management 205 chapter six

economies of scale

Cost advantages associated with large operations. result from factors such as manufacturing products in very large quantities, buying inputs in bulk, or making more effective use of organizational resources than do competitors by fully utilizing employees' skills and knowledge.

brand loyalty

Customers' preference for the products of organizations currently existing in the task environment. If established organizations enjoy significant brand loyalty, a new entrant will find it difficult and costly to obtain a share of the market. In some cases government regulations function as a barrier to entry at the the industry and the country levels. intense rivalry among competitors create a task environment that is highly threatening and makes it increasingly difficult for managers to gain access to the resources an organization needs to make goods and services. Low rivalry results in a task environment where competitive pressures are more moderate and managers have greater opportunities to acquire the resources they need to make their organizations effective.

economic forces

Interest rates, inflation, unemployment, economic growth, and other factors that affect the general health and well-being of a nation or the regional economy of an organization. -interest rates, inflation, unemployment, and economic growth. Low levels of unemployment and falling interest rates give people more money to spend, and as a result organizations can sell more goods and services.

competitors

Organizations that produce goods and services that are similar to a particular organization's goods and services. rivalry between competitors is potentially the most threatening force managers must deal with.

sociocultural forces

Pressures emanating from the social structure of a country or society or from the national culture

global outsourcing

The purchase or production of inputs or final products from overseas suppliers to lower costs and improve product quality or design. Global outsourcing has grown enormously to take advantage of national differences in the cost and quality of resources such as labor or raw materials that can significantly reduces manufacturing costs or increase product quality or reliability. Global companies use the services of overseas intermediaries or brokers, which are located cost to potential suppliers, to find the suppliers that can best meet the needs of a particular company. Risks have also become apparent, when issues such as reliability, quality, and speed are important.

task environment

The set of forces and conditions that originate with suppliers, distributors, customers, and competitors and affect an organization's ability to obtain inputs and dispose of its outputs because they influence managers daily. the task environment contains the forces that have the most immediate and direct effects on managers because they pressure and influence managers daily.

general environment

The wide-ranging global, economic, technological, sociocultural, demographic, political, and legal forces that affect an organization and its task environment.. general environment are often more difficult to identify and respond to that are events in the environment. forces in the task environment result from the actions of suppliers, distributors, customers, and competitors both at home and abroad. These four groups affect a managers ability to obtain resources and dispose of outputs daily, weekly, and monthly and this have a significant short-term decision making

dramatic upheavals in the mortgacge and namking industry that started in 2007 were brought about by....?

a combination of the development of complex new financial lending instruments called derivitaves; a speculative boom in commodities and housing prices; and lax government regulations that allowed unethical bankers and financial managers to ecplout the dericatices to make immense short-term profits. These events triggered the economic crises that peaked in 2008.

global organization

an organization that operates and competes in more than one country

barriers to entry

factors that make it difficult and costly for an organization to enter a particular task environment or industry. Barriers from entry result in three main sources: economies of scale, brand loyalty and government regulations that impede entry,

customers

individuals and groups that buy the goods and services an organization produces. Changes in the number are types of customers or in customers' tastes and needs create opportunities and threats. An organizations success depends on its responsiveness to customers-whether it can satisfy their needs a mangers abilities to identify an organizations main customer groups and make the products that best satisfy their particular needs, is a crucial factor affecting organizational and managerial success.

suppliers

individuals and organizations that provide an organization with the input resources it needs to produce goods and services. changes in nature, number or type of suppliers produce opportunities and threats to which managers must respond if their organizations are to prosper. Suppliers bargaining position is especially strong when 1) the supplier is the sole source as an input and 2) the input is vital to the organization. When an organization has many suppliers for a particular input, it in a relatively strong bargaining positions with those suppliers and can demand low-cost, high-quality inputs from then. The purchasing activities of global companies have become increasingly complicated as a result of the development of a whole range of skills and competencies in different countries around the world.

Task environment and the more encompassing general environement

is helpful for managers to distinguish between these two

distributors

organizations that help other organizations sell their goods or services to customers, the changing nature of distributors and distribution methods can bring opportunities and threats for managers. If distributors become so large and powerful that they can control customers access to a particular organizations foods and services, they can threatens the organization by demanding that it reduces the prices of its goods and services

potential competitors

organizations that presently are not in a task environment but could enter if they so choose. When new competitors enter and industry, competition increases and prices of profits decrease

Technological Forces

outcomes of changes in the technology managers use to design, produce, or distribute goods and services

technology

the combination of skills and equipment that managers use in designing, producing, and distributing goods and services

global environment

the set of global forces and conditions that operate beyond an organization's boundaries but affect a manager's ability to acquire and utilize resources

national culture

the set of values that a society considers important and the norms of behavior that are approved or sanctioned in that society. individualism is highly valued, but in Korea and Japan individuals are expected to conform to group expectations.

social structure

the traditional system of relationships established between people and groups in a society.