Case w11 Philips NV
Case w11 Philips NV
Case w11 Philips NV
Researc
Part 5
Exercise 1
Fortune conducts an annual survey and publishes the
rankings of the world's most admired companies. Locate
the most recent ranking available, and focus on the
factors used to determine which companies are most
admired. Prepare an executive summary of the strategic
and organizational success factors for a company of your
choice.
Exercise 2
You work at a European-based pharmaceutical company
that is planning to expand operations to other parts of the
world. To design the structure of the organization as it
expands internationally, management ha~ requested additional information on the pharmaceutical sector worldwide. Use the Industry Profiles section on the
globalEDGE site to prepare a risk assessment of the food
and beverage industry that can help management gain a
better understanding of the external environment in foreign markets.
Philips NV
Established in 1891 in Holland, Philips Electronics NV
is one of the world 's oldest multinationals. The company
began making lighting products and over time diversified
into a range of businesses that included domestic appliances, consumer electronics, and health care products.
From the beginning, Holland's small domestic market
created pressures for Philips to look to fo reign markets
for growth. By the start of World War II, Philips already
had a global presence. During the war, Holland was
occupied by Germany. By necessity, the company's national organizations in countries such as Britain,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the United States gained
considerable autonomy during this period.
After the war, a structure based on strong national organizations remained in place. Each national organization was in essence a self-contained entity that was
responsible for much of its own manufacturing, marketing, and sales. Most R&D activities, however, were centralized at Philips' headquarters in Eindhoven, Holland.
Reflecting this, several product divisions were created.
Based in Eindhoven, the product divisions developed
technologies and products, which were then made and
sold by the different national organizations. During this
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notes
1. B. Kammel and R. Weiss, "How Siemens Got Its Mojo Back,"
Bloomberg Business Week, January 27, 2011; V. J. Racanelli,
"The Culture Changer," Barron's, March 10, 2012; S. G. Leslie
and J. Sorensen, "Siemens: Building a Structure to Drive Performance and Responsibility (A)," Stanford Business School Case,
October 7, 2010.
2. This has long been a central theme of the strategic management
literature. See, for example, C. W. L. Hill and R. E. Hoskisson,
"Strategy and Structure in the Multiproduct Firm," Academy of