Introduction.
A company, like a person, needs to interact with their peers in order to get ahead and meet the objectives that have been set, if a person wanted to live in total isolation, it would be very difficult for them to achieve their goals or survive, in the Most of the time, one way or another, you need an external agent who can cover the needs that may arise. Similarly for a company, or an organization in general, it would be very difficult and complicated, to be able to survive in the market, if you decide to work in isolation, it is always necessary to interact with your external environment that surrounds you.
For this reason, the need to know how to interact with the external environment that surrounds it has been highlighted, starting from more basic ideas, such as knowing the internal environment that the company or organization has, and understanding the external environment that surrounds it in its entirety. In order to work correctly with the agents or factors of the external environment, it is necessary to first understand, what is the external environment? And what is the true importance of acting correctly with it? One of the most important premises is to have stable, precise and clear information channels, which allows an organization or company to be able to receive information from the environment that surrounds it, and in the same way, to be able to transmit ideas, knowledge, wishes, goals and information in general, that can allow your environment to know your real situation,and that based on this, accurate decisions can be made that can favor its growth or development.
And with this in mind, it seeks to understand and publicize the importance of the communication systems that exist between a company and its environment or its business environment, as well as with the market, and for this, it is necessary to have bases firm, on the knowledge of the internal and external environment of an organization and all the specific factors and elements involved in this relationship.
What surrounds the company.
According to Evan (1976) Companies or organizations are constituted as open systems to which it is necessary to maintain a certain balance between influencing factors from the outside world, such as product demand, market characteristics and demands, global situations, etc. And the internal factors that are managed, such as production, objectives, goals, worker satisfaction, productivity. The culture that exists within a company by nature changes as a response to the transformations that may occur within it, in its resources or in its environment. Therefore, in order to understand the organizational culture that exists in a company or industry, it is necessary to take into account the factors that intervene in its work context, that is,What are the elements that are related to the product or service that they offer and what is the role of the internal organization in the processes that are followed to achieve the established objectives.
A company, of any kind, has a communication process with its environment at all times, and on this flow of information in both directions, the permanence and growth that the company may have within the market in the whole depends on which one competes. The environment of a company can be defined as all the factors and elements outside the limits of the company, or seen from another perspective, it is the set of factors that have the power to modify or alter an organization, without belonging to it. Undoubtedly, there are many and very varied types of environments, but in order to know how to interact, it is necessary to know, how the company is managed internally, what its administration systems are and what is the way in which it is managed or interacts with an environment., whatever this was.
Kreitner and Kinicki (1997) mention that the factors that surround a company are constantly changing, becoming a complex, dynamic and interrelated element, which dictates the way in which an organization must move, always seeking to adapt to change, in order to survive and stay in the market and therefore propose an ideology called "adaptive culture" a concept closely linked to the ability of the company to meet the demands of its customers, without losing sight of the fulfillment of the objectives they have proposed.
The external environment of an organization.
Peiró (1990) defines the external environment of a company, as the set of all people, groups, organizations, physical or social elements, with which an organization exchanges its inputs or outputs. With this definition, all organizations that interact with a company can be included, such as its suppliers, its customers, companies that work together, distributors, etc. The analysis that is carried out of the environment in which an organization operates is a basic activity for the strategic planning of the organization.
Being able to understand the external environment of an organization favors the exchange of information and resources that will allow the company to develop tangible products or services that can meet the demands of its customers.
In this approach, it can be mentioned that the environment can be used to:
- Improve access to the market and the resources that are available.
- Creating the conditions that improve socio-economic activities. Better meet the demands of customers. Improve internal and external communication channels. Promote responsibility, collaboration and the pursuit of excellence.
- Establish the parameters in which the activities are carried out.
- Establish the political, economic, social and cultural frameworks. Establish the limits within which to act within the market. Determine budgets, functional costs, etc.
In order to carry out an analysis of the environment in which they are involved, the company and its external environment, certain methodologies can be followed that make it possible to clearly observe which factors are involved and which may positively or negatively affect the actions of the company., in order to make sound decisions that favor aspects such as:
- The detection of the area of opportunity that exists, or the possible threats that may arise in the environment (Competitiveness) Identify in time which are the changes or trends that the market has, in order to establish strategies or tools that facilitate the process of adaptation.Innovate the processes, strategies or methodologies that are followed, which may favor generating differential value.
Elements that make up the external environment.
There are mainly two classifications of factors that are in contact with a company, without belonging to it, but that in one way or another, have the ability to affect or alter aspects of a company. They are mainly classified as:
- General environment or macroenvironment.
Defined as the market or society factors in general where the actions of the organization will be reflected. It can undoubtedly affect it, but in this classification, the influence exerted by these elements is very limited.
Author Jackson and Shuler present some of the most representative elements of the macroenvironment:
Political.- It is related to the institutional systems that are linked to the ideology, political stability, international relations and processes of the top management of the company.
Legal.- Government agencies, public institutions or certification bodies, which are in charge of legal, fiscal, commercial and labor regulations, etc.
Social.- The people, or towns that are going to be directly involved in the activities of the company, take into account characteristics such as demography, social organization, and elements of the general public.
Cultural.- They are the elements related to the way in which beliefs, values or lifestyles are expressed.
Union.- The group of workers, which allows them to work under established regulations, and which will allow them to get in contact with the workers and the internal environment in a faster way.
Economic.- The way in which society is organized, and which allows adapting production, distribution, and economic dynamics processes. Factors such as the labor market situation or the existing infrastructure at the location should be taken into account.
Technological.- The contact with the ICTs and the technical means, in order to modernize and update the processes or implement technological advances that involve the company, in any of its fields.
- Specific environment or microentrono.
They are the factors close to the organization, which has the ability to influence the way in which the needs of the customers are met, in this way, the company can have a great influence on them, but it will never be able to control them in its whole.
Clients.- The end users of the tangible products or services that the company offers, the current and potential beneficiaries, who are directly related to the operations market (size, growth, demand, distribution, etc.)
Suppliers.- Those people or organizations in charge of supplying the products or raw materials necessary for the activity of the company, which is related to the distribution time, storage, production strategy, that you want to follow or implement.
Alliances and collaborators.- Entities with which a company can associate, to improve customer service, or facilitate the production of a tangible good or service. It is largely related to work outsourcing strategies, which allows improving the availability of resources, products, and services, and which improves the way in which decisions are made.
Marketing.- The communication processes are a fundamental base, to be able to carry out any activity within the company, or activities in which the public will be known to generate the image that the organization wants to project. Information circuits are always present and the importance of the media is emphasized.
Competition.- The competing companies, which the organization faces, showing tangible results in the way of obtaining clients, and which undoubtedly becomes a point of reference for determining elements such as, costs, quality, image, products or services that the company offers to the market.
Membership circles.
Applying the set theory that exists in the mathematical world, you can see the organization to the company, as a single body, exemplified by a circle, which is within another larger circle, which will be called as "environment specific ", and this in turn, will be found within another larger circle called" general environment "all belonging to the universe" S "(Figure 1). In this way, it is possible to better understand the number of people, companies and organizations that surround the company, and that are in direct interaction with it. Hence, mention can be made of the definition of a business system:
Figure 1. Representation of the environments that surround the company.
The subsystems that make up the business system are numerous and very varied, however some of greater importance can be highlighted, such as the production, financial, commercial and human resource systems. Each of these is related to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the type of company in question, but in general, they must be taken into account to be able to elaborate or design business projects, as well as the objectives that they wish to achieve.
For this reason, in the specific environment, there are elements such as suppliers, clients, financial entities, public administrations, the labor market and the community in general, since they are the subsystems that are highly related to the company, and which have the ability to generate a change in it.
In the case of financial institutions, it can be mentioned that the most common are banks, who can take money loans in relation to a given interest. This element becomes essential for large companies, which need to handle large amounts of money or transactions with other organizations, in such a way that it facilitates and makes them more secure.
Internal elements or factors.
Undoubtedly, all these elements, people or organizations that are related to the company, have a high degree of impact on the actions carried out, however, in order to better understand the relationships that exist between these organizations and the company, it is necessary take into account and understand the importance of a correct flow of information within the company. This importance lies in the fact that the relationships that the company has with the environment that surrounds it, will totally depend on the relationships that exist within it, among its collaborators, workers or departments.
The corporate culture is a decisive factor in the way in which a company is run and administered, because just as an entire society can have and develop its own culture that influences each of its members, in the same way this can be presented element within the organization. It can be said that the business culture is formed by the set of shared values, and that each of the collaborators needs to put them into practice. This culture has a great influence on the daily actions of the company and its staff, from the communication that exists between people or departments to the way in which an image is projected towards the market and society in general.
There are many types of business cultures, some are opposed, however each of them presents in different ways, advantages or disadvantages, by which movements in the current market are presented. Some examples of these cultures are:
- Flexible or Rigid. Customer-oriented or Product-oriented Authoritative or Participatory Open or Closed Innovative or Conservative.
Some of the elements that make up the corporate culture are:
Mission.- That dictates or specifies the ultimate purpose to which the movement of the company is focused, or in general, its reason for being.
Values.- They are the qualities that are present in the operation of the company, and that influence to a high degree the conduct of all the members who belong to it.
Policies.- They are the lines of action, through which the company can define its identity.
Corporate image.
Finally there is the corporate image, which is an element highly related to business culture, since it contributes to the way in which the public perceives the company, generating in it a feeling of acceptance or rejection.
This image can be created and transmitted in two ways:
Spontaneous.- Well, it occurs naturally by the performance of the company in public, which observes it in all its aspects, and by different organizations, such as customers, suppliers, employees, etc. And this image is quickly spread throughout the community.
Intentional.- Through organized planning campaigns, that is, mainly developed and implemented by the marketing department.
Conclusion.
The relationship that a company has with the environment that surrounds it is greatly influenced by the way in which it manages and acts on its own, in relation to the people who work in it, the quality of the flow of information or communication between people or departments. Because the better these elements are presented within the company, the better they can interact with the external environments that surround the organization.
The most important elements, and on which the company's efforts should be focused, are the means of communication, which allow a clear and precise flow of information or data that must be disclosed to customers, suppliers, users or the general public. The organizational culture that must exist within the company, which allows it to project a positive image to the market and the community. The direction and administration of the organization, which favors the way in which decisions are made or projects or objectives are proposed, because as said from the beginning, the company cannot achieve them on its own, it must rely on other organizations or people, and the better the relationship with them, achieving the established objectives will be greatly facilitated.
Thesis proposal.
Implement an analysis that allows determining the factors that affect the relationship between a local company and its external environment in a higher percentage.
Objective.
Identify the elements or factors that influence to a greater degree, the relationship of a company in the city of Orizaba and the external environment, based on its internal environment.
Bibliography.
- Rosa Marina López-Calleja Serrano. (nineteen ninety five). Administration: Social and ethical responsibility. Costa Rica: UNED.Febles Acosta, J. Oreja Rodríguez, JR (2008). External and internal factors determining the orientation of the strategic cultures of companies. Spain: European Research, Muñoz Abraham. (2014, May 13). Analysis of the external environment of an organization. Recovered from https://www.gestiopolis.com/analisis–del–ambienteexterno–de–una–organizacion/Rojas Gutiérrez Keila Yeritze. (2016, February 22). External environment of organizations and business competitiveness. Recovered from
