Cobalt Systems and SiverLight Electronics
1. Present the discrepancies of business practices, policy and strategy between the 2 countries
Cobalt Systems is a multinational corporation present in more than 50 countries divided into regions. Cobalt Systems is a highly centralized organization as all the operations throughout the world are overseen by 13 US based ‘Management Board’ members. The company large number of layers between the Management Board and the local employees (hierarchical organization) doesn’t allow much room for empowerment. It is an ethnocentric company with a people oriented culture that provides all its local employees around the world with extensive training in order to socialize them to the Cobalt culture. Moreover, Cobalt Systems insists on fully owning its foreign subsidiaries as they are seen as “national assets” (where national refers to American). Therefore the company doesn’t trust its foreign subsidiaries and is paranoid about losing technological secrets to competitors.
Silverlight Electronics is a Korean based company selling its high tech products in Korea and abroad. It is part of the SiverLight Chaebol; a family of firms held together by cross-ownership and close personal ties. The SilverLight Chaebol offers a horizontal multi-industry integration. Therefore, SilverLight’s products are mostly the result of the SilverLight Chaebol’s work rather than from SilverLight Electronics itself. The company has enjoyed the government’s help and national protectionism over the past 40 years which has mainly contributed to the success of the company and some of its competitors (Samsung Electronics, Daewoo Electronics…). The company is thus closely tied to the government and is seen by the majority of the population as a Korean pride. Its many rewards from the government reflect this aspect. The company as a strong corporate family oriented identity where employees are socialized into the SilverLight family and ideally work for the company for their entire career.
We can
Cobalt Systems is a multinational corporation present in more than 50 countries divided into regions. Cobalt Systems is a highly centralized organization as all the operations throughout the world are overseen by 13 US based ‘Management Board’ members. The company large number of layers between the Management Board and the local employees (hierarchical organization) doesn’t allow much room for empowerment. It is an ethnocentric company with a people oriented culture that provides all its local employees around the world with extensive training in order to socialize them to the Cobalt culture. Moreover, Cobalt Systems insists on fully owning its foreign subsidiaries as they are seen as “national assets” (where national refers to American). Therefore the company doesn’t trust its foreign subsidiaries and is paranoid about losing technological secrets to competitors.
Silverlight Electronics is a Korean based company selling its high tech products in Korea and abroad. It is part of the SiverLight Chaebol; a family of firms held together by cross-ownership and close personal ties. The SilverLight Chaebol offers a horizontal multi-industry integration. Therefore, SilverLight’s products are mostly the result of the SilverLight Chaebol’s work rather than from SilverLight Electronics itself. The company has enjoyed the government’s help and national protectionism over the past 40 years which has mainly contributed to the success of the company and some of its competitors (Samsung Electronics, Daewoo Electronics…). The company is thus closely tied to the government and is seen by the majority of the population as a Korean pride. Its many rewards from the government reflect this aspect. The company as a strong corporate family oriented identity where employees are socialized into the SilverLight family and ideally work for the company for their entire career.
We can