Case Study—Siemens

Read the case study located in the section titled Case Studies in your textbook and prepare a 5- to 6-page report in a Microsoft Word document concerning the following situation:

Siemens is a leading global electrical engineering and electronics firm headquartered in Munich, Germany. Profiling a highly diversified company, this case addresses the issue of optimizing the business portfolio through a coherent corporate strategy. An in-depth look at the programs designed and implemented at Siemens to spur management innovation provides a unique opportunity to study an organization’s efforts to facilitate the transfer corporate-level core competencies across business divisions in order to strengthen competitive position and performance.

The case opens with an introduction and a profile of the company. Management innovation activity at Siemens is then thoroughly reviewed, including the context, evolution, purpose, content, implementation, capability development, and performance measurement of the company’s top+ program.

This case study demonstrates how the principles of strategic management apply to Siemens’ structured and systematic approach to management innovation and business excellence. It also provides a framework for assessing the effectiveness of the company’s corporate management tools and programs.

• Describe Siemens’ corporate-level strategy and characterize its level of diversification. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the company’s matrix organizational structure. Does the organizational design effectively support the needs of Siemens’ corporate-level strategy?
• Describe how the company structured the top+ program. Who was responsible for oversight and coordination of the business excellence initiatives? How does the management innovation activity at Siemen’s facilitate achievement of the company’s corporate objectives?
• Using a balanced scorecard framework, outline the financial and strategic organizational controls used by Siemens to drive management behavior and firm performance. Are the corporate criteria balanced? Are they yielding desired outcomes for the company?
• Conduct a financial analysis using Siemens’ financial performance results from 1998 to 2007 to assess the effectiveness or success of the top+program. What recommendations would you make to improve either the design or implementation of the company’s management innovation efforts