BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Accountancy, Business Economics and International Hospitality Management

GRADUATE SCHOOL

BA 504 MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION THEORY

Reflection
Jeremiah R. Garcia

THE ENVIRONMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONS AND MANAGERS

INTRODUCTION
The topics covered are about the nature of organizations environments, concepts
of social responsibility, and importance and determinants of an organization’s culture.

LEARNING AND INSIGHTS

The external environment is everything outside an organization’s boundaries that
might affect it. There are two separate external environments: the general environment
and the task environment. An organization’s internal environment consists of conditions
and forces within the organization. The economic dimension of an organization’s general
environment is the overall health and vitality of the economic system in which the
organization operates. The technological dimension of the general environment is made
up of the methods available for converting resources into products or services. The
political–legal dimension of the general environment consists of government regulation
of business and the relationship between business and government. This dimension is
important for three basic reasons.
Because the general environment’s impact is often vague, imprecise, and long
term, most organizations tend to focus attention on their task environment, which
includes competitors, customers, suppliers, strategic partners, and regulators. An
organization’s competitors are other organizations that compete with it for resources. A
second dimension of the task environment is customers, or whoever pays money to
acquire an organization’s products or services. Suppliers are organizations that provide
resources for other organizations. Regulators are elements of the task environment that
have the potential to control, legislate, or otherwise influence an organization’s policies
and practices. Another dimension of the task environment is strategic partners (also

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 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Accountancy, Business Economics and International Hospitality Management
GRADUATE SCHOOL

called strategic allies)—two or more companies that work together in joint ventures or
other partnerships.
In my current work, Sakamoto Orient Chemicals Corporation which produces
glycerin and its derivatives task environment as follows: Competitors: Kao Corporation
and other glycerin production in Japan. Customers are primarily in Japan, Malaysia,
Europe and Singapore. Unilever in the Philippines is also one of the customers. Suppliers
composed of raw materials and sub materials supplier. Regulators include FDA, BIR and
SEC. Strategic partners are PEZA CAIP members such as COCOCHEM, STEPAN,
MINOLA and SY Corporation (Mother Company) of SOCC.
Organizations also have an internal environment that consists of their owners,
board of directors, employees, and physical work environment. The owners of a business
are, of course, the people who have legal property rights to that business. Owners can be
a single individual who establishes and runs a small business, partners who jointly own
the business, individual investors who buy stock in a corporation, or other organizations.
A corporate board of directors is a governing body that is elected by the stockholders
and charged with overseeing a firm’s general management to ensure that it is run to best
serve the stockholders’ interests. An organization’s employees are also a major element
of its internal environment. Of particular interest to managers today is the changing
nature of the workforce, which is becoming increasingly more diverse in terms of gender,
ethnicity, age, and other dimensions. A final part of the internal environment is the
organization’s actual physical environment and the work that people do. Some firms
have their facilities in downtown skyscrapers, usually spread across several floors.
Organizations themselves do not have ethics, but they relate to their environments
in ways that often involve ethical dilemmas and decisions. These situations are generally
referred to within the context of the organization’s social responsibility. Specifically,
social responsibility is the set of obligations an organization has to protect and enhance
the societal context in which it functions.
Our company, SOCC is committed to uphold the rights of its employees, and treat
them with dignity and respect. This applies to all employees including regular,
probationary, contract and any other type of worker. We have detailed processes and
procedures in place to ensure we are in compliance with all federal, state and local

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 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Accountancy, Business Economics and International Hospitality Management
GRADUATE SCHOOL

regulations and laws written. SOCC ensures that all business dealings shall be
transparently performed and accurately reflected on business books and records. Bribes
or other means of obtaining undue or improper advantage are not offered or accepted.
SOCC ensures that our suppliers monitor and take responsibility for compliance
with social policies. Suppliers regularly assess their operations to identify non-
compliance cases, develop remedial plans to resolve it and regularly monitor the
implemented corrective action.
Prompt payments to suppliers are ensured to maintain good relationship with
them. With this practice, some suppliers give discounts or adequate credit terms. SOCC
do their best to improve the environment by continuing current preservation efforts,
maintaining a firm belief that a sound environment should be passed on to future
generations. SOCC recognizes the importance of community involvement. SOCC is
active in community service that participated with other CAIP PEZA registered plant
(such as STEPAN, MINOLA) and encourages and supports employee participation in
service activities. SOCC ensures against interaction with anti-social forces and forbid
discrimination of all sorts. We shall also conduct disaster relief efforts and support
medical initiatives targeting developing countries.

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