CHAPTER 3
External environments
All events outside a company that have the
potential to influence or affect it.
Environmental change
The rate at which a company's general and
specific environments change.
Stable environment
An environment in which the rate of
change is slow.
Dynamic environment
An environment in which the rate of
change is fast.
Punctuated equilibrium theory
The theory that companies go through
long periods of stability, followed by short
periods of dynamic, fundamental change,
and then a new equilibrium.
Environmental complexity
The number and the intensity of external
factors in the environment that affect
organizations.
Simple environment
An environment with few environmental
factors.
Complex environment
An environment with many environmental
factors.
Resource scarcity
The abundance or shortage of critical
organizational
resources
in
an
organization's external environment.
Uncertainty
Extent to which managers can understand
or predict which environmental changes
and trends will affect their business.
General environment
The
economic,
technological,
sociocultural, and political trends that
indirectly affect all organizations.
