ABSTRACT
Starting from the premise that the modern networked economy casts a long shadow over organizational choice-making, in an abstract sense, both direct and indirect external influences of organizational decisions can be characterized as forces acting upon organizations. While thinking about the impact of external-to-organization influences in terms of abstract notions of ‘organizational consciousness’ and ‘environmental forces’ is beneficial to the development of robust understanding of deeply seeded root causes, it offers comparatively little decision-making guidance. The single largest factor confounding organizational decision-making is uncertainty, especially regarding external to the organization environment. Within the confines of organizational ecosystems, a combination of legally binding obligations and behavioral norms gives rise to stakeholder group specific expectations, perhaps best illustrated by organization-shareholder dyads. Market, competitive, societal, and technological forces can be thought of as systematic influences on organizational decision-making because of their nearly mechanical cogency.
