关于Business Environment

关于Business Environment

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Business Environment

A natural gateway to the Scandinavian countries and the Baltic area - Copenhagen Airport is the main hub in Northern Europe and Europe’s most efficient airport; a high-quality motorway network means swift and easy access to all markets in the Northern European region
One of the world’s top 3 flexible labour markets
One of the most advanced telecommunication infrastructures in Europe with world leading use of PC, Internet and Broadband
A company tax rate of 25% and expatriates can benefit from a special tax regime
A well-educated population with a high proportion of university graduates and excellent language skills

Infrastructure
Denmark has a well-developed network of motorways. The high-quality motorway network means swift and easy access to all markets in the Northern European region. Through the opening of the Øresund bridge in July 2000, the only bridge in the world connecting two countries, Denmark is now the gateway to the Scandinavian countries and the Baltic area. There is direct access from Copenhagen to the city of Malmø in Sweden either by train or car via the Øresund bridge. The train ride merely

Highly developed ICT infrastructure…
Denmark has one of the most advanced telecommunication infrastructures in Europe and the network is fully digitalized. Denmark’s penetration of mobile telephone subscriptions is ahead of the average European level.
Denmark is characterised as a top-ranked country with regard to penetration rates for PCs and household Internet (broadband) access. Denmark is in the global Top 5 what regards computers per capita, Internet Users and Broadband Subscribers (IMD 2007).

Taxation
Denmark has a favourable tax climate thanks to a corporate tax rate of 25%, an extensive network of tax treaties and attractive rules for expatriates. Taxation obligations for physical goods ordered via the Internet, as with any other transaction, require payment of VAT (currently at 25%) and, if the goods are imported into the EU, import duties.

Europe’s most flexible labour market
The Danish workforce is among the most productive in Europe and no restrictions apply regarding overtime work, allowing companies to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Contrary to most European countries, basic practices in the Danish labour market are mainly founded on collective agreements between the employers’ and the employees’ representative organisations, thus ensuring a high degree of consensus in the labour market. Most of the working conditions are negotiated at company level in accordance with each company’s specific needs. Together, employers and employees reach mutually binding agreements on labour issues and as a result, Denmark has a low frequency of strikes. In Denmark most people are insured against unemployment and thereby guaranteed a high level of social security, which results in a relatively high

internal environment

Conditions, entities, events, and factors within an organization which influence its activities and choices, particularly the behavior of the employees. Factors that are frequently considered part of the internal environment include the organization's mission statement, leadership styles, and its organizational culture.

The Internal Environment
An organization's internal environment is composed of the elements within the organization, including current employees, management, and especially corporate culture, which defines employee behavior. Although some elements affect the organization as a whole, others affect only the manager. A manager's philosophical or leadership style directly impacts employees. Traditional managers give explicit instructions to employees, while progressive managers empower employees to make many of their own decisions. Changes in philosophy and/or leadership style are under the control of the manager. The following sections describe some of the elements that make up the internal environment.

Organizational mission statements
An organization's mission statement describes what the organization stands for and why it exists. It explains the overall purpose of the organization and includes the attributes that distinguish it from other organizations of its type.

But not all mission statements are effective in America's businesses. Effective mission statements lead to effective efforts. In today's quality-conscious and highly competitive environments, an effective mission statement's purpose is centered on serving the needs of customers.

Company policies
Company policies are guidelines that govern how certain organizational situations are addressed. Just as colleges maintain policies about admittance, grade appeals, prerequisites, and waivers, companies establish policies to provide guidance to managers who must make decisions about circumstances that occur frequently within their organization. Company policies are an indication of an organization's personality and should coincide with its mission statement.

Formal structures
The formal structure of an organization is the hierarchical arrangement of tasks and people. This structure determines how information flows within the organization, which departments are responsible for which activities, and where the decision-making power rests.

Some organizations use a chart to simplify the breakdown of its formal structure. This organizational chart is a pictorial display of the official lines of authority and communication within an organization.

Organizational cultures
The organizational culture is an organization's personality. Just as each person has a distinct personality, so does each organization. The culture of an organization distinguishes it from others and shapes the actions of its members.

Values are the basic beliefs that define employees' successes in an organization. For example, many universities place high values on professors being published. If a faculty member is published in a professional journal, for example, his or her chances of receiving tenure may be enhanced. The university wants to ensure that a published professor stays with the university for the duration of his or her academic career — and this professor's ability to write for publications is a value.

The second component is heroes. A hero is an exemplary person who reflects the image, attitudes, or values of the organization and serves as a role model to other employees. A hero is sometimes the founder of the organization (think Sam Walton of Wal-Mart). However, the hero of a company doesn't have to be the founder; it can be an everyday worker, such as hard-working paralegal Erin Brockovich, who had a tremendous impact on the organization.

Rites and rituals, the third component, are routines or ceremonies that the company uses to recognize high-performing employees. Awards banquets, company gatherings, and quarterly meetings can acknowledge distinguished employees for outstanding service. The honorees are meant to exemplify and inspire all employees of the company during the rest of the year.

The final component, the social network, is the informal means of communication within an organization. This network, sometimes referred to as the company grapevine, carries the stories of both heroes and those who have failed. It is through this network that employees really learn about the organization's culture and values.

Organizational climates
A byproduct of the company's culture is the organizational climate. The overall tone of the workplace and the morale of its workers are elements of daily climate. Worker attitudes dictate the positive or negative “atmosphere” of the workplace. The daily relationships and interactions of employees are indicative of an organization's climate.

Resources
Resources are the people, information, facilities, infrastructure, machinery, equipment, supplies, and finances at an organization's disposal. People are the paramount resource of all organizations. Information, facilities, machinery equipment, materials, supplies, and finances are supporting, nonhuman resources that complement workers in their quests to accomplish the organization's mission statement. The availability of resources and the way that managers value the human and nonhuman resources impact the organization's environment.

Managerial philosophies
Philosophy of management is the manager's set of personal beliefs and values about people and work and as such, is something that the manager can control. McGregor emphasized that a manager's philosophy creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Theory X managers treat employees almost as children who need constant direction, while Theory Y managers treat employees as competent adults capable of participating in work-related decisions. These managerial philosophies then have a subsequent effect on employee behavior, leading to the self-fulfilling prophecy. As a result, organizational philosophies and managerial philosophies need to be in harmony.

Managerial leadership styles
The number of coworkers involved within a problem-solving or decision-making process reflects the manager's leadership style. Empowerment means delegating to subordinates decision-making authority, freedom, knowledge, autonomy, and skills. Fortunately, most organizations and managers are making the move toward the active participation and teamwork that empowerment entails.

When guided properly, an empowered workforce may lead to heightened productivity and quality, reduced costs, more innovation, improved customer service, and greater commitment from the employees of the organization. In addition, response time may improve, because information and decisions need not be passed up and down the hierarchy. Empowering employees makes good sense because employees closest to the actual problem to be solved or the customer to be served can make the necessary decisions more easily than a supervisor or manager removed from the scene.

external environment

A business does not function in a vacuum. It has to act and react to what happens outside the factory and office walls. These factors that happen outside the business are known as external factors or influences. These will affect the main internal functions of the business and possibly the objectives of the business and its strategies.

Main Factors

The main factor that affects most business is the degree of competition – how fiercely other businesses compete with the products that another business makes.

The other factors that can affect the business are:

Social – how consumers, households and communities behave and their beliefs. For instance, changes in attitude towards health, or a greater number of pensioners in a population.
Legal – the way in which legislation in society affects the business. E.g. changes in employment laws on working hours.
Economic – how the economy affects a business in terms of taxation, government spending, general demand, interest rates, exchange rates and European and global economic factors.
Political – how changes in government policy might affect the business e.g. a decision to subsidise building new houses in an area could be good for a local brick works.
Technological – how the rapid pace of change in production processes and product innovation affect a business.
Ethical – what is regarded as morally right or wrong for a business to do. For instance should it trade with countries which have a poor record on human rights.
Changing External Environment

Markets are changing all the time. It does depend on the type of product the business produces, however a business needs to react or lose customers.

A social benefit is where a business action leads to benefits above and beyond the direct benefits to the business and/or customer. For example, the building of an attractive new factory provides employment opportunities to the local community.

These extra benefits and costs are distinguished from the private benefits and costs directly attributable to the business. These extra cost and benefits are known as externalities – external costs and benefits.

Governments encourage social benefits through the use of subsidies and grants (e.g. regional assistance for undeveloped areas). They also discourage social costs with fines, taxes and legislation.

Key Forces in the External Environment

No organization can exist in a vacuum; each is set in a particular country and region to which it is inextricably linked. This setting provides multiple contexts that influence how the organization operates and how and what it produces. Thus, the concept of "external environment" is an important consideration for IDRC as it attempts to understand the research institutions it supports. An analysis of the external environment is an attempt to understand the forces outside organizational boundaries that are helping to shape the organization.
Forces outside the institution's walls clearly have considerable bearing on that which transpires within. The external environment can provide both facilitating and inhibiting influences on organizational performance. Multiple influences in the immediate or proximal environment form the boundaries within which an organization is able to function; these influences likewise shape how the organization defines itself and how it articulates what is good and appropriate to achieve.

Key dimensions of the environment that bear on the institution include the administrative/legal, technological, political, economic, and social and cultural contexts, the demands and needs of external clients and stakeholders, and relations with other pertinent institutions. Some examples of environmental considerations — that will be important to IDRC when profiling an institution — are detailed below.

Administrative/Legal Environment
The administrative and legal environment in a country provide a framework within which an organization operates. In some countries this environment is very restrictive and has significant impact on all aspects of the organization; in other countries the administrative/legal context is more permissive. Understanding the administrative/legal environment is essential to determining if organizational change can take place. The administrative context within which the organization operates may be shaped by a unique combination of forces, including international, governmental, nongovernmental policy, legislative, regulatory, and legal frameworks. An organization is affected by the policy or regulatory context that gave rise to it. This includes specific laws and regulations that support or inhibit the institution's development.
Several specific dimensions of the administrative environment should be examined:

Whether there are constitutional restrictions on the organization: An assessment should first determine whether the organization is part of a government ministry or department, and whether it is under federal or provincial jurisdiction.

Whether specific regulations govern the goals and structures of the organization: It is important for IDRC to know if the organization has a specific mandate and/or a specific structure that has been imposed.

Whether there is a legislative mandate that restricts leadership of the organization: It is helpful to understand any parameters that have been set around who can lead an organization. This includes identifying the governing body of the organization, and understanding how its members are selected, and further understanding who has the mandate or authority to set goals for the organization and develop curriculum.

Technology Environment
Both the types and the level of technology in the society give insight into understanding an institution. Institutions dealing with Western paradigms are dependent on the state of national infrastructure, e.g. power, water, transport; those which concentrate on indigenous research paradigms may have totally different dependencies. Thus, it is important to understand the level of relevant technology in the institutional context and whether such technology is defined by computer literacy or by highly developed indigenous methods of verbal and nonverbal communication. It might also be helpful for an assessment to include a consideration of the process by which new technology comes into use, both to understand how difficult it is to acquire needed research technologies and to develop an appreciation for the society's willingness to embrace both new knowledge and change.
Political Environment
At a general level, IDRC needs to understand the relationship between governmental strategy or development plans and the institution. Several specific dimensions of the political context should be scrutinized:
The extent to which government and its bureaucracy supports and contributes resources to the institution: It is imperative that IDRC and other funding agencies know whether significant governmental inputs are anticipated to support increased staffing, maintenance, or other recurring costs typical in research projects. The political context usually entails resource trade-off decisions at the government level.

Economic Environment
In the economic environment, the organizational analysis should centre on those aspects of the economic system that directly impact the type of project being considered. For example, inflation, labour laws, and opportunity costs for researchers in public institutions directly impact organizational activities. Clearly, a country under a structural adjustment regime or one that is expecting to undergo restructuring presents an investment context that IDRC needs to understand. Countries with foreign currency restrictions represent different environments for institutions than countries without them, for such restrictions have ramifications for research, e.g. for equipment procurement and maintenance. It is important for IDRC to know how the organization the Centre is supporting is affected by these and other economic forces.
Social and Cultural Environments
Social and cultural forces at local, national, and often regional levels have profound influence on the way organizations conduct their work and on what they value in terms of outcomes and effects. For example, the mores of an indigenous culture have a bearing on the work ethic and on the way in which people relate to one another. Undoubtedly, the most profound cultural dimension is language. The extent to which organizational members can participate in the discourse of the major scientific language will determine the extent to which research efforts focus inwardly or contribute to regional and global research agendas. Understanding the national/regional/local values toward learning and research provides insight into the type and nature of research that is valued. For example, what is the relative priority placed on contract research in partnership with local clients, e.g. testing products and procedures with indigenous populations, as opposed to sharing information with academic peers internationally, or generating biostatistical data that will shape national or regional policy? Arriving at these priorities involves culture-based decisions.

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