Changing Environments
all events outside a company that have the potential to influence or affect it
External environments
the number and the intensity of external factors in the environment that affect organizations
Environmental complexity
more people are working, and wages are growing, and therefore consumers have relatively more money to spend
growing economy
companies in the same industry that sell similar products or services to customers
Competitors
regulations and rules that govern the business practices and procedures of specific industries, businesses, and professions
industry regulation
the rate at which a company’s general and specific environments change
Environmental change
an environment with few environmental factors
Simple environments
indices that show managers’ level of confidence about future business growth
Business confidence indices
a process for monitoring the competition that involves identifying competitors, anticipating their moves, and determining their strengths and weaknesses
competitive analysis
concerned citizens who band together to try to influence the business practices of specific industries, businesses, and professions
Advocacy groups
an environment in which the rate of change is slow
stable environments
the abundance or shortage of critical organizational resources in an organization’s external environment
Resource scarcity
the knowledge, tools, and techniques used to transform inputs into outputs
Technology
companies that provide material, human, financial, and informational resources to other companies
Suppliers
an advocacy group tactic that involves protesting a company’s actions by persuading consumers not to purchase its product or service
product boycott
an environment in which the rate of change is fast
dynamic environments
extent to which managers can understand or predict which environmental changes and trends will affect their businesses
uncertainty
component of the general environment refers to the demographic characteristics, general behavior, attitudes, and beliefs of people in a particular society.
The sociocultural
the degree to which a company relies on a supplier because of the importance of the supplier’s product to the company and the difficulty of finding other sources of that product
Supplier dependence
searching the environment for important events or issues that might affect an organization
Environmental scanning
the theory that companies go through long periods of stability (equilibrium), followed by short periods of dynamic, fundamental change (revolutionary periods), and then a new equilibrium
punctuated equilibrium theory
the customers, competitors, suppliers, industry regulations, and advocacy groups that are unique to an industry and directly affect how a company does business
specific environment
component of the general environment includes the legislation, regulations, and court decisions that govern and regulate business behavior.
political/legal
the degree to which a supplier relies on a buyer because of the importance of that buyer to the supplier and the difficulty of finding other buyers for its products
Buyer dependence
graphic depictions of how managers believe environmental factors relate to possible organizational actions
Cognitive maps