External Enviroment

Question 1 The external environment of a firm plays a very important role in the operations of the organization. Why is it important for organization in the Pacific to learn and know about what is happening in their external environment? Use examples to explain a least 5 elements in the external environment. The business dictionary defines external environment as conditions, entities, events, and factors surrounding an organization that influence its activities and choices, and determine its opportunities and risks.
From this definition we can identify that external environment plays a vital role in the operations of organization. For an organization in the Pacific to maintain its longevity and productivity in the competitive world of business it is very important to be alert and attentive to the world surrounding it in terms of entities, events, and factors surrounding it that will influence its activities and choices, and determine its opportunities and risks thus maintain its competitive edge. Technological Element The organization must be technologically efficient.
Computers are now the main mode of communication. It knows no barrier. It travels through time and space, continents, companies and what not. A press of a button from Fiji can enable you to communicate with someone thousand and thousand of kilometers away living in United Kingdom. It is very important that they invest in technology through equipment, training and recruitment to be able to impact in the economy. “Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time. ”  –Bill Gates (http://voices. ahoo. com/great-technology-quotes-sayings-5759728. html? cat=15) “The medium, or process, of our time – electric technology is reshaping and restructuring patterns of social interdependence and every aspect of our personal life. It is forcing us to reconsider and re-evaluate practically every thought, every action,”  –Marshall McLuhan (http://voices. yahoo. com/great-technology-quotes-sayings-5759728. html? cat=15) Eg. The use of ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) by commercial banks in the region has made banking effective and efficient.

No longer have people be involved in long lines wait to be served. The work of two to three people have been made easier by a single machine. In a Fiji Times interview the ANZ Bank CEO Vishnu Mohan explained that, [1]ANZ customers can now carry out quick and timely automatic teller machine (ATM) transactions. . Economic Element The organization must also be aware of economic development, events and activities regionally and globally. ———————– [1] (Fiji Times, 3rd October, 2012, ATM Upgrade)