Introduction
The principal issue experienced by Bausch & Lomb that would have to be managed more attentively is inconsistent international growth and the effects of the latter on employees and consumers. The overall financial growth discloses the potential held by the organization, but there are numerous activities that have to be deployed in order to maintain viable progress and ensure even larger average annual revenues. The lack of reasonable initiatives could have been labeled as ineffective, causing the executive branch to believe that more marketing ideas have to be launched to support international headquarters. Eventually, it worsened the company’s decision-making capability and made it exceptionally harder to allocate responsibilities among subsidiaries. Therefore, Bausch & Lomb had to redefine its vision and pay more attention to international growth in an attempt to create safer innovation and drive additional growth in the imminent future.
Case Interpretation
Based on the information presented in the case, it can be concluded that the transnational moods of Bausch & Lomb were not supported by all stakeholders and employees. The complexity of adhering to local cultures required the organization to develop a different vision and remove the majority of misunderstandings. The latter averted Bausch & Lomb from streamlining its operations and establishing successful partnerships. Thus, the transnational crusade of Bausch & Lomb had to be based on a sustainable strategy with flexible goals and trusting relationships among stakeholders. Without a particular baseline investigation, the organization would not be able to achieve stable growth trends and place itself on top of the competition.
Recommendations
Develop a Coordination System to Improve the Flow of Information, Goods, and Resources
As a transnational organization, Bausch & Lomb might have to pay more attention to the local needs and marketing vision peculiarities of every local target population. This means that the company would have to adapt to certain areas of interest researched by the audience across every location investigated by Bausch & Lomb. The core concern would revolve around protecting the uniqueness of products developed by the organization while adhering to the inherent values of the local culture. According to Chang et al. (2017), this is an essential step that has to be taken to foresee political and economic obstacles. Thus, a thorough review of operational contexts is required in order for the management of Bausch & Lomb to explore regional opportunities and transfer values to support the multinational nature of the organization. Despite the risks that could be associated with adhering to local culture and values, Bausch & Lomb is going to test different levels of localization to see how the target population responds to new products.
Another step to be taken by the organization is the development of a tangible local partnership that is based on active listening and the promotion of leadership. Effective competition can be attained only in the case where a business establishes a strong networking capability and adjusts to the fast-paced transnational corporate environment (Ratten, 2020). Hence, the management of Bausch & Lomb would have to allocate resources proactively in order to appeal to supply chain members and strategic business partners without affecting the local consumer base. This is why it can be recommended to focus on innovation while also referring to secure business operations and the need to replace outdated operations with strong evidence-based alternatives. For example, Ratten (2020) suggests that the market structure and consumer preferences represent the essential pillars of a corporate coordination system. A streamlined operational flow is going to improve Bausch & Lomb’s competitive position in the industry while also highlighting the areas where support should be discontinued.
Building a Stronger Network to Boost Competitiveness
There has to be an emphasis placed on corporate networking because the overall innovation process has to be innovative enough for the stakeholders to approve and maintain. This means that the transnational expansion of Bausch & Lomb should be based on the development of positive relationships with new stakeholders who might be ready to invest in the company’s operations. Currently, numerous organizations struggle with prioritizing stakeholder and consumer satisfaction over employee achievements and corporate performance (Karami & Tang, 2019). There is a chance for Bausch & Lomb to gain additional competitive advantages by meeting customer expectations and only investing in long-term partnerships. A stronger network is required to provide the organization with all the resources and knowledge that could be essential when innovating and maintaining market leadership. Accordingly, a thorough investigation on the topic of potential strategic partnerships might enhance organizational competencies and bring higher-degree competitiveness to the table. It can be expected to improve Bausch & Lomb’s operational effectiveness.
Establishing a Strategic Direction for Cooperative Ventures and Knowledge Management
Contextual and Structural Ambidexterity
The growing importance of business ambidexterity can be highlighted as one of the essential elements of strategic transnational growth. In addition to profitability and performance, the management of Bausch & Lomb could pay more attention to developing an improved position in the market via switching to mid-term and long-term solutions instead of making decisions in the state of reactivity. According to Fourné et al. (2019), it could be a means of maintaining a high degree of adaptability to the transnational business environment where operations have to be aligned against consumer and stakeholder interests. Strengths and competencies have to be well-thought-out in order to help the company adapt to change and deploy innovative strategic endeavors based on different types of strategic ambidexterity.
For instance, contextual ambidexterity might be required when Bausch & Lomb employees are involved in a scenario where responsibilities and duties are subject to the full autonomy of workers. This is a flexible approach that could be utilized by the organization to share information quickly and ensure that small-scale decisions do not have to be validated by top-level executives (Balboni et al., 2019). On the other hand, the application of structural ambidexterity would require the organization to engage in alignment-focused activities. The management would have to utilize authority in order to limit the level of employee autonomy and validate even small-scale decisions (Fourné et al., 2019). The narrow focus of structural ambidexterity could serve as a competitive advantage within environments requiring strong adherence to corporate rules and cultural peculiarities of the local target population. Within the framework of the current case study, it can be hypothesized that Bausch & Lomb would benefit from the deployment of principles of structural ambidexterity because top management has to direct and assign the majority of responsibilities linked to further international expansion.
Access to Knowledge Resources
The strategic direction picked by Bausch & Lomb would have to be mediated by a narrower approach to information management as well. The executive unit would have to ensure accessibility of knowledge resources to help all members of the team learn about their responsibilities and anticipated long-term outcomes. Consistent with Chang et al. (2017), it is an important element of strategic planning because top management has to assume the responsibility for creating and leading organizational change. In the case of Bausch & Lomb, the executives would have to share all the essential knowledge with team members and establish a straightforward information flow that is going to facilitate the process of communication between local and transnational departments. Consumers should have access to tangible outcomes of value creation operations run by Bausch & Lomb, as the lack of advancement and innovation would give a competitive advantage to the company’s competition. Knowledge dissemination has to be comprehensive in order for the organization to maintain the preset strategic direction and avoid risks related to transnational expansion.
Risk Analysis
There are three essential risks that might affect Bausch & Lomb when attempting to improve its international growth. The first potential risk when implementing the proposed strategy is an increased rate of competitiveness displayed by other organizations in the long run. This means that the willingness to develop a sustainable future might lead the rivals of Bausch & Lomb toward altering their strategic perspectives and improving their state of affairs. From a strategic perspective, this risk could have a serious impact on the organization’s financial performance. By taking a closer look at short-term objectives and financial incentives, Bausch & Lomb executives might be able to rely on factors that go beyond monetary and operational purposes. For example, social welfare and value creation could be prioritized in order to help the administration mitigate the risk of not being able to scale the business and respond to the competition.
Another risk that has to be covered when discussing the future of Bausch & Lomb’s international growth is the presence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) fundamentals. In order not to fail in the industry, the organization would have to pay more attention to environmental and social concerns instead of focusing solely on financial output. CSR and social welfare have to be included in the discussion because the organization risks losing most of its competitive advantages upon ignoring social and environmental indicators. The current risk also can be explained from the perspective where the business equity is required to devote more resources to initiatives aimed at consumers. It can be claimed that international growth poses CSR-related risks because international managers do not remain as effective and skillful when exposed to diverse cultures and unexpected business scenarios.
Arguably, the most impactful risk that has to be addressed is the advent of major changes in the global economy. Bausch & Lomb executives might not be able to prevent or foresee certain transformations, causing the company to miss technological advancements and never respond to urbanization and population growth. This risk is extraordinarily perilous due to the lack of possible insight into unexpected events, such as a financial crisis, a pandemic, or a deflation. Hence, financial performance cannot be considered the primary means of assessing organizational effectiveness. Stakeholders risk seeing bad returns in the case where they do not carry out any social welfare activities for local consumers.
Potential External Response
Short-Term: The primary response that external actors might provide upon recognizing Bausch & Lomb’s intentions would be major reinvestments in their businesses. The rationale for the organizations would be to follow the path of global expansion and outrun Bausch & Lomb. The cascading effect created by consistent investments would help the competition achieve the new vision while also establishing a stronger presence in the market. This action should be countered by similar investments made by Bausch & Lomb to highlight the consistent nature of its international growth.
Mid-Term: The secondary response employed by external actors would be to focus on the deployment of a lean approach to conquer new markets. The rationale behind resorting to lean strategies is an increased tolerance of fails. The latter can be corrected quickly due to the improved flexibility of the organization. After learning what works and what does not, Bausch & Lomb’s competition might focus on gaining a better understanding of the new global market. At this stage, rivals would not invest as much in transforming the infrastructure as during the short-term response due to the need to fine-tune the strategy to achieve continuous improvements.
Long-Term: The long-term response that the competition might produce after resorting to short- and mid-term strategies is proactive thinking. Instead of remaining reactive, rivals might be interested in operating in a state of expansion in order not to take unnecessary risks. For instance, Bausch & Lomb’s competition might develop action plans intended to facilitate the anticipation of change and maintain the integrity of organizational operations. Overall, the competition’s long-term response to the international expansion of Bausch & Lomb could be countered with enduring investments required to strengthen research and development activities and CSR strategies.
References
Balboni, B., Bortoluzzi, G., Pugliese, R., & Tracogna, A. (2019). Business model evolution, contextual ambidexterity and the growth performance of high-tech start-ups. Journal of Business Research, 99, 115-124. Web.
Chang, W. J., Liao, S. H., & Wu, T. T. (2017). Relationships among organizational culture, knowledge sharing, and innovation capability: A case of the automobile industry in Taiwan. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 15(3), 471-490. Web.
Fourné, S. P., Rosenbusch, N., Heyden, M. L., & Jansen, J. J. (2019). Structural and contextual approaches to ambidexterity: A meta-analysis of organizational and environmental contingencies. European Management Journal, 37(5), 564-576. Web.
Karami, M., & Tang, J. (2019). Entrepreneurial orientation and SME international performance: The mediating role of networking capability and experiential learning. International Small Business Journal, 37(2), 105-124. Web.
Ratten, V. (2020). Coronavirus and international business: An entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective. Thunderbird International Business Review, 62(5), 629-634. Web.
