Reference no: EM133175098

Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapter 13 of the course textbook and review the closing case in Chapter 13 Subsidiary Initiative at LEGO North America.

Peng, M. W. (2017). Global business (4th ed.). Retrieved from https://redshelf.com/

• Chapter 13: Strategizing, Structuring, and Learning Around the World

To remain competitive, a multinational steel company needs to reconfigure its operations to align with worldwide production. As a consultant on world steel production, provide a report that indicates appropriate personnel and resource allocation to each region of the world. As a part of your analysis, be sure to include your analysis for specific countries in which your client should maintain regional headquarters.In  1997,  Peter  Eio,  head  of  LEGO  North  America,  proposed to LEGO Group senior management at its headquarters  in  Denmark,  the  idea  of  licensing  Star Wars  characters  for  LEGO  toys.  This  would  enable  LEGO to capitalize on the anticipated release of the new Star Wars trilogy starting with The Phantom Men-ace  in  1999.  From  his  North  America  headquarters  in  Enfield,  Connecticut,  Eio  was  convinced  that  the  US toy market had become a license-driven market. Licensed toys such as Disney characters from Disney movies and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story accounted for half of all toys sold in the United States. Despite its success, LEGO's go-it-alone culture had prevented it  from  leveraging  any  licensed  products  up  to  this  point. Encouraged  by  Lucasfilm  executives  who  were  LEGO  fans  and  who  wanted  to  partner  with  LEGO,  Eio thought he had proposed a winning product that would enable LEGO to get into the world of licensing. Unfortunately,  LEGO  senior  executives'  initial  reac-tion, according to Eio himself, "was one of shock and horror.  It  wasn't  the  LEGO  way."  Specifically,  LEGO  executives felt LEGO did not need to license intellec-tual property from another player. Further, the specific characters  centered  on  war  and  violence  would  vio-late one of LEGO founder Ole Kirk Christiansen's core values: never let war seem like child's play. According to critics, the very name, Star Wars, would violate the essence  of  the  LEGO  identity.  Heated  debate  took  place.  One  executive  even  claimed,  "Over  my  dead  body will LEGO ever introduce Star Wars."During the next round, Eio and his team surveyed parents in the United States to gauge their opinion on the marriage between LEGO and Star Wars. He also convinced his colleague in charge of Germany, which was LEGO's largest and by far its most conservative market, to conduct a similar survey. While US parents strongly supported the idea, German parents were also enthusiastic.  Armed  with  such  supportive  consumer  data,  Eio  pushed  this  subsidiary-driven  initiative  fur-ther and continued to meet resistance and push-back from  senior  executives  at  headquarters.  Eventually,  the founder's grandson and the president and CEO of LEGO Group at that time, Kjeld Kirk  Kristiansen, who was a Star Wars fan himself, overruled his conserva-tive executives and gave the licensing deal his bless-ing. In 1999, LEGO Star Wars products were released on  the  wings  of  the  blockbuster  The  Phantom  Men-ace,  becoming  one  of  the  most  successful  product  launches  not  only  for  LEGO,  but  also  for  the  global  toy industry. In the end, more than one-sixth of LEGO Groups'  earnings  in  the  early  2000s  came  from  the  Star Wars line."

Bring the case current by reviewing LEGO further and describing additional alliances for LEGO, since the 1999 alliance with Lucas films.

• How can a firm like LEGO utilize knowledge sharing to promote additional alliance opportunities?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of LEGO utilizing virtual teams for alliance negotiation, implementation, and follow-up performance?
• How can global alliances impact LEGO's social responsibility strategies?
• What impact does an "international culture mindset" have on an alliance's success?
• How can local culture impede alliance negotiations, and what strategies can LEGO employ to ensure success?