Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Becomiog A Triad Power The New Global C
Becomiog A Triad Power The New Global C
Das internationale Beratungsunternebmen McKinsey bat sicb zur Aufgabe gestellt, in en- bal enterprises organized for doing busi-
ger Zusammenarbeit mit der Fübrung von K1ienten-Unternebmen praxisnabe Lösungen ness in the 1960s are out of date.
für aktuelle Top-Management-Probleme zu entwickeln und einzufübren. Ziel ist dabei die Following World War 11, American multi-
nacbbaltige Verbesserung und Leistungsfäbigkeit der beratenen Unternehmen und Orga- national enjoyed a virtually insurmounta-
nisationen. McKinsey wurde 1925 in den USA gegründet; derzeit beraten 38 McKinsey- ble technological and competitive edge and
Büros in 19 Ländern private und öffentlicbe Organisationen in allen Fragen der Unterneb- could straddle Latin America, Asia and
mensfübrung.ln Deutscbland, Österreicb und der Schweiz arbeitet McKinsey seit 1964 mit Europe. From 1945 to 1965 some 2,800 US
heute ca. 200 Beratern und etwa ebensovielen Mitarbeitern in Stabs- und administrativen businesses had stakes in 10,000 direct in-
Funktionen. Jedes McKinsey-Büro ist eng mit den Merkmalen und spezifiscben Manage- vestments abroad, aimed in most cases at
ment-Problemen seiner Region vertraut, nutzt dabei aber den weltweiten Erfabrungs- exploiting a technological advantage
scbatz des Gesamtunternebmens. (IBM, Texas Instruments, Xerox), a unique
Bei der naturgemäß vorhandenen Heterogenität der Klientenorganisationen und Bera- product (Gillette, Kellogg), or a leading po-
tungsthemen sieht McKinsey, vor allem für Großunternehmen in Nordamerika, West-Eu- sition in US industry (General Motors, In-
ropa und Japan eine Reihe von wesentlichen Herausforderungen, deren Bewältigung ent- , ternational Telephone & Telegraph). Most
scheidend für den langfristigen Unternehmenserfolg sein wird: Die Sicherung der Innova- of these subsidiaries were clones, so to spe-
tionskraft durch leistungsfähiges Technologie-Management, die Globalisierung wichtiger ak, of the parent organization, each with its
Märkte, die Bildung von internationalen Kooperationen und strategischen Partnerschaf- miniature versions of corporate headquar-
ten, neue Formen der Organisation und Unternehmensführung, Entwicklung und Moti- ters.
vation von Führungskräften und Mitarbeitern, sowie die politische und gesellschaftliche Many of today's leading world enterprises
Verantwortung der Unternehmen. Der Autor des folgenden Artikels, Dr. Kenichi Ohmae, are still structured along traditional lines.
geht auf eines dieser Themen in seinem 1984 erschienenen Buch »Triad Power« (herausge- Yet the world around them has changed
geben durch The Free Press) mit der zentralen These ein, daß internaJional operierende dramatically. Consider:
Unternehmen den Schlüsselmärkten Europa, USA und Japan - ungeachtet der Entfer- • Siting production facilities in low-Ia-
nung vom Sitz der Unternehmen - gleiche Aufmerksamkeit widmen müssen. Dieser Arti- bor-cost locations - the »global enter-
kel ist dem zitierten Buch entnommen, welches 1985 unter dem Titel »Macht der Triade« prise« model - is still the fashion. Yet
im Gabler-Verlag erschienen ist. the economic advantages of doing so are
likely to be short-lived. Most competiti-
Three major markets - the »Triad of Ja- products. Japan, the United States and ve Japanese companies, for instance, are
pan, Europe and the United States - are West Germany a10ne comprise 70 percent today pulling out of Southeast Asia and
emerging as the most important stategic of the global market for numerically con- investing in capital-intensive robots and
battlefield for any company operating on a trolIed machine tools. machines.
global scale. The author pinpoints four The Triad countries a11 have similar pro- • A strategy favored by American MNCs
trends - increasing capital intensity, soa- blems: mature economies, escalating social has been to develop a proprietary tech-
ring R&D costs, converging worldwide costs, aging populations, a growing scarci- nology and exploit it first domestically
consumer tastes and intensifying protec- ty of skiUed jobs, dynamic technologies and then abroad. Today, they don't have
tionism - which together make it imperiti- and escalating R&D costs. Triad markets, time to leisurely market new and proba-
ve for a company to have an inside presence too, are increasingly similar. Capital equip- bly much more expensive technological
in all three Tria,d regions. He looks at tbe ment until recently reflected its country of developments; many competitors pos-
steps some companies have already taken origin. Now the best-selling factory machi- sess comparable technological skills,
toward becoming a Triad power. nes have become almost identical not only making it almost impossible to sustain a
in apearance but in the skills required to technological monopoly; and the global
Three great market regions - Japan, Euro- operate them. There are 600 million consu- diffusion of new technology has become
pe and the United States - dominate the mers in the Triad with converging needs and a matter of months, not years.
world of multinational business today. The preferences. Gucci bags, Sony Walkmans • In the Triad markets, a new breed of con-
combined gross national products of Ja- and McDonald's golden arches are seen on sumers is emerging, similar in educa-
pan and the United States now account for the streets of Tokyo, London, Paris and tion, income, life style and aspirations.
30 percent of the free world's total. Add in New York. Companies like Seiko, Sony, Ca- These 600 million customers exhibit the
the GNP of the four biggest Western Euro- non, Matsushita, Casio and Honda are same basic demand patterns and can be
pean nations - the United Kingdom, West now routinely developing products for a treated for marketing purposes as a sin-
Germany, France and Italy - and the figu- world market, with minor modifications gle species. They all want the best pro-
re reaches 45 percent. Customers in the Ja- . depending on local tastes. ducts at the best price, regardless of ori-
pan-Europe-US Triad buy over 85 percent All this has far-reaching consequences far gin.
of a11 computers and consumer electronics multinational business. Quite simply, glo- • At the same time, protectionist pressures
."
rilyas a controller; and finally, equal »citi-
zenship« should be given to each of the
Triad regions - and to any region outside
the Triad where the company operates on a
major scale (we could call this a »tetrahe-
dra!« model).
For exarnple, the German chernical giant
BASF, which recognized in 1981, preserves
the regional grouping of its nonstrategic
areas, but treats the key strategic countries
completely separately. The heads of
BASF's US, Japanese and Brazilian subsi-
diaries (Brazil is an important »Hinter- Exhibit V: Deciding on consortium partners
land« for the company) each report directly 16.5 percent, with the rest traded on the To-
to a member of the executive board. Tailor- kyo Stock Exchange, has grown to be No.
made policies are worked out for each of 2 in the Japanese process control and in- Too often, however, joint ventures fail be-
the three areas. This kind of organization is strumentation field. Honeywell has been cause of differences between the partners.
one reaJistic model for a multinational ent- able to inject needed technologies, and the Since a joint venture is a legal entity with
erprise. Japanese partner h"s supplied a stable ma- equity sharing, the partners must decide
Despite Japan's critical strategic difference nagement team. formally how to-shäre profit (or loss) and
from other Asian countries, too many mul- American-Japanese joint ventures such as where arid how to reinvest for the future.
tinationals consign it to the Far East De- Yamatake-Honeywell, Caterpillar-Mitsu- Unless their management or resource alJo-
partment or the Pacific Basin Division of bishi, Surnitomo-Minnesota Mining and cation can frustrate common goals. All
the International Business Sector, with the Manufacturing (3M), and Fuji-Xerox are concerned need to understand at the outset
head of Japanese operations five levels be- all ranked among the top three in their re- that making a success of a joint venture in-
low the CEO - literally, in some cases, be- spective industries. Ebara-Infilco, owned volves at least as much pain and effort as
low the level of a sales manager in Denver. until recently by Westinghouse's Infilco Di- - building a new greenfield plant. Like a mar-
Japanese companies make the same mista- vision, is the biggest firm in the Japanese riage, it will demand a lot of effort by both
ke when they send a deputy general mana- water treatment industry. This is doubly parties over a long period that may bring
ger form Production Planning to head up astonishing because more than 90 percent changes in the environment, in their relati-
their US operations. This is the quickest of this company's work was in the public ve strengths.
way for a multinational corporation to un- sector, which is notoriously intolerant of Unlike a marriage, though, a joint venture
dermine its prospects of succeeding as a outsiders. is constrained by numerous legal contracts
Triad power. The French companies Schlumberger and and forms of capital participation. Instead
Michelin both have commanding positions of talking out their frustrations and diffe-
2. Tbe joint venture in the United States. And another cosmo- . rences, the partners are frequently aIl too
Joint ventures are normally designed to ta- politan French company, Air Liquide, quick to point out each other's violations
ke advantage of the strong functions of the owns 64.2 percent of Teisan, which is pu- of these legal contracts. Often, critical mat-
partners and supplement their weak func- blicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. ters tend to be decided by vote, based on the
tions, be they management, research, or Philips has a long and successful history of partners' respective proportions of equity
marketing. The recent announcement of a joint ventures with Matsushita in electronic holding.
joint-venture plan in small business com- components. Sirnilarly, Caterpillar's joint In my observation, majority voting seldom
puters between Matsushita and IBM is a venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries represents good business judgment and re-
good exarnple of resource sharing, with has given it real staying power in the rather arely favors entrepreneurial decisions. In-
each company supplementing the other's conservative earth-moving equipment deed, if a voting process is needed to decide
functional strengths. This joint venture al- market of Japan. High Voltage Industries on critical matters, the chances are the joint
so testifies that even the biggest companies (HVI), a 50 : 50 joint venture between GE venture has aIready failed. To put it another
in two regions 0 f the Triad cannot fight and and Hitachi in gas switch gear in Philadel- way, ifyour company needs the world's best
win the electronics war single-handed. phia, uses GE's rnighty pooled salesforce lawyers to speil out alI the possible details
Yamatake-Honeywell, in which Honeywell for utility customers and Hitachi's advan- and countermeasures in potential disputes,
owns 50 percent, the Yasuda group about ced gas diffusion technology. you lack a sound basis fOT the joint venture.
ß
P
D
(@N0
r-.
ös.".;oh;och.
will be able to identify and link up with dy-
namic new partners, catching its domestic
L .....
Beratungsunternehmen mit
internationalem Know-how
and global competitors off guard.
RGIPLRN
A: 1150 Wien, Loeschenkohlgasse 6, Tel. (0222) 92 34 51-0
new global entity with a significantly diffe-
rent chemistry and blood type - a Triad
power.
---"y----
12 DER WIRTSCHAFTSI GENIEUR 19 (1987) 3