General and Task Environment

Questions for review

1. Identify and discuss each major dimension of the general environment and the task environment.

Both the general environment and the task environment are a part of the external environment. The general environment consists of; Economic Dimension, Technological Dimension, and the Political-Legal Dimension.
The Economic Dimension discusses how healthy the economy is that the organization is in. It includes factors like unemployment rates and inflation. The Technological Dimension discusses changing resources into services. Lastly the Political-Legal Dimension discusses the relationship between business and government.
In the task environment you have the competitors, customers, suppliers, regulators, and the strategic partners.
The competitors are other companies that offer the same services. The customers are the people that pay money for the services provided by the company. The suppliers are the people that supply the company’s resources. The regulators regulate or influence the company’s policies and procedures. Strategic partners are two or more companies that work together.

2. Do organizations have ethics? Why or why not?
Organizations have ethical standards that they come up with. They have these standards in order to set guidelines for what is acceptable and not acceptable behavior for workers.

3. What are the arguments for and against social responsibility on the part of businesses? In your opinion, which set of arguments is more compelling?
The argument for social responsibility is that businesses cause some of society’s problems so they should be responsible for fixing the problems. Also, because businesses have lots of resources they are in a position to provide help and so they should be obligated to do so. Some arguments against social responsibility are that if businesses are involved in social programs they will have too much power over the decisions made. Also, there is potential for conflicts of interest. In my opinion, businesses should definitely have some social responsibility. They should be more than willing to help the people that support the business in the first place. I do however agree that there should be some guidelines in place to govern the decisions that business make for society.

4. Describe the basic levels of international business involvement. Why might a firm use more than one level at the same time?

Levels of international business include; Importing and exporting which is how companies give and receive goods from other countries. Licensing is when one company lets another company share its name or brand in exchange for services. Strategic alliances are when two or more companies work together to gain something. Direct investment is when a company that is in one country builds facilities in a foreign country. A company may use more than one level in order to make everything run together. For example, importing and exporting would be easier if you have a strategic alliance with a company that already has a relationship with other importers and exporters.

5. Describe various barriers to international trade.

Barriers to international trade can include taxes, quotas, and export restraints. These barriers can make it difficult for companies to import and export because the guidelines are so strict. Taxes can be too expensive, quotas might be too low, and export restraints might inhibit a company from getting full value of a service.