Business Studies

Discussion must be in current APA format and must include a reference list. Reference sample make sure to include DOI-Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23(2), 161-180. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105 There needs to be 2 scholarly references (2017-2022) and 1 biblical references from the King James bible in the paper Minimum of 275 words in the body Minimum of 2 sources from the literature in addition to course texts Current APA format must be used. Content must include: • Summary of the author’s Thread – no less than 150 words • What you agreed with, did not agree with and why – no less than 125 words • Support your factual assertions with citations.
Discussion to Reply to:
Organizations use their current and external view of their operations to make changes toward success for the organization. Evaluating the external environment requires firms to be aware of its rapid changes and adapt to external market factors. This discussion will take into account the critical focus of the external atmosphere that influences business decisions. The firm’s ability to react to the external environment allows them to overcome any changes to the organization. The discussion will integrate Strategic thinking to demonstrate the long-term success plans of an organization. Decision models will explain how it affects the process and their influence on the business operation.

Process: Evaluating the External Environment

When going through the process of evaluating the external environment, companies must first evaluate their surrounding competitors. They must understand the external environment from a dynamic industry perspective, including the overall macro-environment such as political and regulatory factors. According to Gamble et al. (2021), PESTEL (political factors, economic conditions, sociocultural forces, technological factors, environmental forces, and legal and regulatory factors) analysis is a valuable technique that companies should use to assess and break down the relevant components of the external environment. It is essential to evaluate the external environment to adjust business strategies to reflect the environment’s needs.

Organizations should assess the competitive environment because the knowledge of the business atmosphere helps when going through a developmental stage or changing business operations. As part of evaluating the external environment, companies should monitor the five forces that help determine their position in the competitive market. The five forces involve rivalry amongst sellers, buyer bargaining power, the threat of new competitors in the market, supplier bargaining power, and winning over substitute products (Gamble et al., 2021). During the process, the organization must ensure that they make the proper adjustments to their strategies in the external market to keep them ahead of competitors.

Strategic Thinking: Discussion of a Key source of Power / Weakness

In strategic thinking, a key source of power or weakness depends on the company’s ability to adapt to changes in the external environment quickly. Advantages that lead to success are gained from the business by examining the benefits gained from the competition through evaluating strategies. Disadvantages that lead to weaknesses are created in strategic thinking when leaders direct the organization on the wrong path due to a lack of analyzing the proper strategy for a specific external situation. The key source of weakness is bad strategies that create inappropriate reactions and missed opportunities to help the organization move forward (Mason, 2007).

A key source of power in strategic thinking derives from the effective use of benefits obtained in competition. The source of power is the ability of the management to apply the basic principles of strategy creation. Management can provide power in strategic thinking by persuading the developmental process with its implications. The leaders can also provide weak in strategic thinking by lacking the virtue of patience; this ultimately creates obstacles in the company’s process towards success (Rumelt, 2011). The key sources are essential for the organization because they help ensure the direction of their business in the environment. They need to implement strategic thinking into their operational procedures to better adapt to changes. Each key source of power and weakness allows the company to make the right internal and external decisions based on current capabilities that affect the organization. It is also important because it boosts creativity and innovation as part of attempts to adapt to the modifications of the external environment.

Decision Model

The chosen decision model will assist an organization in directing the company toward the right path to success. The decision model for helping to evaluate the environment for business decisions is the team model approach. The team model aids in optimizing a set of circumstances gained from a competitive market that can assist business decisions internally and externally. Because it can be challenging to move forward in a new direction without certainty, the team model uses underlying information technology systems to aid processes that have already been established (Krogerus & Tschäppeler, 2017).

A decision model also being considered is the feedback model because it sets standards for productivity and can encourage employees better to assess all the necessary components of the external environment. Formative feedback can aid in dismantling all the potential hindrances of the process because it fixes and revises performance issues (Shute, 2008). When leaders provide feedback to the workers, they influence them throughout the process to become significant business decisions. Overall, the feedback model is to be considered because it leads to long terms success of any organization.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the process of evaluating the external environment relies on the leaders of the organization to ensure that the proper factors are assessed before making decisions based on those factors. Strategic thinking can create power or weakness in the organization based on how the company adjusts to the changes in the environment. The key sources are dependent on external factors and how leaders can utilize them for an advantage or create disadvantages. The team model uses both internal and external circumstantial factors to aid business decisions on a path to success. Evaluating the external environment in which the company does business is critical to developing a company’s strategy because the environment contains factors that may aid the decision-making process or hinder it if not adequately assessed.

ANSWER

Discussion Reply 2 770

The external environment plays a major role in an organization’s success or failure. Understanding the organization’s external environment will aid it in making decisions that will positively impact its growth (Edmondson, 2018). This means focusing on factors such as political and regulatory factors, socio-cultural factors, technological factors, and environmental and legal factors. Analyzing these factors is essential for an organization as it helps it to adjust its strategy to fit within these factors. For example, if the environment surrounding the company needs care, the organization can take advantage of this factor and create a solution for the environment within the organization (Wheelen et al., 2017). This will increase their competitive advantage, and they will take care of the environment simultaneously. An organization also needs to study the competition not to copy their style of doing things but so that they can develop better ways of doing things to gain a competitive advantage.

I agree that strategic thinking is a key source of power or weakness and depends on the company’s ability to adapt to changes in the external environment. I also agree that there are other factors that play a part in strategic thinking, such as the decision model (Gamble et al., 2021). The decision model helps direct the organization to the path of success. It also helps evaluate the business decisions both internally and externally. Strategic thinking in an organization is key to ensuring that the organization succeeds. This means looking at the external environment and developing decision models that will help the organization tap into the potential of the external environment while still adhering to the legal and regulatory factors. A good decision model will help the organization gain success.

References

Edmondson, V. C. (2018). Evaluating a Company’s External Environment: The Firm Industry–Society Relationship. In The Thinking Strategist: Unleashing the Power of Strategic Management to Identify, Explore and Solve Problems (pp. 79-91). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-157-120181008

Gamble, J., Peteraf, M., & Thompson, A. (2021), Essentials of strategic management, McGraw-Hill Course Content Delivery (7th ed.), New York, NY. ISBN: 9781260785791.

Wheelen, T. L., Hunger, J. D., Hoffman, A. N., & Bamford, C. E. (2017). Strategic management and business policy (Vol. 55). Boston: Pearson.