Organisational Context

Question 1

external environment

Answer 1

The issues, trends and events outside the boundaries of the organisation which influence internal decisions and behaviours Buchanan D & Hucynski (2007: 35).

Question 2

environmental scanning

Answer 2

Environmental scanning – a term for a number of techniques for identifying and predicting the potential impact of external trends and developments on the internal functioning of an organisation.

1st identify all factors that could impact on org.
2nd difficulty in predicting impact

Question 3

PESTLE FACTORS

Answer 3

Political - war, terrorism
Economical - econ growth,wage
Social - lifestyle
Technological - new prods/facils
Legislation - international law
Environmental - reducing toxic waste

Question 4

PESTLE STRENGTHS

Answer 4

it identifies trends

all things considered

Question 5

PESTLE WEAKNESSES

Answer 5

matter of interpretation

time consuming, expensive

Question 6

the emery - typology of organisational environments

Answer 6

1. placid, randomised
   - simplest environment
   - successful orgs have hierarchical, bureaucratic structures with standardised work processes.
2. placid, clustered
   - moderate uncertainty
   - large number of variables to consider
   - somewhat predictable
   - planning becomes important, but some decentralisation can be effective.
3. disturbed, reactive
   - increased levels of uncertainty and change, unstable environment, difficult to predict
   - requires flexible, adaptable, decentralised strcutures
4. turbulent field
   - highly complex, rapidly changing, high interdependence,, more uncertainty.
   - requires very fluid organisation structures, and flexible managers and staff at other levels.

Question 7

environmental uncertainty

simple stable

Answer 7

small number of similar external factors changing slowly.

e.g. High st hairdresser

Question 8

environmental uncertainty

complex stable

Answer 8

large number of different external factors changing slowly

e.g. university

Question 9

environmental uncertainty

dynamic simple

Answer 9

small number of similar external factors changing frequently

e.g. fashion designer

Question 10

environmental uncertainty

complex dynamic

Answer 10

large number of dissimilar external factors changing frequently
e.g. computer manufacturer

Question 11

postmodernism

Answer 11

a mode of thinking which focuses on the way in which language is used symbolically and selectively to construct versions of ‘truth’ and ‘reality’ to serve the interests of particular social groupings. Postmodernism represents a challenge to contemporary science by rejecting the taken for granted notions of rationality, order, clarity, truth, realism and the idea of intellectual progress.

Question 12

postmodernism (Hatch 1997)

Answer 12

a fundamental challenge to the ways in which we think about organisations and OB
Challenges your assumptions
Avoids ‘one right answer’
Imagines alternatives to our taken for granted understanding of organisational life.

Question 13

conventional thinking

Answer 13

reality is out there,
language is a neutral tool for communicating facts,
- meaning once established