Internal and External Factors Essay

External Factors Laura Smalt XMGT/230 May 12, 2013 Dr. B Internal and External Factors The organization I chose to write about is Subway restaurants. I have worked in management in two different locations, and have had a firsthand look at what goes into the four functions of management and how they interlock with each other. If I were to consider the planning aspect of this organization it is amazing the amount of work, projecting, forecasting, and implementation that it entails. Factors such as globalization play a huge role simply because this organization has over twenty thousand locations in seventy-eighty countries. The economy, trends, cultures, and habits in each region are taken into consideration in the planning function. When planning, corporate must consider the economy in each region, which is why one region may have a different monthly special than another. Organizing all of this also falls into the planning phase, because everything needs planned with individual marketing material, and training materials. Other factors have effects on all this as well. Keeping up with the current technology for instance, helps to keep their locations running smoothly and efficiently. Being one of the world’s largest sandwich franchises requires planning and organizing to keep up with changing innovations, and to create new menu options that keep them competitive with others. When you look at the four functions of management as a whole, it is easy to notice that not only does each function interlock, but also the organizing function interlocks with both planning and leading. In order to maintain uniform locations that are all kept up to franchise standards systems must be put in place. This is also an excellent chance to provide front line support on location where it is needed most. I think in this function factors such as diversity and ethnics have a tremendous impact. Because these require so much interaction, these factors must be considered. For example, if the regional representative shows up for the monthly sales and promotions meeting or for the inspection to all-Spanish speaking location there would be major communication issues. To address this all regional representatives are custom chosen for the areas they cover. These are the locations linked to corporate, and their leaders to keep in compliance. Because diversity and ethnics can encompass so much it is essential for management to know how to work with both. For example, management can assign a task to any employee, but if that employee does not have that skill to complete the task in the end, the results are less than desirable. Because of this management must need to know how to assign tasks and work with the diversity they have in the employees. Ethnics on the other hand should be uniform and level throughout the organization, because it aligns management and all personnel within the company in behaviors, and values. Ethnics also play a major role in public relations, because the organization’s ethnics reflect the image the public has of them. This is all brought together with the controlling function of management. Monitoring the entire organization, developing new ideas, and applying changes happen here. This includes monitoring sales, controlling costs, and adjusting as needed. If a promotion in a certain region is performing badly, then marketing may be tasked with analyzing that market again to see if a different promotion or strategy would work better there. Cost control would be monitored with the control function, things such as logistics, internal communications, purchasing, and human resources all need to be overseen and adjusted as market and profits allow or demand. To summarize internal and external factors such as globalization, technology, innovation, diversity, and ethnics affect almost every aspect of any organization. From the top of CEO of the organization down to the front line managers, these factors affect both on a daily basis. When making decisions all these things must be considered and applied to the specific market or situation. Just as the point of sale manager must consider diversity when making decisions about assignments, and day-to-day operations so must the upper level executive when dealing with the diversity place upon him when dealing with shareholders, or other organizational officers. Globalization affects just about any organization in existence as well. With digital age comes the need to compete not only with the local influences and factors, but with global as well. Technology and innovation I do not think can be ignored or escaped in any organization today. Again, with the digital age so many people rely on social applications and similar venues for marketing and development that to ignore this be a serious error. Depending on the organization, these functions are necessary for some. The world has become too competitive to not monitor these and keep up with one’s competition.