Chapter 3: Environmental Scanning - TM

Question 1

Define EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Answer 1

Anything outside organizational boundaries that might influence an organization

Question 2

Is the external environment part of the organization?

Answer 2

No, the external environment is not part of the organization but is tightly integrated with it

Question 3

TRUE OR FALSE: Organizations exist in isolation

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What are the 4 STAGES OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS?

Answer 4

Scanning
Monitoring
Forecasting
Assessing

Question 5

Which stage of the environmental analysis is ambiguous and incomplete and involves the early signals of changes and trends?

Answer 5

SCANNING

Question 6

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)

Answer 6

MONITORING

Question 7

Which stage of the environmental analysis is where you use info from monitoring to determine impact of a trend on the organization

Answer 7

FORECASTING

Question 8

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

Answer 8

ASSESSING

Question 9

Define ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING

Answer 9

The systematic monitoring of trends affecting the organization

Question 10

List 4 sources of INFORMATION to use in the “MONITORING” portion of Environmental Scanning

Answer 10

Publications - Canadian
Professional associations
Conferences/seminars
Professional consultants

Question 11

The SYSTEMATIC APPROACH to FOLLOWING KEY INDICATORS is known as

Answer 11

FORECASTING

Question 12

Some Methods HR professionals use to extrapolate info from forecasting are:

Answer 12

Trend analysis
Delphi technique 
Nominal group technique
Impact analysis 
Scenario planning

Question 13

This is a definition of what?:

A formal approach to obtain information about competitors

Answer 13

COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

Question 14

These are examples of what?

• Study competitors’ websites
• Have employees ask suppliers about competitors
• Hire employees who have worked for competitors

Answer 14

Competitive Intelligence

Question 15

List 3 Challenges in Environmental Scanning

Answer 15

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

Question 16

TRUE OR FALSE: Trends exist in isolation

Answer 16

False, few trends exist in isolation - in fact, for many trends there is a counter-trend (e.g. Globalization / Localization)

Question 17

List 6 Major environmental factors used in environmental scanning.

Mid-term Short Answer

Answer 17

1. Economic climate
2. Globalization
3. Political and regulatory context
4. Issues related to technology
5. Demographic factors
6. Social values and norms

Question 18

unemployment, globalization, interest rates, strength of the Canadian dollar are examples of which major environmental factor

Mid-term Short Answer

Answer 18

Economic Climate

Question 19

What is this the definition of:

The growth in flows of trade and financial capital across borders

Mid-term Short Answer

Answer 19

Globalization

Question 20

What are some ways that Political / Legislative factors influence HR?

Mid-term Short Answer

Answer 20

• Provincial and federal governments influence organizations with changes to laws and regulations
• Governments can influence job creation with tax incentives and job-training opportunities

Question 21

Some issues of this include: online HR functions, information privacy, identity theft, e-learning

Mid-term Short Answer

Answer 21

TECHNOLOGY impacting HR

Question 22

What is this the definition of?

The study of population statistics

Mid-term Short Answer

Answer 22

DEMOGRAPHICS

Question 23

What are major Demographic factors affecting HR?

Answer 23

the Labour Market, unemployment rate, diversity and generational differences

Question 24

The Right to Privacy, Contingent workers, and having work-life balance are examples of what?

Mid-term Short Answer

Answer 24

Sociocultural environmental factors affecting HR

Question 25

Groups of people who have vested interests in an organization are known as

Answer 25

Stakeholders or Constituent groups

Question 26

Board of directors and senior executives
Senior management
Supervisors
Employees
Unions
Customers
Suppliers
Governments
Regulatory agencies
The public
NGOs

These are?

Answer 26

Potential Stakeholders