Introduction
For a long time the company was considered as an independent unit and remote from its environment. The classical theories basically concentrated on all those aspects that managers could control directly, and their main concern was financial, fundamentally seeking the maximization of profits. This occurred, perhaps, because in those years the external environment was relatively stable and predictable, which did not require managers to make a great effort to analyze external variables, which were also outside the influence and control of the company and its administration.
However, the rapidity with which the different social, political, economic and technological phenomena are currently evolving have forced companies to dedicate a significant effort to know their environment, and thus determine the different policies through which it can affect their environment. environment and those that allow you to adapt to it.
It is vitally important that a company knows the environment that surrounds it, in order to see how it affects it inside and to be able to take preventive measures to solve it or in any case, take the advantages that it can offer.
Company environment or environment concept
Generally speaking, the environment or environment of the company as everything that surrounds it, that is, its entire social, technological, economic, political "atmosphere", and so on. All this is what is generally known as the external environment of the company. Some authors also speak of the internal environment of the company, considering this as the employees, their bosses, the working conditions, the climate and the organizational culture, and so on.
Thus, it could be said that the environment is composed of all those factors, internal or external, that directly or indirectly influence its activity. The foregoing implies that as elements of direct action and indirect action, which affect business activity to a greater or lesser extent. (Malota, 2011)
Internal environment vs. external
As mentioned, one can speak of the internal environment and the external environment. The first refers to everything that is within the organization, that is, the workers, the organizational climate, the organizational culture, and so on. On the other hand, the external environment or environment is made up of everything that is outside the organization and that is related to it in some way.
For a long time, administrative theories did not give greater importance to the external environment, but with the development of the systems and contingencies approach, the environment or the environment of the company begins to gain importance, and then the social, cultural, technological, economic, political, etc., are beginning to be analyzed by entrepreneurs, and are beginning to be considered as important elements of the decision-making process. (Leandro, 2012)
Macroenvironment
The general environment is the broader environment that includes society, countries, organizations, companies, communities, etc. It works as a broad context that affects all its components and members in a generic way, although some may experience more influence and pressure than others. Thus, all organizations are subject to its widespread and extensive effect, which has a strong impact on all administrative decisions. The generic environment is the broader scenario in which all the economic, technological, social, legal, cultural, political, demographic and ecological phenomena that influence organizations occur. The components of the general environment are:
Economic conditions
They represent the part of the general environment that defines how people and organizations in a community or country produce, and how they distribute and use the various goods and services. Some important aspects of the economic component are the general state of the economy in terms of inflation, development, contraction, reserve requirements, gross domestic product, employment, unemployment and other indicators related to economic phenomena, economics is the science that studies this environmental component.
Technological conditions
They represent the part of the general environment that describes the characteristics of the society in which the organization operates. Some important aspects of the social component are the prevailing social values in human rights issues, trends in education, social institutions, and social standards of behavior.
Legal conditions
They represent the part of the general environment that contains the current legal codes. It covers the laws and regulations defined by society, as well as the predominant form of government.
Political conditions
They represent the part of the general environment that contains elements related to governmental affairs. It includes the general state of philosophy and dominant political objectives, political parties, representations of society, the attitudes of legal, regional and national governments about industries, political lobbying activities, interest groups, etc.
Cultural conditions
They represent the part of the general environment that contains the elements related to the cultural values that prevail in a society.
Demographic conditions
They represent the statistical characteristics of a population include changes in the number of people and the distribution of income among the various segments of the population. These changes influence the receptivity of goods and services in the environment and is reflected in the strategy of organizations.
Ecological conditions
They represent the general state of nature and the conditions of the physical and natural environment, as well as the concern of society for the environment.
All these phenomena or variables make up a dynamic and intense field of forces that come together and repel, come together and collide, multiply and cancel each other, assuming unusual trends and directions like a complex kaleidoscope that changes its conspiracy each time. (Chiavenato, 2002)
Microenvironment
The specific environment or microenvironment is the most immediate and market environment for each organization. Consequently, each organization has its own particular work environment that constitutes the niche where it develops its operations and where it directs its inputs and places its products and services. This means that the work environment contains the markets used (supplier markets, financial market, labor market, etc.) and the markets served by the organization (customer market). The specific environment or work environment is made up of the following elements directly involved in each organization:
Providers
Elements that provide inputs or inputs in the form of resources, energy, services and information to the organization. Suppliers offer resources, such as capital, raw materials, machines and equipment, technology, concessions, public, legal services, accounting, etc. With the rise of outsourcing, internal work that is not essential to the organization's mission is increasingly being transferred to external providers, transforming fixed costs into variable costs and, at the same time, increasing the organization's dependence on those environmental elements. The supplier component is the segment of the work environment that includes all the variables related to the individual or agency that provide the necessary resources for organizations to produce goods and services.
customers
Elements that buy or acquire products or services, that is, they absorb the outputs and results of the organization. Customers can be called users, consumers, contributors, or even sponsors. The consumer component is the segment of the work environment composed of the factors related to those who buy products and services offered by the organization. Serving customers and, above all, attracting them is the most important task of the organization today.
Competitors
Elements that dispute the same entrances (suppliers) and the same exits (clients) of the organization. Competitors develop strategies that are not always expected or known to gain space and dominance, and they intervene in the work environment, generating uncertainty regarding their decisions and actions. The competitive component is the segment of the work environment composed of those that the organization faces to obtain resources and put its products and services on the market. Knowing the competitors and knowing how to deal with them is a vital task for the organization.
Regulatory agencies
Elements that regulate, regulate, monitor, evaluate or supervise the actions of the organization. They are the government oversight bodies, trade unions, user associations, class associates, consumer protection associations, interest groups and all regulatory entities. The regulatory component is the segment of the work environment that monitors the performance of the organization to limit, restrict and direct its actions, reducing its degree of freedom and flexibility to operate. (López, 2010)
conclusion
The environment that surrounds the companies are governed by diversified factors that together or individually can create a point of positive or negative action on the interaction of the company within the market as well as those of its administrative operations, logistics among others, thus being able to generate perspectives, limitations, indices and other actions that may cause fluctuations in the daily operations of the Companies and that in some cases, depending on their magnitude, may or may not be controlled or influenced.
It is also important to bear in mind that the business environment is not stable, it tends to be complex and competitive. Companies must be able to identify said environment, adapt to needs, anticipate possible changes in advance, they must also have the ability to assess the impact of these changes on their activities and prepare for when they occur.
References
Chiavenato, I. (2002). Administration of the new times. Mc Graw Hill.
Leandro, G. (2012). The environment of the organization. Obtained from
López, S. (2010). External Environment of Organizations. Retrieved from
Malota, M. (2011). External environment of organizations. Obtained from
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