The term ‘business environment’ connotes external forces, factors and institutions that are beyond the control of the business and they affect the functioning of a business enterprise. These include customers, competitors, suppliers, government, and the social, political, legal and technological factors etc. While some of these factors or forces may have direct influence over the business firm, others may operate indirectly. Thus, business environment may be defined as the total surroundings, which have a direct or indirect bearing on the functioning of business. It may also be defined as the set of external factors, such as economic factors, social factors, political and legal factors, demographic factors, technical factors etc., which are uncontrollable in nature and affects the business decisions of a firm.
- Business Environment has been defined by Bayard O. Wheeler as “the total of all things external to firms and industries which affect their organization and operation”.
- According to Arthur M. Weimer, business environment encompasses the ‘climate’ or set of conditions, economic, social, political or institutional in which business operations are conducted.
- According to Glueck and Jauch, “The environment includes factors outside the firm which can lead to opportunities for or threats to the firm. Although there are many factors, the most important of the sectors are socio-economic, technological, supplier, competitors, and government.”
- According to Barry M. Richman and Melvgn Copen “Environment consists of factors that are largely if not totally, external and beyond the control of individual industrial enterprise and their managements. These are essentially the ‘givers’ within which firms and their management must operate in a specific country and they vary, often greatly, from country to country”.
From the above definitions we can extract that business environment consists of factors that are internal and external which poses threats to a firm or these provide opportunities for exploitation.
Concept of Business Environment
A business firm is an open system. It gets resources from the environment and supplies its goods and services to the environment. There are different levels of environmental forces. Some are close and internal forces whereas others are external forces. External forces may be related to national level, regional level or international level. These environmental forces provide opportunities or threats to the business community. Every business organization tries to grasp the available opportunities and face the threats that emerge from the business environment. Business organizations cannot change the external environment but they just react. They change their internal business components (internal environment) to grasp the external opportunities and face the external environmental threats. It is, therefore, very important to analyze business environment to survive and to get success for a business in its industry. It is, therefore, a vital role of managers to analyze business environment so that they could pursue effective business strategy. A business firm gets human resources, capital, technology, information, energy, and raw materials from society. It follows government rules and regulations, social norms and cultural values, regional treaty and global alignment, economic rules and tax policies of the government. Thus, a business organization is a dynamic entity because it operates in a dynamic business environment.
Features of Business Environment
On the basis of the above discussion the features of business environment can be summarized as follows.
- Business environment is the sum total of all factors external to the business firm and that greatly influence their functioning.
- It covers factors and forces like customers, competitors, suppliers, government, and the social, cultural, political, technological and legal conditions.
- The business environment is dynamic in nature, that means, it keeps on changing.
- The changes in business environment are unpredictable. It is very difficult to predict the exact nature of future happenings and the changes in economic and social environment. .
- Business Environment differs from place to place, region to region and country to country.
Importance of Business Environment
There is a close and continuous interaction between the business and its environment. This interaction helps in strengthening the business firm and using its resources more effectively. As stated above, the business environment is multifaceted, complex, and dynamic in nature and has a far-reaching impact on the survival and growth of the business. To be more specific, proper understanding of the social, political, legal and economic environment helps the business in the following ways:
- Identifying Firm’s Strength and Weakness: Business environment helps to identify the individual strengths and weaknesses in view of the technological and global developments
- Determining Opportunities and Threats: The interaction between the business and its environment would identify opportunities for and threats to the business. It helps the business enterprises for meeting the challenges successfully.
- Giving Direction for Growth: The interaction with the environment leads to opening up new frontiers of growth for the business firms. It enables the business to identify the areas for growth and expansion of their activities.
- Continuous Learning: Environmental analysis makes the task of managers easier in dealing with business challenges. The managers are motivated to continuously update their knowledge, understanding and skills to meet the predicted changes in realm of business.
- Image Building: Environmental understanding helps the business organisations in improving their image by showing their sensitivity to the environment within which they are working.
- Meeting Competition: It helps the firms to analyse the competitors’ strategies and formulate their own strategies accordingly.
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