Page 66 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

by pressure groups to influence the organization, CHAPTER 2 • The Management Environment 65
and so forth. For instance, Zippo Manufacturing,
best known for its Zippo lighters, faces a relatively
stable environment. There are few competitors and
little technological change. The main external con-
cern for the company is probably the declining
trend in tobacco usage. In contrast, the recorded
music industry faces a dynamic (highly uncertain
and unpredictable) environment. Digital formats,
apps, music-streaming sites, and artists releasing
selected songs on their personal social media ac-
counts have turned the industry upside down and
brought high levels of uncertainty.
The other dimension of uncertainty describes Manjunath Kiran/Getty Images
the degree of environmental complexity, which
looks at the number of components in an or-
ganization’s environment and the extent of the
knowledge that the organization has about those components. An organization that has Software developers and designers from
few competitors, customers, suppliers, or government agencies to deal with, or that communities throughout the world are
needs little information about its environment, has a less complex and thus less uncertain valuable stakeholders for Yahoo. The company
builds relationships with these computer
environment. experts by staging hacking events, like the
How does the concept of environmental uncertainty influence managers? Looking again one shown here in Bangalore, India, that may
at Exhibit 2–2, each of the four cells represents different combinations of degree of complex- result in technological innovations.
ity and degree of change. Cell 1 (stable-simple environment)
represents the lowest level of environmental uncertainty and cell A Question of Ethics
4 (dynamic and complex environment) the highest. Not surpris-
ingly, managers have the greatest influence on organizational
outcomes in cell 1 and the least in cell 4. Because uncertainty is Ever heard of Waze? It’s an extremely popular mobile traffic
a threat to an organization’s effectiveness, managers try to mini- software app by Google that provides real-time traffic guidance
mize it. Given a choice, managers would prefer to operate in the and warnings about traffic congestion, construction zones, speed
least uncertain environments, but they rarely control that choice. traps, stalled vehicles, unsafe weather conditions, etc. However,
In addition, the nature of the external environment today is that there’s one feature that has law enforcement officers across the
most industries are facing more dynamic change, making their United States very worried. Police are pleading with Google to
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environments more uncertain. turn off the feature that warns drivers when police are nearby,
fearing that making their location known is an officer-safety threat
managing StakEholdEr rElationShipS. What has and possibly even a public-safety threat. Although there are no
made MTV a popular TV channel for young adults year after
year? One reason for its popularity is that MTV understands known connections between any attacks on police and the use of
the importance of building relationships with its various Waze, law enforcement trade groups are concerned that it’s only
stakeholders: viewers (the network is relentless in monitor- a matter of time before a would-be terrorist or cop killer uses the
ing its target- audience preferences), reality show participants, app to find where a police officer target is parked. A Waze spokes-
celebrities, advertisers, affiliate TV stations, public service person said that the company is very conscious of safety and
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groups, and others. The nature of stakeholder relation- security concerns and has worked with the New York City Police
ships is another way in which the environment influences Department and others by sharing information.
managers. The more obvious and secure these relationships,
the more influence managers will have over organizational If your professor has assigned this, go to the Assignments sec-
outcomes. tion of mymanagementlab.com to complete these discussion
Stakeholders are any constituencies in an organization’s questions.
environment that are affected by that organization’s decisions Talk About It 5: Is there an ethical issue here? Why or
and actions. These groups have a stake in or are significantly why not?
influenced by what the organization does. In turn, these groups
can influence the organization. For example, think of the Talk About It 6: What stakeholders might have a vested
groups that might be affected by the decisions and actions of interest in this issue and what do you think their position might
Starbucks—coffee bean farmers, employees, specialty coffee be? How can identifying stakeholders help a manager decide the
most responsible approach?
competitors, local communities, and so forth. Some of these
stakeholders, in turn, may impact the decisions and actions of