This question refers to the Siemens Case in your reading packet.
Please type your responses. Answer each of the following with a short-medium sized paragraph unless otherwise specified.
1. What is Siemens’ global development strategy?
Siemens expanded globally by showcasing its technical competence and creating/maintaining great relationships with customers instead of your typical marketing efforts. The major goal of the company was to be the best at large, complex projects, and they invested significant amounts in emerging technologies to be ahead of the curve. Also, to further improve its technical competence, the company invested significant amounts in R&D and used 17 different offices in global areas (i.e. India and Florida) to develop new hardware/software. Everything was ultimately run by the Munich office, but most of the separate RDC’s acted independently.
2. What’s the purpose of its Regional Development Centers (RDC’s)?
The RDC’s were a way for Siemens to prove that it is a global company. Also, labor was tough to find at times in Germany, and thus with the strategically positioned RDC’s, they could take advantage of lower-priced labor in local communities. Furthermore, the local RDC’s could work on specific, customized projects for customers in that region and they could better respond to local needs. Many of the projects were even internally financed by the RDC, which allowed the Munich office to focus on more wide-spread initiatives. They had centers in Florida, India, Greece, etc., and were able to show that the company had a large global footprint.
3. What are the differences between the RDCs in India, Germany and the U.S.?
The RDC’s all had several differences. In the U.S., the culture was very informal in which workers wore golf shirts and khakis. The environment was also very fast paced, and the U.S. managers would often times initiate projects without much planning and without even notifying