Multinational Planning Research Articles

Multinational planning of nuclear energy systems in Asia

ABSTRACTThe rapid growth of nuclear power market in Asian regions will introduce a high demand for fuel cycle services; however, in line with nonproliferation goals, control of sensitive technologies needs to be institutionalized. Multinational approaches to nuclear fuel cycle have been suggested for this purpose, but only limited initiatives are visible in the front-end; there has been a gap relating to the back-end fuel cycle. This paper concludes that a tangible and practical approach should be initiated with focus on the management of spent nuclear fuels (SNFs) in Asia, because it can provide a common goal for cooperation. The most applicable technology to ensure nonproliferation would be partitioning and transmutation (P&T), which can eliminate the accumulation of high-level wastes with adequate proliferation resistance and economic viability via black-box measures. As a long-term project, this requires a stepwise plan for research and eventual industrial development.

Collaborative multinational mission planning system with support for macrocognitive processes

The Crisis Action Planning (CAP) process is a collaborative team effort wherein military planners work together to quickly understand an emergency situation and make decisions about a response. Additional challenges to team cognition ensue when planners from multiple nations work in a distributed environment, as is the case with the multinational planning augmentation team (MPAT). A cognitive model of team collaboration provided the theoretical basis for development of a tool to improve the synchronisation of distributed decision-making and information management among coalition planners. The Multinational Crisis Action Planning (MCAP) tool was implemented by configuring a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) collaborative web environment. The tool supports the macrocognitive processes of Individual Knowledge Building (converting data into knowledge), Team Knowledge Building (developing knowledge interoperability among team members) and Developing Shared Problem Conceptualisation (promoting team shared understanding). There is some support for two additional processes: Team Consensus Development and Evaluation and Revision.

“Your forward is our reverse, your right, our wrong”: rethinking multinational planning processes in light of national culture

Planning processes are potentially important governance mechanisms in multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, the complex multi-level and multi-cultural nature of these organizations may result in compatibility or clashes of culture between the various units of the MNE with respect to planning processes. In this theory building paper we develop a model that outlines how national culture will affect planning processes at both home and host country levels. This framework is applied to show how different planning outcomes may emerge due to these cultural differences. Finally, aspects of language, nontraditional structures, implications and limitations of the model are also discussed.

Multinational planning— Developing a global approach

The paper blends theory and practice through the use of concepts and real examples. Several theories about International management have been forwarded. This study presents views about a multinational corporation's motivations to go abroad, evaluation of new venture proposals, and how its subsidiary organization can become more effective in the host company. Polar differences in cultural, political, legal and social economic systems are the more important reasons contributing to the difficulty of the transfers of managerial ‘arts’ and philosophies. Management science, technologies, product design, manufacturing technology, plant and equipment are much more transferable among vastly differing cultures and communities. Also, practical implications of the theory have been provided at the end of the article. Examples are provided of how planning should be done in an international business. Also, the paper illustrates with examples the nature of planning and decision-making in an international environment.

Corporate planning for social responsibility

From his position as Senior Chaplain of a team of Industrial Chaplains, working in industry yet not part of it, the author probes the necessity for a global perspective as a setting for all decisions. The multi-national family of man with limited resources provides the context for multi-national planning and for corporate strategies. We need an ethic for society so that ethical considerations are seen to be pertinent to relationships between nations as well as relations between individuals. This paper suggests a simple model of the ethical dimensions of a global village, which will enable us to see the world perspective while operating at the corporate level and with immediate responsibilities that seem limited but are extensive.

Multinational planning systems

Multi-national planning requires advanced tools for handling the complex variety of currencies, languages and diverse operating conditions characteristic of that environment. The planning process is further complicated by the high degree of uncertainty surrounding political and labour conditions in different countries. This paper describes the manner in which multi-national firms are using the computer as an aid to multi-national planning, first as a report generator to perform extensive data manipulations to save time and clerical labour and, secondly, at a higher level, as a means of simulating strategies under a wide variety of conditions and under extreme conditions of uncertainty.