Introduction
Various environmental factors affect the everyday business operations of managers. Both internal and external environmental factors influence business managers. The internal environmental factors include the value system and organizational culture that the business organization can control to a significant extent. On the other hand, the external factors influencing business include marketing forces and a variety of macro-environmental factors. The macro-environmental factors are economical, social, political and technological factors. In brief, the manager can neither predict nor control the external factors. However, business success depends on effectively managing both the internal and external business environments.
Thesis statement
Effective management of business operations depends on the manager’s ability to handle the environmental factors since the environmental factors have the potential of influencing the workforce, marketplace and the strategies adopted by the organization.
Argument 1: Main argument: Internal factors like vision and mission, values and organizational culture affect the way a manager runs his business. In the first place, an organizational culture that believes in ingraining the basic values in the minds of the staff gives various reasons for the employees to stay with the company. For example the style of leadership decides the organizational culture and influences employees (Yukl, 2002).
Supporting argument: Various employee welfare programs implemented by the organization motivate employees to give their best. Similarly, lack of recognition and welfare measures discourages employees.
Argument 2: Main argument: Among the external factors, marketing forces like competition and promotion strategies undertaken by marketers affect business managers. For instance, a marketer can aggressively challenge a leading brand to capture market share (Kotler & Armstrong, 2014).
Supporting argument: Consumer preference changes from time to time depending upon their values and socio-economic conditions that affect the business managers.
Argument 3: Main argument: The socio-political and environmental factors that are external to the organization significantly affect a business. For example, a new government may revise or change the existing taxation and policies related to trading that may affect the marketing of a product. Unexpected natural disasters like flood or hurricane may affect a business by unfavorably influencing the socio-economy of a region.
Supporting argument: Timely supply of raw material gets affected either by short supply of a product in the whole sale market or a staff unrest in the logistics industry.
Argument 4: Main argument: Technological changes and innovations influencing product designing affect a business manager promoting a product with a traditional design.
Supporting argument: New products which replace the utility of older ones influence managers trying to sell older versions without modification. For instance cassette tapes are now replaced by compact discs.
My stand: Environmental factors both internal and external are bound to influence the business of a manager. Internal environment comprises of employees of various backgrounds and experience which is likely to bring in conflicts. Similarly, a manager can never predict what will happen to the society or environment in which his business operates.
Restating thesis: Workplaces are constantly challenged by diversity and different leadership styles of managers apart from external environmental factors like market forces, socio-economy, natural disasters and technology that need to be addressed by business managers regularly.
Conclusion:
Business managers are responsible for managing both the internal and external environments for ensuring success. Even as mangers can easily manage the internal environment by demonstrating certain core values, encountering the external environment require strategic planning and creative thinking skills. Besides, a proactive attitude about embracing change would help managers in handling the external environment.
References
Kotler, P., & Armstrong. G. (2014). Principles of marketing. New York: Pearson
Yukl, A. (2002) Leadership in Organizations. New York: Prentice Hall
