Response paper

Question 1: Identify three significant political and economic changes in the past five years that would require businesses to respond accordingly
(dear Customer, I am not sure whether your teacher meant to describe the events listed in the book here, or whether it is needed to write three changes which are different from the book)
(I give two variants here, and you can kindly choose the one which suits you best)
(book variants)

Three key trends changing the worldwide business environment are the rapid growth of foreign economies (especially the economies of the third world countries), the creation of a global economic space, and high availability of financial and technical resources.
(own variants)

There are many changes affecting the business environment currently; during the last five years such issues as the rapid economic recovery of post-soviet countries after the recession, the non-governmental organizations in China which are replacing the work units and thus making Chinese economy more open to market trends, and the earthquake in Japan which has significantly affected the whole world because of economical interconnections between major players.

Question 2: Explain the three key facets in worldwide strategic orientation. Give examples that are not in the book
The three facets of worldwide strategic orientation are distribution of products and services in several countries (more than one) and active direct investments in these countries, balance of product diversity and functionality according to differences between these countries, and coordinated management of all divisions with the help of a diverse workforce. Examples of companies with worldwide strategic orientation are PepsiCo, with their product strategy diversified for every region separately, and Walmart, with its corporate culture brought to all locations.

Question 3: What are the characteristics of the global design? How do these differ from the characteristics of the multinational orientation and transnational design?
Global strategic orientation is characterized by low local responsiveness and high global integration. The main features of global design are efficiency as the main goal, centralized product design, manufacturing and managerial decisions, and centralized organization. Global design is based on the economies of scale. This contrasts with multinational and transnational design. For the former, the product lines are decentralized, divisions are autonomous, coordination is rather loose, as global integration is low, while local responsiveness should be high. When the requirements for both factors are high, it is transnational design, characterized by matrix organizational structure, and local divisions are subordinated to multinational structure and to product group headquarters.

Question 4: How are global social change organizations (GSCOs) related to creating sustainable change in communities and societies? What is the role of the change agent in this unusual situation?

The goal of GSCOs is to bring social change and to create effective network structure to manage sustainable change. GSCOs foster the effectiveness of local organizations, establish communications and collaboration with other similar organizations and establish connections with policymakers. In these processes, the role of the practitioners implementing and planning change is very important. They are called change agents. There are two types of change agents: stewards – develop sustainable social solutions, and bridging agents ”“ connect communities towards sustainable change.

Question 5: The text suggests that internal differences within GSCOs can emerge as a result of certain developments. What are they?
It is possible to identify three types of developments which can help GSCOs grow into viable organizations. These developments are the use of organizational values for creating the vision, understanding of success-related problems, and understanding of the relationship between external conditions and internal conflicts.

Question 6: Can a GSCO play the role of an OD consultant? In what circumstances? How?

In the process of creating horizontal linkages, GSCOs collaborate with each other and protect their common interests. In such situations, GSCOs establish relationships with various related organizations in their community, and the role of GSCOs is to share their vision with these organizations, create appropriate policies supporting the development of sustainable change and help to mobilize their resources, which is very similar to the role of an OD consultant.

Question 7: What are the necessary skills to be an effective OD consultant to a GSCO?
The most important skills for an effective OD consultant dealing with a GSCO, regardless of the type of this consultant (steward or bridging) are skills of communication, negotiation and networking.

References
Waddell, D.A. & Cummings, T.G. & Worley, C.G. (2011). Organisational change: development and transformation. Cengage Learning Australia.