Business and their context

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Business: organized of individuals

produce / provide goods or service to meet the need of society

NGO/NPO

profit-manufature

Business activities: 1) innovation 2) operations 3) marketing 4) HR management 5) finance and accounting

examine business: activities interact with one another
activities shape/are shaped by the contexts

Business context

Strategic level: management decisions and what influenced them and what they influence

  • strategy: objectives and methods to achieve those objectives

Organizational level:
1) goals
2) structure
3) ownership
4) size
5) organizational/corporate culture

Environmental level (within globalization)
1) the economy
2) the state
3) technology
4) labour
5) cultural and institutional difference

the way people are grouped and operate: activity of business

Interaction - influence systems approach and contigency approaches

System approach:

  • Complexity vs. dynamic
  • Feedback vs. self-regulation

  • Equilibrium (homeostasis)


  • Conflict and chaos

  • Determinism (necessity)

equilibrium with the environment

Contigency approach: relationship betwwen organization and environment

Product of the environment = business activities + way business are organized
Adapt: take advantage of the prevailing environmental influences

Corporate strategy: match enviroment opportunities and risks with organization strengths and weaknesses (optinum strategy)

  • Lawrence and Lorsch:
  • different environment -> different organization (with same sources)
  • contigency planning: guarding against the whims of environment
    Aristoile: the abnormal can exist and make everything different

Idols of humans' mind

  • tribe: ignore fallibility of our knowledge
  • cave: pickup error through education or experience
  • market: seductive language
  • theatre: prejudice dogma and superstition

Growth (contigent term): WWII for Marshal aid

Cognitive revolution: uniqueness of human language

  • flexible
  • gossip-function
  • reflexive
  • performative: talk things into existence -> problem of telling reality from fiction, truth from lies -> need authorative

Framing: seductive language take one dominant question and leave out other perspective