Classification of Environmental Factors

CLASSIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

On the basis of the extent of intimacy with the firm, the environmental factors may be classified into different types namely internal and external.

1) INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

The internal environment is the environment that has a direct impact on the business. The internal factors are generally controllable because the company has control over these factors. It can alter or modify these factors. The internal environmental factors are resources, capabilities and culture.

i) Resources:

A good starting point to identify company resources is to look at tangible, intangible and human resources.

Tangible resources are the easiest to identify and evaluate: financial resources and physical assets are identifies and valued in the firm’s financial statements.

Intangible resources are largely invisible, but over time become more important to the firm than tangible assets because they can be a main source for a competitive advantage. Such intangible recourses include reputational assets (brands, image, etc.) and technological assets (proprietary technology and know-how).

Human resources or human capital are the productive services human beings offer the firm in terms of their skills, knowledge, reasoning, and decision-making abilities.

ii) Capabilities:

Resources are not productive on their own. The most productive tasks require that resources collaborate closely together within teams. The term organizational capabilities are used to refer to a firm’s capacity for undertaking a particular productive activity. Our interest is not in capabilities per se, but in capabilities relative to other firms. To identify the firm’s capabilities we will use the functional classification approach. A functional classification identifies organizational capabilities in relation to each of the principal functional areas.

iii) Culture:

It is the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that helps in achieving the organizational goals.

2) EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT FACTORS

It refers to the environment that has an indirect influence on the business. The factors are uncontrollable by the business. The two types of external environment are micro environment and macro environment.

a) MICRO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

These are external factors close to the company that have a direct impact on the organizations process. These factors include:

i) Shareholders

Any person or company that owns at least one share (a percentage of ownership) in a company is known as shareholder. A shareholder may also be referred to as a "stockholder". As organization requires greater inward investment for growth they face increasing pressure to move from private ownership to public. However this movement unleashes the forces of shareholder pressure on the strategy of organizations.

ii) Suppliers

An individual or an organization involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user is known as supplier. Increase in raw material prices will have a knock on affect on the marketing mix strategy of an organization. Prices may be forced up as a result. A closer supplier relationship is one way of ensuring competitive and quality products for an organization.

iii) Distributors

Entity that buys non-competing products or product-lines, warehouses them, and resells them to retailers or direct to the end users or customers is known as distributor. Most distributors provide strong manpower and cash support to the supplier or manufacturer's promotional efforts. They usually also provide a range of services (such as product information, estimates, technical support, after-sales services, credit) to their customers. Often getting products to the end customers can be a major issue for firms. The distributors used will determine the final price of the product and how it is presented to the end customer. When selling via retailers, for example, the retailer has control over where the products are displayed, how they are priced and how much they are promoted in-store. You can also gain a competitive advantage by using changing distribution channels.

iv) Customers

A person, company, or other entity which buys goods and services produced by another person, company, or other entity is known as customer. Organizations survive on the basis of meeting the needs, wants and providing benefits for their customers. Failure to do so will result in a failed business strategy.

v) Competitors

A company in the same industry or a similar industry which offers a similar product or service is known as competitor. The presence of one or more competitors can reduce the prices of goods and services as the companies attempt to gain a larger market share. Competition also requires companies to become more efficient in order to reduce costs. Fast-food restaurants McDonald's and Burger King are competitors, as are Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and Wal-Mart and Target.

vi) Media

Positive or adverse media attention on an organisations product or service can in some cases make or break an organisation.. Consumer programmes with a wider and more direct audience can also have a very powerful and positive impact, hforcing organisations to change their tactics.

b) MACRO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

An organization's macro environment consists of nonspecific aspects in the organization's surroundings that have the potential to affect the organization's strategies. When compared to a firm's task environment, the impact of macro environmental variables is less direct and the organization has a more limited impact on these elements of the environment.

The macro environment consists of forces that originate outside of an organization and generally cannot be altered by actions of the organization. In other words, a firm may be influenced by changes within this element of its environment, but cannot itself influence the environment. The curved lines in Figure 1 indicate the indirect influence of the environment on the organization.

Macro environment includes political, economic, social and technological factors. A firm considers these as part of its environmental scanning to better understand the threats and opportunities created by the variables and how strategic plans need to be adjusted so the firm can obtain and retain competitive advantage.

i) Political Factors

Political factors include government regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules under which the firm must operate. Some examples include:

            tax policy

            employment laws

            environmental regulations

            trade restrictions and tariffs

            political stability

         Economic Factors

Economic factors affect the purchasing power of potential customers and the firm's cost of capital. The following are examples of factors in the macroeconomy:

                        economic growth

                        interest rates

                        exchange rates

                        inflation rate

iii) Social Factors

Social factors include the demographic and cultural aspects of the external macro environment. These factors affect customer needs and the size of potential markets. Some social factors include:

            health consciousness

            population growth rate

            age distribution

            career attitudes

            emphasis on safety

           Technological Factors

Technological factors can lower barriers to entry, reduce minimum efficient production levels, and influence outsourcing decisions. Some technological factors include:

            R&D activity

            automation

            technology incentives

            rate of technological change