1. Describe an organization (of your choice) as an open system.

What are
its important boundary spanning roles and how does the organization
manage its relationship with other entities in its domain?
Introduction:
Nestle is a Swiss multinational nutritional and health-related consumer
goods company headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It is the largest
food company in the world. Nestle's products include baby food, coffee,
confectionery, bottled water, breakfast cereals, dairy products, ice
cream, pet foods and snacks. 29 of Nestle's brands have annual sales
of over 1 billion CHF (about US$ 1.1 billion), including, Nescafe, Kit Kat,
Nespresso, Smarties, Nesquik, Stouffer's, Vittel, and Maggi. Nestle has
around 450 factories in 86 countries, and employs around 328,000
people all around the world.
Open system is one where all systems are characterized by an
assemblage or combination of parts whose relations make them
interdependent. As one moves from mechanical to organic and social
systems, the the interactions between parts in the system become
more complex and variable.
Complex systems are usually open systems. Nestle, over its long
historical development from a small village operation to the world's
leading food Company, has illustrate an excellent capability to adjust
to an ever-changing external environment, without losing its basic
beliefs and core values, so important for long-term success. Over the
years to come, this capability will continue to be challenge even more
as Nestle is growing in size and complexity up to a dimension, which
demands a continuous development of its organization and of the way
in which it run.
Nestl is in favor of and implements pragmatically:
Flat and flexible organizations with few levels of management
and broad spans of control, including project teams and task
forces. Networking and horizontal communication are encouraged
with clear accountability of the managers and the hierarchy.
Clear levels of responsibility and well defined objectives are a
must. Teamwork and networking do not affect the managers
responsibility: a team has always a responsible leader.

 A structure which assures operational speed and personal

responsibility, with strong focus on results, reducing bureaucracy
as much as possible.
Boundary spanning roles interact with individuals and groups outside
the organization to obtain valuable information to help the innovation
process. Boundary spanning roles allow a company to gain more
innovation information from other businesses. Lets see the Important
Boundary Spanning roles of Nestle
Understanding Market Demand:
Nestle produces hundreds of products, has a global network of
suppliers, and multiple selling channel and distribution. Therefore, to
respond and predict in this rapidly changing in market demand
condition is very difficult. When predicting a market demand, Nestle
will need information to discover shifts in demand early so they could
adjust for trends and send the right messages to the suppliers,
shippers, and distribution centers before they are deluge with
unwanted or defective goods or shortages
Logistics Department:
Although Nestle has a logistics department but it does not deal with
transportation logistics. Nestle subcontracted its supply chain transport
to the third-party logistics as Nestle tries to cut their supply chain costs
and to concentrate more on their in-plant operations. Although Nestle
does not have, a transportation logistics department but they do have
a delivery team to cooperate with the third-party logistics in routing
protocol.
Nestle is using a Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), which is a simple and
efficient routing protocol designed specifically for use in multi-hop
wireless ad hoc networks of mobile nodes. The protocol is composed of
the two main mechanisms of "Route Discovery" and "Route
Maintenance", which work together to allow nodes to discover and
maintain routes on-demand to arbitrary destinations in the ad hoc
network.
Engaging with Multiple suppliers:
The most usual problem is the sources of supply of raw materials. This
is due to an unexpected and sudden increase in demand, which will
cause extreme supply shortages for merchandises that will result in
major price increases. For example, bad natural disaster and bad

weather have always been an issue affecting incoming raw materials.

Thus, it is critical for Nestle to engage with multiple dealers or
suppliers in that specific region, so they could purchase inventories
from multiple dealers, which will definitely reduction the risk of
shortage due to incontrollable situation. Besides, Nestle should also
base on their purchase and demand planning on last couple of years of
sales to estimate current year of supply and demand. Other than that,
mutual trust and strong relationship with all the dealers are needed in
order to raise the flexibility of material supply management, as well as
to improve the bargaining power of Nestle
Relationship Management
Companies are increasingly playing an active role in the development
of society, including development of laws, rules and policy documents.
Often business is expected and even asked to do so. Providing our
expertise for more informed decision making, in a collaborative
environment with governments, authorities and other relevant bodies
is therefore an important responsibility. Such advocacy activities are
generally called lobbying, and it is of great importance to ensure that
behavior doesnt undercut trust and the credibility of the company.
Nestls approach to transparent interaction with authorities and
organizations is based on what is good not only for the company but
for consumers and society at large. This approach is basic for how it
does business. Nestle call this Creating Shared Value, which means
that they build a successful long term business through building value
also for society.
As is true for everything Nestle do, any action undertaken in the
context of advocacy activities must comply with the Nestl Corporate
Business Principles, the Nestl Code of Conduct and other relevant
internal rules. Below are some general principles for appropriate
behavior:
When interacting with politicians, public officials and other
relevant bodies, Nestl employees must at all times act with
integrity and honesty and in a fair and professional manner.
Employees must always be open and transparent about the
purpose of the contact and communication.

 In situations not governed by specific laws or business practices,

employees shall use good judgement and common sense, always
guided by the principles set out and seek advice and direction of
their managers.
When contacting authorities and organizations within the
framework of a trade association or talking directly to companies,
applicable external and internal anti-trust or competitions rules
must be fully complied with.