Formal and Informal Controls Paper

In your own words, discuss the formal and informal controls used to ensure that international marketing operations are in line with company goals and objective.
What are some of the factors that influence organizational design? Describe how each factor influences the design.
**Use Lascu, D. N. (2008) International Marketing, 3e, 3rd Edition. Cengage Learning, VitalBook file as the primary reference.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Controls are critical aspects of a multinational organization in ensuring that the operations are in line with the goals as they are stated in the company’s strategic plan. The formal controls include developing performance standards, measuring the performance and addressing the discrepancies. The parameters for evaluating the dimensions of the external environment should be established (Lascu, 2008). This evaluation should continuously assess the competitive intensity, political stability, local and regional economic developments among other things. The next step is measuring performance using established standards. The measurements taken include sales, profits, and market share against previous performance or competitors. Finally, any discrepancies between the standards and the measured performance are corrected. This may involve adjusting the standards in case they are found to have been unreasonable (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2013). The companies may also use informal controls like establishing constant contact between the firm headquarters and the local office to improve coordination of activities and rotating managers from one assignment to…