Defining the external business environment

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kefalas, A.G.

Affiliations: College of Business Administration, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, U.S.A.

Abstract: Most managers become concerned with environmental issues only after they have become societal problems whose solutions are the subject of legislation. As a result of this time-lag between the emergence of the societal issue and its legislation, and the ensuing managerial response, most management is kept busy fighting past wars rather than planning strategies for the future. This paper provides a framework which allows the manager considerable leeway in the environmental issue emergence process, thereby enabling the organization to pro act and redesign its structure and behavior in anticipation of certain future events.

Keywords: Environment, scanning, anticipatory management, emerging issues, environmentalization

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-1980-1308

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 253-260, 1980