International Business Strategy

1
International Business Strategy

• MP3.Com

2
MP3.com

• Summarize
• Predominantly, what type of organization is
  MP3.com and why?
• Entrepreneurial
• Innovative (Adhocracy)
• Machine

3
MP3.com How Entrepreneurs Craft

• In Amar Bhides article How Entrepreneurs Craft
  Strategies that Work, he mentions the following
  three general guidelines. How does MP3.com
  perform in on these guidelines?

4
How does MP3.com Perform?

• Screen opportunities quickly to weed out
  unpromising ventures.
• What was the basis of MP3s competition
  Proprietary Assets or Hustle
• What external changes provide the company
  leverage
• Analyze ideas parsimoniously. Focus on a few
  important ideas.
• Integrate action and analysis. Dont wait for
  all the answers, and be ready to change.

5
MP3.com

• Does MP3.com represent visionary leadership?
  What evidence justifies your answer.

6
Entrepreneurial Orgnization

• Mintzberg claims that the entrepreneurial
  organization is the riskiest of organization,
  hinging on one individual. Does the MP3.com
  case support this assertion? Contradict it? or
  does not add evidence either way? Why?

7
MP3.com

• What were the common structural characteristics
  that allowed for the rise of MP3.com using the
  following characteristics
• Technological Uncertainty
• Strategic Uncertainty
• High Initial Costs but steep Reductions
• Ebryonic Company and Spin-offs
• Short time horizon
• Subsidy

8
MP3.com

• Michael Porter states that in emerging
  industries, the rules of competitive game are
  largely undefined, the structure of the industry
  unsettled and probably changing, and competition
  hard to diagnose.
• In light of this, did MP3.com make good strategic
  choices during this phase? Justify your answer.