SYSTHEO

types of sectors in General Environment

i. Government ii. Natural iii. Sociocultural iv. Economic Conditions v. Technology vi. Financial Resources

THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT - Complexity

i. Heterogeneity - the number and dissimilarity of external elements that affect an organization's operations. ii. A complex environment is one in which the organization interacts with and is influenced by numerous diverse external elements.

Types of sectors in task environment

i. Industry ii. Raw Materials iii. Market iv. Human Resources v. International

THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT - Dimensions

i. Refers to whether the environment in which the organization operates is stable or unstable ii. An environmental domain is stable if it remains essentially the same over a period of months or years iii. Under unstable conditions, environmental elements shift rapidly iv. Instability often occurs when consumer interests shift, new technologies are introduced, or competitors react with aggressive moves and countermoves regarding advertising and new products or service.

DEPENDENCE ON FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Companies strive to acquire control over financial resources to minimize their dependence on other organizations.

Planning, Forecasting, and Responsiveness

Planning and environmental forecasting become more important as a way to keep the organization geared for a coordinated, speedy response

General Environment

Includes those sectors that might not have a direct impact on the daily operations of a firm but will indirectly influence it

THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

Organizations must cope with and manage uncertainty to be effective. Uncertainty means that decision makers do not have sufficient information about environmental factors, and thy have a difficult time predicting external changes

FRAMEWORK FOR ADAPTING TO COMPLEXITY & DYNAMISM

The complexity and dynamism dimensions are combined and illustrate four levels of uncertainty. a) The Low Uncertainty Environment - few departments and a mechanistic design. b) The Low-Moderate Environment - more departments are needed, along with more integrating roles to coordinate the departments c) High-Moderate Environment - organization is organic and decentralized d) The High Uncertainty Environment - organizations are large and have many departments, but they are also organic.

INFLUENCING FINANCIAL RESOURCES

a) Establishing Formal Relationships • Acquire an ownership stake • Form Joint Ventures and Partnerships • Lock in Key Players • Recruit Executives • Get Your Side of the Story Out b) Influence Key Sectors • Change where you do business • Get Political • Unite with others • Don't fall into illegitimate activities

ADAPTING TO COMPLEXITY & DYNAMISM - Adding Positions and Departments

• As complexity and uncertainty in the external environment increase, so does the number of positions and departments within the organization, leading to increased internal complexity • Adding new positions and departments is a common way for organizations to adapt to growing environmental uncertainty.

ADAPTING TO COMPLEXITY & DYNAMISM - Building Relationships

• Buffering roles - absorb uncertainty from the environment • Boundary-spanning roles i. Link and coordinate an organization with key elements in the external environment ii. Primarily concerned with the exchange of information to detect and bring into the organization information about changes in the environment and to send information into the environment that presents the organization in a favorable light

ADAPTING TO COMPLEXITY & DYNAMISM - Differentiation and Integration

• Differentiation - refers to the difference in cognitive and emotional orientations among managers in different functional departments, and the difference in formal structure among these departments. • Integration - the quality of collaboration among departments.

International Environment

• Has become extremely important in the last few years • International events can influence all the domestic sectors of the environment • Every organization faces uncertainty domestically as well as globally.

Framework

• In simple, stable environment - uncertainty is low • In complex, stable environment - greater uncertainty; a large number of elements have to be scanned, analyzed, and acted upon for the organization to perform well • In simple, unstable environment - even greater uncertainty; rapid changes are hard to predict and tend to react unexpectedly to organizational initiatives • In complex, unstable environment - greatest uncertainty

Task Environment

• Includes sectors with which the organization interacts directly and that have a direct impact on the organization's ability to achieve its goals

Organic versus Mechanistic Management Processes

• Mechanistic - when the external environment was stable, the internal organization was characterized by standard rules, procedures, a clear hierarchy of authority, formalization, and centralization. • Organic - in rapid changing environments, the internal organization was much looser, free-flowing, and adaptive, with a loose hierarchy and decentralized decision making