INTRODUCTION
If there is something that characterizes us human beings, it is the ability to organize ourselves, since the beginning of humanity, it has been organized to facilitate tasks. From the beginning, humanity has understood that it is better to surround yourself with your peers to achieve goals, the results are better even when those goals are shared among all the members who work to achieve it. Definitely by being part of an organization and helping it meet its objectives, those of each individual who is part of it are also met, since this is the motivation they have.
However, there are several factors that affect for better or for worse the way in which organizational objectives are achieved. Among these factors we have the diversity of each of the people who make up the organization. And it is that each person is a cluster of experiences, abilities, aptitudes, strengths, weaknesses, ways of learning, of interacting with colleagues and a long etcetera. It is also known that the way the company is divided and hierarchized, since this directly influences the interaction between departments, the responsibilities of each job, and the coordination of the work to be carried out. These two sections together form the internal environment of an organization.
But, it must be taken into account that with the current trend, the opening of markets and the efforts to have a globalized world, it is no longer possible to speak of an organization as an isolated entity, lost in the farthest reaches of the planet. It should be understood that an organization is part of something bigger, of an environment made up of other organizations, providers, government regulations, etc. This connection with the environment is important to understand, since much has been said about the internal environment; Studies have been done on the people who make up the organizations on how to understand them, coordinate them, and take advantage of their potential, but little effort has been made to distinguish the influence of everything that exists outside the company. All these factors, both internal and external, define what each organization is.So very surely there will never be two equal organizations, it is for this reason that it is important to define whether external contributions can be controlled in some way and how they can be used to grow the organization.
BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF WHAT IS AN ORGANIZATION
An organization is a system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more people. (Chiavenato, 2011)
That is, the group of people who have come together and coordinated to achieve a common goal, through the sum of all their efforts. For which you must be willing to contribute, sometimes sacrifice personal behaviors to promote coordination and the ability to work diligently as a team.
Every organization must have a clear goal, which is what it wants to achieve or for what purpose it was formed, since without this, it cannot and should not exist.
You must have a leader who coordinates and establishes order in the way of doing things inside and outside the organization.
It requires human, material, financial and technological resources for its operation, so it needs efficient ways to be able to source these.
Once the above is defined, a correct differentiation of the factors that influence the organization must be made, for which it is essential to study this as an open system.
DEFINING THE ORGANIZATION AS A SYSTEM AND AN OPEN SYSTEM
To begin, you must define what a system is:
Set of things that related to each other orderly contribute to a certain object. (ASALE, 2017)
A system is a set of dynamically related elements that carry out an activity to achieve a certain objective. (Chiavenato, 2011)
If we speak of an organization as a system, it must be understood that it is a set of resources (raw materials, personnel, machinery, money) that serve so that through effort, coordination and teamwork, a product is obtained, which after Marketing it helps achieve the organization's goal, which is to make a profit.
And is that the complexity of organizations is vast, is as vast as human inventiveness. Society as we know it now is a group of organizations, there are profit or non-profit organizations, but at the end of the day they all need to make a profit to operate. Organizations influence what people do, want, and are. Similarly, organizations are influenced by the people that make them up, so it could be said that they have a symbiotic relationship. Organizations cannot exist without the human element, just as people cannot exist without organizing for a certain purpose.
With the above, the organization must now be defined as an open system, to define how the outside influences the company; The concept of open system is taken from physics, specifically from thermodynamics, which tells us that:
In an open system, there can be a transfer of matter and energy between the system and the environment. (Candelas & Rodríguez, 2006)
So analyzing an organization as an open system, we have that it has a total interaction with the environment.
Interaction at inputs:
Here the organization takes the environment necessary to operate:
- Raw materials (suppliers)
They are all organizations or individuals that supply manufacturing inputs to organizations to produce goods or services. This can affect the quality of the products, the price and their availability.
- Energy
They are all the natural resources that the organization needs to operate, such as tributary water, sunlight, metals, wood resources, etc.
- Workforce
It refers to the possible candidates to be part of the organization. Chosen or rejected based on their individual competencies, and identification with the company.
Interaction at the exits:
This is where all the expenditures made by the organization to the surrounding environment are observed, they can be:
- Finished product
It is the one obtained by subjecting the raw material to a manufacturing process within the organization that will later be commercialized to obtain a profit.
- customers
They are in charge of acquiring the goods or services produced by the organization. Those are directly related to the demand that must be satisfied. They are of vital importance since you must pay special attention to your preferences to maintain or modify the products offered.
Although there are also other factors that although the company does not need them directly to operate and much less are a direct consequence of its operations, they definitely have an influence on its development, growth and the way it achieves its objectives.
These factors are:
- Demand
It is the quantity of products or services that the organization must produce based on the volume that customers need.
- Competition
The competition, are all the companies that produce goods or services and that enter into conflict for the clients, the competition can be:
- Direct competition: It is when they produce goods or services similar to those of the organization, competing for the same market sector. Indirect competition: They are companies of products or services that although they are not similar, can influence the client, and change their options purchase items other than those offered by the organization.
- Government regulations
It refers to the regulatory bodies and laws to which the organization is subject to carry out its operations. These are designed to protect customers from receiving a bad product or service. They also protect the environment from contamination related to production processes.
- Orography
They are the characteristics of the geographical area in which the organization is located.
- Weather
They are the meteorological conditions to which the organization is subject according to its location.
- Natural phenomena
They are, rain, hurricanes, fires, etc. those that can affect the supply of raw materials to the organization, as well as the transportation of employees or finished products.
In addition to the resources they take from the environment, organizations need skills and competencies, which are only intrinsic to people. Therefore, methods are particularly necessary to help recruit adequate labor for the activities carried out within the organization. Although coupled with identifying the right prospects before incorporating them into the organizational structure, it is also necessary to identify if they are suitable to develop and grow together with the organization. Cultivate and train them as well as identify with the objectives.
Idalberto Chiavenato in his book, Administration of human resources (Chiavenato, 2011), points out four essential elements of an open system:
- Inputs or inputs: every system receives inputs or inputs from the external environment. Through the inputs, the system imports the resources and inputs necessary for its operation and consolidation. Process or operation: it is the core of the system, where the inputs are processed or transformed into outputs or results. It is generally composed of subsystems (areas or parts) specialized in the process of each type of resource or input imported by the system. Outputs or results: they are the result of the operation of the system. Through the outputs or results, the system exports the product of its operation back to the environment. Feedback: means the action exerted by the outputs on the inputs to keep the system functioning in balance. Feedback therefore constitutesa return action. Feedback is positive when the output (due to being greater) stimulates and enlarges the input to increase the operation of the system. Feedback is negative when the output (due to being lower) inhibits or reduces the input to decrease the operation of the system. In this way, feedback keeps the system running within certain limits. When the system does not reach such limits, positive feedback occurs; when the system overcomes them, negative feedback happens.feedback keeps the system running within certain limits. When the system does not reach such limits, positive feedback occurs; when the system overcomes them, negative feedback happens.feedback keeps the system running within certain limits. When the system does not reach such limits, positive feedback occurs; when the system overcomes them, negative feedback happens.
Before opening a company or during its development, a SWOT analysis can be applied (Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses and Threats). This in order to evaluate the situation of the company based on external factors that influence it.
CONCLUSIONS
It is very important not to lose sight of the influence, sometimes determining external factors in organizations, as they can lead to their success or failure. The impact of these factors on the productivity of most organizations is not well established or there is empirical knowledge.
Generally, the organization leader will be in charge of identifying the role of these factors and, if necessary, changing them from threats to organizational development opportunities.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- ASALE, R.-. (2017). communication. Retrieved on March 14, 2017, from http://dle.rae.es/?id=Y2AFX5sCandelas, LMT, & Rodríguez, QAV (2006). Department of Physicochemistry Thermodynamic Language. Retrieved from http://depa.fquim.unam.mx/amyd/archivero/APUNTESLENGUAJETERMODINAMICO_12043.pdfChiavenato. (2011). Human Resources Administration (Edition: 9). Mexico: MCGRAW HILL EDDUCATION.
