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External Environments

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The external or outside environment are the influences outside of the business that will affect the main internal functions and in many cases the objectives and strategies of the business (External Environment: Introduction to the external environment, n.d.). This facet of business has been ever present; however, as of recently it is even more crucial and beneficial to the success of any business. It mainly addresses the degree of competition such as with fast food giant McDonalds and Burger King. Some factors found in this aspect of business include:
• Social environment – the attitudes of consumers towards health, their beliefs and attitudes. Where Burger King was once the hamburger giant, McDonalds has stepped in and took over the market by listening to its consumers and providing broader menus will healthier choices, opening more franchises across the US and in foreign countries. Competitively, McDonalds also expanded to extra value meals in competition with Taco Bells (Stewart, 2003).
• Technological environment – technology has been ever changing. It is obvious of the changes that have taken place over the past decades at minimum. To compete technologically, McDonalds has revealed its intentions to test electronic terminals/kiosks that may allow customers to personally select their meals and possibly collect at another location or to be delivered to their tables.
External environment are always changing due to the change of markets. External environments and markets change mainly because customers develop new needs and wants, new technologies are developed allowing for new markets, worldwide or countrywide events such as the economic depression of 2007 occurs, new legislature such as increase of minimum wages, and the entrance of new competitors to a market, such as the recent entrance of Google to the smart phone market (External Environment: Introduction…..,n.d.).
As recent as ten years ago corporate responsibility was viewed simply as administrative compliance of legal standards and adherence of internal rules and regulations (Business ethics and corporate social responsibility, 2011). However, corporate responsibility is better defined as the duty of a company to positively earn the respect of the community, its customers and employees. Corporate responsibility has attentively changed as companies are duly encouraged, urged and in some cases compensated to improve its good business practices by stressing legal and ethical behavior among staff.
In 2005, ex Tyco International Inc. CEO Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz, Tyco’s CFO were both convicted of twenty counts of fraud; Kozlowski was accused of pillaging company funds to subsidize his lavish lifestyle (Neumann, 2011). This left current CEO Edward Breen with the responsibility of re-gaining corporate respect by promoting the long term value and health of the company’s interest, setting ethical standards by the implementation of procedures designed to promote the highest standards of honesty, clarity and integrity.
Corporate responsibility includes social responsibility. When companies give back to the community or try to improve the environment it appears to the broader community that the company is concerned about more than profit. Some ways that companies act socially responsible is by offering scholarships to disadvantaged students, donating to community events, and offering competitive employee benefit packages (Steiner, n.d.). This sort of social and corporate responsibility places a company at an advantage in times of economic struggles as the company would have already proved to be worthwhile, competent and mindful of the community.

References
Business ethics and corporate social responsibility (2011). Retrieved from http://www.enterweb.org/ethics.htm
External Environment: introduction to the external environment (n.d.). Retrieved from http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/external_environment_introduction.htm
Neumann, C.E. (2011). Tyco International Scandal. Retrieved from http://american-business.org/2781-tyco-international-scandal.html
Steiner, B. (n.d.). The importance of corporate responsibility. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-of-Corporate-Responsibility&id=1745703
Stewart, G. (2003). Hamburger Wars: Burger King vs. McDonald’s. Retrieved from www.utm.edu/~johnston/mktg710/HambugerWars.ppt

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