California Miramar University

Businesses do not operate internally. What happens in its external environment plays a large role in how a business both offers its products/services and plans for future growth. Some of the main external factors include:

Competition – How others companies in a business’ niche compete with its products/services.

Economic – How do the current economic conditions (i.e. the recent U.S. recession) play a role in a business’ strategy?

Social – How are the demographics of your niche changing, and what impact might this have on your business? How are behaviors and sentiments towards your niche evolving, and how will that change your strategy?

Political – How do changes in government policy, including new laws and regulations, impact how you operate?

Technological – How does evolving technology change your means of production? How do technological modes of marketing your product (i.e. social media) change your operations?

A business’ external environment is complex and constantly evolving. But paying attention to these factors and monitoring them on a regular basis is vital for future growth. If you don’t pick up on what’s happening around you and how it’s impacting you, both positively and negative, how will you react to market changes and be able to beat your competition in the long-term?

This video clips comes from one of our online MBA courses on strategic management from a highly qualified and nationally renowned professional in business sustainability. Ms. Petro is an Adjunct Professor with us at California Miramar University, a 2010 Outstanding Professor of the Year award recipient, and one of the reasons why our on-campus, Our online MBA programs and Hybrid MBA programs have just been recognized by the San Diego Business Journal as one of the Top 10 in San Diego County for the second year in a row!

Transcript of the Lesson

The firm’s external environment is comprised of the following components: the remote environment, the industry environment and the operating environment. That’s really the underpinnings of this entire chapter. Let’s talk about that remote environment. Again, here’s what it looks like: you have an organization impacted by three: remote, industry and operating. We’re going to start with that larger box – the remote environment – before we move inside.

When we’re coming up with opportunities and threats for an organization, because we’ve just talked about strengths and weaknesses, we’re going to be talking about economic factors. What is happening out there in the economic environment? Didn’t many organizations get caught on their strategy, not being able to implement it effectively during this last U.S. recession?

Then we’ve got social factors. Are you taking into consideration how the demographics of your country is changing, and what the impact could be on the products and services that you provide?

Political factors. There are some organizations, such as Biotech, that are impacted far more by politics and regulation than, let’s say, a service industry such as consulting.

Then you’ve got technology factors. Knowing what we know about the proliferation of technology and the desire for less technological obsolescence, what is that impact on how you deliver what you’re delivering? For instance, if you are a training organization and you’ve got demographics that say the next generation is coming up going, ”I don’t want to receive information that way;” you need to deliver it in a different way. It’s the technology factor that would come into play as well.

Video Transcription by GMR Transcription

Congratulations on your graduation from an MBA program! You should be very proud of yourself.Not to spoil the fun, but now is the time to find a job. But as you start looking for one, here are some helpful tips that will definitely benefit you in the long run.

Create a Well-Organized Resume

A resume is a definite need for those searching for employment. Otherwise known as a curriculum vitae, a resume contains your educational background, personal information, projects and organizations attended, seminars conducted, and a reference guide when necessary.

Company Reputation

A famous or globally recognized corporation may give you a better chance of landing that dream job you’ve always kept in the back of your mind. Some of the criteria involving such companies include:

• Credibility
• Relationship between Fellow Employees
• Comfortable Work Environment
• High Salaries
• Incentives and other Perks
• Demeanor of Management

If you belonged to any of the online MBA programs, you are probably already rising high in your current job and have the opportunity to either continue to climb that ladder or move on to a different company and new opportunity. Remember: at the end of the day it’s your life, so do what makes you the happiest.

Your Career Path

Selecting and concentrating on a particular career path may help you land your dream job and maintain focus. Sections derived from online MBA programs include finance, marketing, health care management, global business, business administration and technology management, and help you choose and properly prepare for the career you wish to pursue.

Consult Friends and Family

Higher batch friends and your parents are an important source of wisdom and experience for you to land a dream job, so go heed their advice and use them to your advantage.

Location

Logistical problems may hinder your prospects of searching for the dream job. A company not only has a head office but also has branch offices. Look for one that is closest to your home and practice going to and from the office in order to get used to it. Also don’t be afraid to branch out a little. Now is one of the best times of your life to try something new, live in that place that you’ve always dreamed of; so why not do it?

Competition

You are not the only one competing for one job. You and others graduating from online MBA programs are essentially doing the same thing. So try to be a little aggressive and confident in order to have a best chance of landing it.

Be Positive

Finally, be positive. It will help you land a job when you flash your positive smile and answer questions consistently and spontaneously. Even if you did not land the job, stay confident because the right opportunity will come around eventually.

Businesses are constantly looking for avenues to gain a competitive advantage in the market. This has created a demand for a new level of planning and leadership, one that transcends the traditional framework of organizational management. Known as Strategic Leadership, it has the potential to revolutionize the way businesses operate.

One of the greatest business minds of our time, Jack Welch, took control of General Electric, which was and still is one of the largest corporations in the world. Before Jack took control, the company was inefficient and the shareholders were frustrated with the lower than expected results. The strategic leadership program that Jack epitomized came down to 5 basic questions:

1. What is the state of the current market? This is very important in order to complete an accurate review and assessment of what is actually taking place and consequently make an informed decision.

2. What the competition doing right now? Staying on top of what the competition is doing is crucial; otherwise the business could miss out on a significant opportunity in the market and lose part of its consumer base.

3. What new innovations have we introduced recently? If there are neither fresh ideas nor new innovations, you will become stale and clients will lose interest. As Jack noted, “if you are stagnant you are dead.”

4. What’s coming up? Establishing a planned phase of deployment for new innovations is vital to establish and perpetuate momentum in the market.

5. Last and most importantly, what is the winning move? Taking all the information from the previous questions, a strategic leader will be able to make an informed decision on how to best proceed.

Strategic leadership takes a more focused approach to identifying issues in the company and addressing them completely. It can achieve this by leveraging the primary skill sets of those best qualified in the company to make those decisions. When applied correctly, the principles of strategic leadership will effectively show the shortcomings in an organization’s processes before the business passes the point of no return.

The ability to make quick informed decisions is becoming the foundation of all successful businesses in the 21st century. In the end, strategic leadership is more than just a management style; it’s leadership with a vision and a purpose.