Title: Approaches to Australian Business- the International Role of Australian Multidomestic Companies
Abstract:Since the late 1980s the Australian Government has been made aware that Australia's performance in manufactured goods exports has declined relative to the country's total export growth and to overseas...Since the late 1980s the Australian Government has been made aware that Australia's performance in manufactured goods exports has declined relative to the country's total export growth and to overseas competitors. The Government has been eager to better the national performance and called for a number of reports to recommend measures to be implemented. The Government's commitment to this process culminated earlier this year in the March Industry Statement which presented a new Industry Policy for Australia. While all this has been going on at the bureaucratic level some major Australian manufacturing companies have been busy facing up to the realities of producing in Australia for export. Many of them have made the decision that it makes more sense to manufacture in the overseas market than manufacture in Australia and export to the market. They have adopted multi-domestic strategies. The approach of this Research Report is to evaluate the international operating practices of a group of major Australian manufacturing companies engaged in the building and construction materials industry. The evaluation is set against the recommendations of the official Australian Government and industry reports to strengthen the international competitiveness of Australian companies and to expand Australia's manufactured exports. The agreement of 4 companies - CSR Limited, Boral Limited, Pioneer Industries Limited and James Hardie Limited - was obtained to participate in the research. Their representatives very generously agreed to answer the written survey in interviews, the responses of which form the operating practices detail. These companies have all adopted multi-domestic strategies with each operating their international networks out of head offices in Sydney. They are successful and they are growing quickly. The objective of this Report is to support the hypothesis that the successful management of an Australian multinational company may best be achieved through a multi-domestic strategy. The Report assesses contemporary management theory on strategic issues affecting international business and relates these to the company surveys. Conclusions emerge throughout the Report starting with the likely impact on the economy of the Government's March Statement on industry reforms. The reforms can be expected to assist the agricultural, mining and tourism industries rather than manufacturing. The exchange rate is expected to continue to be volatile as the traditional strong currency earning industries increase their comparative advantage. This will be unwelcome news for export manufacturers and adds to the vulnerability of manufacturing for export in Australia. The Government's export promotion programs are judged to be misdirected and inadequate because they ignore the current developments in international trade. The surveyed multi-domestic companies are strategically evaluated on their regional investment decisions, R&D expenditure and management systems. The overall conclusion is that the Government needs to recognise the contribution Multi-domestic companies make to Australian's international trading profIle and to institute programs to assist new companies to achieve success by adopting an appropriate multi-domestic strategy.Read More
Publication Year: 1991
Publication Date: 1991-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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