Organizations’ Environment

o Quick Review:

The parameters of managerial discretion include the organization’s culture

and the environment in which the organization exists. However, these parame

ters don’t totally constrain a manager; managers can and do influence their cu

lture and environment.

Organization’s Environment:

 The specific environment (those external forces that have a direct imp
act on manager’s decisions and actions and are directly relevant to an
organization’s goals) includes customers, suppliers, competitors, and p
ressure groups.

 The general environment (those broad external forces that affect the
organization) includes economic, political/legal, sociocultural, demogr
aphic, technological, and global conditions.
 Choose The Correct Answer

1. The events and trends inside an organization that affect management, emp
loyees and organizational culture.

a) Internal Environment
b) External Environment
c) General Environment
d) Specific Environment

2. Forces and events outside a company that have the potential to influence
or affect it.

a) Internal Environment
b) External Environment
c) General Environment
d) Specific Environment

3. Refers to the economic, technological, sociocultural and political trends tha

t indirectly affects all organizations.

a) Internal Environment
b) External Environment
c) General Environment
d) Specific Environment

4. Refers to the customers, competitors, suppliers, industry regulations, and a

dvocacy groups that are unique to an industry and directly affect how a comp
any does business.

a) Internal Environment
b) External Environment
c) General Environment
d) Specific Environment
5. Compared to the specific environment, which of the following is an accurate st
atement about the general environment of an organization?

a) It is predominantly the concern of upper management

b) It has less impact on the organization's operations.
c) It has more impact on the organization's operations.
d) It has about the same impact on an organization's operations.

 
6. Which of the following has been the most rapidly changing component in a
n organization's general environment?

a) global
b) economic
c) social
d) technological

8. The changes in the ages and education levels of your customers are an exa
mple of which of the following conditions?

a) economic
b) political/legal
c) demographic
d) technological

9.  An example of Opportunities or Threats from the external environment

a) Competitors
b) GDP per capita
c) Sales
d) Strengths
 
10. Managers can be limited in their ability to influence the firm because of th
e ________.

a) organizational environment and organizational culture

b) organizational environment and symbolism
c) stakeholders' views on ethics
d) past management mistakes that still affect the firm

11. The ________ component of an organization's external environment is conce

rned with trends in population characteristics such as age, race, gender, educ
ation level, geographic location, income, and family composition.

a) Economic
b) Political
c) Sociocultural
d) Demographic

12. Which of the following factors is a demographic component of an organiza

tion's external environment?

a) Lifestyles and behavior

b) Political stability
c) Geographic location
d) Stock market fluctuations

13. Gerber makes and sells baby products. A shift in the birth rate would repr
esent a change in the ________ component of this firm's external environment

a) psychographic
b) demographic
c) political
d) cultural
14. Thanks to iTunes and similar websites, sales of compact discs have decline
d severely, forcing entertainers to seek alternative revenue streams. This repr
esents a change in the ________ component of the external environment.

a) psychological
b) behavioral
c) sociocultural
d) economic

15. The citizens of Abolonia believe no top executive should ever earn more th
an 40 times the average wage of the company's employees. This is an example
of ________.

a) how changes in the demographics limit the discretion managers have

b) how societal attitudes in the economic context create constraints on the decisio
ns managers make

c) how government regulation affects the salaries executives can earn

d) a trend in the sociocultural environment that limits disposable income in the eco
nomic environment