ABSTRACT
The aim of this book is to provide a framework for understanding what business decision-makers, academics and educationalists have come to call the ‘environment’. Everyday use of this word is loaded with images like the idyllic countryside, ‘green’ product labelling, ‘eco-warriors’ and many others linked to the ongoing debate about the treatment of our ‘natural’ environment. This book is not about that debate because in terms of the study of business ‘environment’ is a more all-embracing term. In a sense anything external to a business in the ‘outside’ world – may be thought of as part of the environment. As a subject of study, business environment is a notoriously ill-defined and messy amalgam of topics and issues which normally forms part of the introductory element of a business studies course. It is essentially rooted in the study of the academic disciplines often referred to as the social sciences namely economics, sociology, politics and law – without allowing students to delve into them in detail. More often than not it ends up as either an unconnected collection of theories from each of these disciplines or a current (or not so current!) affairs scrapbook. It is intended to provide a backdrop against which the ‘real’ subjects of business organisations and activities are taught. However, a thorough grounding in how to analyse the environment could offer great insights into other more developed areas of business studies, most notably decision-making, strategy and business ethics. This collection is my attempt to provide that grounding.
