Why Is It important for Managers to Understand the External Forces Essay

Why Is It important for Managers to Understand the External Forces Acting on Them and Their Organisations - Essay Example The every day role of a manager involves a range of activities all directed towards the achieving a high level of performance for the organization. In other words, being a good manager involves succeeding in achieving a high level of performance for the organization (Daft & Marcic, 2009). Thus, a key determinant in the success of manager hinges on achieving high levels of performance, which is influenced by the external forces acting on an organization as per the definition of external forces. Hence, it becomes impossible to deny that the common denomination of performance of the organization highlights the importance and interaction of the external forces acting on an organization and the role of managers in the organization. It is quite obvious that an understanding of the external forces acting on the organization makes it possible for managers to make use of the resources and create an environment that negate any impact of external forces that enhance stress in the organization a nd through that reduce job tension and enhance job satisfaction and job commitment that go towards improving the performance of the organization (Pool, 2000). Any organization exists in an external environment and necessarily has to interact with this environment and transact business within this environment. Such a relation between an organization and its environment is clear indication of the direct relationship between the external forces and organization. In which case, it goes without saying that effective interaction between the organization and the external forces is a key determinant for the success of the organization. What is the nature of the interaction between the external forces and the organization? External forces can impose a number of constraints on an organization that have a strong influence on the scope and direction of the activities in an organization and through that the performance of the organization, while the organization has limited control over these ex ternal forces. The key aspect of handling the constraints imposed by external forces is in the managers of the organization identifying and understanding the external forces and the constraints brought on by them and developing policies and actions within it’s the environment of the organization to take advantage of the situation that is impacting on all organizations operating in that sector of industrial activity. In fact, it is the understanding of the external forces coupled with an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the internal environment of the organization by managers that allows that to seek out the opportunities in the external environment to exploit them and develop measures to mitigate any threats imposed by the external forces (Shaikh, 2010). According to Robbins and Coulter 2007, external forces acting on an organization can be classified into two elements of the external forces of the specific environment and the external forces of the general en vironment. Such a distinction of the external forces is useful in evaluating the influence of external influence on the performance of an organization and its implications for managers (Robbins & Coulter, 2007) The specific environment consists of those external forces that have a direct bearing on managerial decisions and activities, because they have a direct relevance to the performance of an organization and the attainment of the objectives of the organization. This may imply that the specific environment for all organizations is static and the same. This is not true for the specific environment is unique to every organization and changes with changes in the condition. For example, let us look at two organizations of Timex and Rolex conducting business operations in the same market of