PayDay Loans FAQ

When a relationship is in the Form stage, the members of the group are generally polite to one another. Most are reserved and allow a group leader or dominant individual to control activities. Others may not reveal much about themselves or disclose their reasons for being involved in the group. They sit back and take a wait-and-see attitude.

But the Form stage is optimal for members’ investing time and energy toward clarifying issues, objectives, and dynamics of the relationship and expressing their needs. During this stage of development, they need to address questions about roles, rules, procedures, and the partnership agenda. “What are we doing?” is a question frequently heard in the Form stage, and during this period people need to ask themselves how much they want to invest in the relationship.

They need to decide whether they are in or out—and, if they are in, what the price of admission is. Consequently, the Form stage needs a strong leader to give direction and set the tone of the partnership until trust is established and situational leadership can emerge in a natural way.

These matters, if not addressed up front, will resurface later and can sabotage the development of trust. Some partners are so eager to “do the deal” that they forget they’re interacting with other people who have their own needs and wants. Impatience at the Form stage is a signal of a potential “one-night stand” relationship.

Multinational companies will want to reduce costs and maximise resources within a single, integrated structure. Things to consider when determining the best structure include:

Political, economic and other factors affecting stability. If the operating environment is unstable, then the best solution may be to provide direct support.

Resources: human, financial and so on.

The purpose, size and complexity of the operation. Generally, the more sophisticated and complex the organisation, the more autonomy is required. But good communications between local operations and overseas headquarters are always important.

Communicating. When building an international business, all those with a stake in the company, especially shareholders, providers of finance and employees, should be informed of what is happening, what the advantages are and what it means for them. Without an explanation, people often fear the worst. Without a convincing explanation, they worry that the management has not thought things through and may be making a strategic error.

Analysing the available options will highlight the best approach and inform the way in which it is executed. A strategy to expand internationally requires a champion, someone with dynamism and commitment, and ideally with local expertise or expertise in setting up a similar expansion elsewhere. Such a champion must be flexible enough to make adjustments as necessary to make the new strategy succeed, and must have (or have a subordinate who has) good project management skills in order to provide focus and prioritise actions and aims.

Structuring international operations. It can be unproductive and a waste of resources to make a new international firm fit existing systems and procedures. But core management issues such as communications, structure and leadership are best resolved early. Managers must ensure that information and expertise flow freely throughout the organisation.

In particular, best-practice information should be widely disseminated and available for everyone in the organisation. Deciding the degree of autonomy given to international business units is fundamental. Reporting structures, responsibilities and authority levels need to be clear. An organisation benefits from being integrated and cohesive and should be fair and consistent in its practices and with its employees. Local factors should be taken into account, but an organisation should be true to its values. Co-ordination and control are important; if left to drift, international operations become disconnected from the rest of the organisation, even in conflict with it.

Leading and motivating people, setting direction and making decisions are all made more difficult across borders. Empowerment often provides a solution, enabling people to work within clearly defined areas of responsibility. Mentoring schemes can provide individuals with support and coaching, helping to integrate international business units into the organisation as a whole.

The first priority is to be clear about what your international strategy can and cannot achieve. There should also be clearly defined success criteria: many firms stage the implementation of their international expansion, only committing additional resources when initial objectives have been achieved. A helpful question to ask might be: “What level of achievement would be acceptable to the business, regardless of how the market is perceived?” Other questions include the following:

• How does the international strategy help to achieve the overall aims of the organisation?
• What are the priorities (cross-selling or improving service for existing customers, attracting new clients, attacking current or potential competitors, reducing costs, gaining information and experience, or something else)?
• What are the options? For example, should the firm set up an overseas office or subsidiary, or would acquisition, a joint venture, franchising or licensing be better approaches?
• Where are the potential pitfalls and how will the risk be managed?
• Does the organisational structure need to be altered to take full advantage of the international operations? If so, how?