinical testing industry was geographically fragmented to meet the diverse needs of the many strong local pharmaceutical companies and distinct regulatory environments. CI's organizational structure truly reflected the autonomous character of each country's businesses. Many of the country managers have been with CI for over a decade, and have a great deal of discretion over the activities of their home-market businesses. However, globalization of the regulatory environment (both global and local standards), globalization of the biotechnology firms (increasing the geographic scope of their operations), and tremendous consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry (reducing the number of pharmaceutical industry participants to only a handful of major global companies) caused CI to question its multidomestic strategy. Consequently, the firm has begun its transition to a transnational strategy.
-(Refer to Case Scenario 1) What type of organizational structure will likely be needed for its transnational strategy? What impact will this have on the location of particular value chain activities?

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Definitions:

Basic Sensations

The simplest form of sensory processing, resulting from stimulating sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, skin, nose, and tongue.

Sense of Touch

One of the five senses that allows an organism to perceive and respond to tactile stimuli from the environment.

Pleasure

A feeling of satisfaction or joy experienced when one enjoys an event or activity.

Stroking

In psychology, it refers to acts or words that acknowledge another person's presence or qualities, often used in transactional analysis.