Chapter 3: Environmental Scanning - TM Flashcards
Analyzing the external environment – scanning, monitoring, forecasting and assessing Challenges in scanning Environmental influences on HRM – economic climate, globalization etc.*
Define EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
Anything outside organizational boundaries that might influence an organization
Is the external environment part of the organization?
No, the external environment is not part of the organization but is tightly integrated with it
TRUE OR FALSE: Organizations exist in isolation
False, Organizations do not exist in isolation which is why you have to scan the environment for influencing factors, etc. to adapt and maintain a competitive edge
What are the 4 STAGES OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS?
Scanning
Monitoring
Forecasting
Assessing
Which stage of the environmental analysis is ambiguous and incomplete and involves the early signals of changes and trends?
SCANNING
Which stage of the environmental analysis is where you gain trend info after taking a systematic approach to following key indicators that may affect the organization (for example, legislative changes)
MONITORING
Which stage of the environmental analysis is where you use info from monitoring to determine impact of a trend on the organization
FORECASTING
Which stage of the environmental analysis is when you attempt to project the impact of the monitored trend on the org and make a judgement of the probability of several outcomes
ASSESSING
Define ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
The systematic monitoring of trends affecting the organization
List 4 sources of INFORMATION to use in the “MONITORING” portion of Environmental Scanning
Publications - Canadian
Professional associations
Conferences/seminars
Professional consultants
The SYSTEMATIC APPROACH to FOLLOWING KEY INDICATORS is known as
FORECASTING
Some Methods HR professionals use to extrapolate info from forecasting are:
Trend analysis Delphi technique Nominal group technique Impact analysis Scenario planning
This is a definition of what?:
A formal approach to obtain information about competitors
COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE
These are examples of what?
- Study competitors’ websites
- Have employees ask suppliers about competitors
- Hire employees who have worked for competitors
Competitive Intelligence
List 3 Challenges in Environmental Scanning
a) Inability to accurately predict the
future
(b) Inability to isolate what really is
important to HR – for example:
Technology, downsizing, telecommuting, outsourcing
(c) Few trends exist in isolation
TRUE OR FALSE: Trends exist in isolation
False, few trends exist in isolation - in fact, for many trends there is a counter-trend (e.g. Globalization / Localization)
List 6 Major environmental factors used in environmental scanning.
Mid-term Short Answer
- Economic climate
- Globalization
- Political and regulatory context
- Issues related to technology
- Demographic factors
- Social values and norms
unemployment, globalization, interest rates, strength of the Canadian dollar are examples of which major environmental factor
Mid-term Short Answer
Economic Climate
What is this the definition of:
The growth in flows of trade and financial capital across borders
Mid-term Short Answer
Globalization
What are some ways that Political / Legislative factors influence HR?
Mid-term Short Answer
- Provincial and federal governments influence organizations with changes to laws and regulations
- Governments can influence job creation with tax incentives and job-training opportunities
Some issues of this include: online HR functions, information privacy, identity theft, e-learning
Mid-term Short Answer
TECHNOLOGY impacting HR
What is this the definition of?
The study of population statistics
Mid-term Short Answer
DEMOGRAPHICS
What are major Demographic factors affecting HR?
the Labour Market, unemployment rate, diversity and generational differences
The Right to Privacy, Contingent workers, and having work-life balance are examples of what?
Mid-term Short Answer
Sociocultural environmental factors affecting HR
Groups of people who have vested interests in an organization are known as
Stakeholders or Constituent groups
Board of directors and senior executives Senior management Supervisors Employees Unions Customers Suppliers Governments Regulatory agencies The public NGOs
These are?
Potential Stakeholders
