Introduction
All organizations exist in an environment that involves both external and internal aspects that affect their processes and people in some way. Over the years, scholars, researchers, organizational leaders, and other parties have agreed that both the internal and external environment of an organization can be viewed from political, social, economic, and cultural perspectives. Ancona (1999) discusses this concept and applies it to real-life case study situations. Noteworthy, Ancona’s lenses clearly define the actual factors that define an organizational environment in modern businesses.
Main body
From a strategic perspective, emphasis is paid to such factors as efficiency, effectiveness, design, teamwork, value proposition, competitive advantage, integration, and differentiation. Efficiency is the accomplishment of the strategic goals of an organization using the least possible amount or value of resources (Ancona, 1999). Effectiveness involves ensuring that the organizational goals are accomplished to the necessary standard for success. On its part, strategic design means that an organization is established on the assumption that it has a strategy for value creation (Ancona, 1999). Value proposition and distinctive competitive advantage state that the organization carries out specific tasks to achieve success in its strategies (Ancona, 1999). Teamwork implies the method of managing people as a group with a common goal, aim, and objective.
The cultural lens pays attention to human behavior and its impacts on an organization. The social and personal identities carried by people, mental and cognitive maps, normative standards and precepts, ideas, and skills, motives, and reasons that individuals and groups hold are all factors within the cultural lens (Ancona, 1999). Moreover, special languages and expressions that people in an organization use and portray are factors associated with the cultural lens. These factors affect the performance of a firm as they impact people’s behavior and attitudes towards their work.
In the political lens, the organization is seen as an institution made up of people and groups with diverse backgrounds and views, which creates an environment that facilitates the emergence and development of conflicts, competition, disagreements, and other problems (Ancona, 1999). Such factors include the power and responsibilities that certain people have in an organization, leadership skills and styles, solution advocacy, and conflict resolution.
Conclusion
This analysis identifies the situations that affect organizations, especially the external and internal environments. It provides evidence that any organization must exist in a situation where political, cultural, and strategic factors are inevitable.
Reference
Ancona, D. G. (1999). Managing for the future: Organizational behavior & processes. South Western College Publishing.