The external environment of the organization

When managing an enterprise, it is important to consider not only internal variables, but also those that represent the external environment of the organization. They also influence the failure of managers at all levels to make decisions that improve the efficiency of the company's operations.

The external environment of the organization is those events and factors that do not depend on its activities, but have a serious impact on it.

There are various classifications, for example, factors are divided into direct and indirect, but I would like to elaborate on 10 sectors that are of interest in domestic practice.

1. Industry, or production.

In this sector, many elements are reflected, for example, competition, interaction with related industries, characterization of the scope of the enterprise, characteristics of competitive products.

2. Raw materials

It mentions suppliers, manufacturers of related industries, the real estate market.

Any enterprise is interested in possessing sufficiently complete information about suppliers, for this purpose, appropriate services are established and certain positions are introduced (purchasing manager).

3. Human Resources

The external environment of the organization is also a supplier of specialists to a specific enterprise. For example, universities, colleges enter into contracts with companies, according to which graduates can undergo an internship and subsequently receive a permanent place of work.

4. Financial resources

The most prominent representatives of this sector are the banking system, stock exchanges, financial and credit institutions, a system of private investors. As is known, many enterprises attract borrowed funds for the formation of their resource base and maintenance of normal livelihoods, for which they turn to commercial banks or to investors.

5. Technology

Scientific and technological progress, research, e-commerce, information technology - all this is the external environment of the organization. Management does not invent a bicycle, everyone knows that any enterprise strives to maximize profits, but also to ensure that the product is the most competitive. To this end, fundamental research is carried out, for which appropriate services are established in companies.

6. The market

The market is represented by consumers and users of goods and services. The external environment of the organization in the Russian practice focuses only on the first.

7. Economic conditions

The external environment of the organization affects the activities of enterprises through such indicators as inflation, unemployment in the country, and the level of economic growth. Of great importance is also the phase of the economic cycle, on which the country is located at the moment.

8. Government

This sector includes legislative acts, taxation system and various political processes.

9. Sociocultural sector

Here, various values dominating the country are considered, for example, the system of professional ethics, consumer protection, and others.

10. The international sector

The exchange rate, competition from foreign companies, the opportunity to enter the world arena - all this is presented in the tenth sector.

Obviously, each item is broken down into indicators for analyzing the external environment of the organization. Management offers various methods of analysis, for example, STEP, through which you can assess the impact of a single factor on the company's activities.

Thus, it is obvious that the external environment of the organization is an all-encompassing concept. It affects all internal variables, so managers must take into account the factors, develop a policy of timely response to certain events occurring "outside."