Showing posts with label Technological Environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technological Environment. Show all posts

Effect of Social and Technological Environments in Nepalese Organization

Effect of Social and Technological Environments in Nepalese Organization

Technology is the most dynamics of all the environmental forces with which the organization must interact. It requires the organization to remain aware of relevant advancements in the state of the art and continually to consider whether they apply to the organization’s current mix of goods and services and to those under development.
Of all the environment forces, technology is the most likely to penetrate the permeable boundaries of the organization and to effect a change in the technical system. Changes in technology can be sudden and dramatic. New technologies can change the very process of management, as the increasing use of computers for information handling problem solving, and decision making.

Human perception limits the ability of management and the professional group in high technology organizations to interpreter the meaning of technology change for the technical systems in their organizations. The dynamic nature of technology makes it very difficult for management and the professional group to comprehend the meaning of scientific breakthrough and to determine their direction and momentum. As a general rule, the more complex the technology, the more dynamic the environment texture within which the organization must operate.


Another environmental aggregates that expert a significant influence on formal organizations is the social system. Managers must be mindful of and responsive to the environmental forces of the social system. Uneven distribution of resources to different sectors of the society harbors the seeds of conflict between the organizations and the various groups that compose society. The part of the population that is relatively affluent and well educated demands more that an economic livelihood and those emerging from deprivation and disadvantages will make their social demands felt through pressure.

External Environment of an Organization Influence HRM

External Environment of an Organization Influence HRM

“HRM Environmental” is the process by which strategies monitor the environmental sectors to determine opportunities for and threats to their firm regarding human resource.

Environment refers to all external forces, which have a bearing on the functioning of business. The environment includes factor outside the firm, which can lead to opportunities or threats to the firm. The external forces are physical, technological, social, political and legal, labour market and economic elements. The internal forces or elements are unions, organizational culture and conflict, professional bodies.


External Forces

External forces include political-legal, economic, technological and cultural factors that influence of which on HRM is considerable.
1. Political-legal Forces: The political environment covers the impact of political institutions on the HRM department. In a democratic political set up, there are three institutions, which together constitute the total political environment. They are;

The legislature-also called parliament at the central level and Assembly at the state level is the lawmaking body. The plethoras of labour acts, which are in force, are enacted by the legislature. The executive popularly known as the government is the law-implemented body. The legislature decides and the executive acts. Above these two is judiciary, which has the role of a watchdog. The main function of the judiciary is to ensure that both the legislature and the executive work within the confines of the constitution and in the public interest.

The interface between political environment and labour takes place through an array of labour laws. All HR planning, recruitment and selection, placement, training and development, remuneration, employee relations, and separation are conditions constitutional provisions.

2. The Economic Forces: The current state of the economy, can affect how a company performs. The rate of growth in the economy is a measure of the over all change in demand for goods and services. Other economic influences include;
  • Taxation level
  • Inflation rate
  • The balance of trade and exchange rate
  • The level of unemployment
  • Interest rates and availability of credit government subsidies.
One should also look at international economic issue, which could include:
  • The extent of projectionist measurer
  • Comparative rate of growth, inflation, wages and taxation.
  • The freedom of capital movement
  •  Economic agreement
  • Relative exchange rate.
3. Technological Forces: With the advent of technology, jobs tend to become more intellectual or upgraded. A job hitherto handled by an illiterate or unskilled worker now requires the services of an educated and skilled worker. The introduction of new technology dislocates worker unless they become well equipped to work on new machines. This makes it obligatory on the part of HRM to train worker and to rehabilitate those who are displaced or cannot be trained. Those employees who pick up and acquaint themselves with new technology, the job will be challenging and rewarding. Worker class, in general, stands to gain through increased productivity, reduced prices and increased real wages all by-products of technological advancement.

Along with upgrading jobs, technology has its impact on Human relations. Technology lays down the requirements for much of the human interaction in organizations. The arrangement of production set up determines who will be near to whom. The workflow determines who need to talk to whom. And since interaction and activity affects sentiments, technology indirectly determines what individuals in large groups will fell and think about one another and about their work situation.

Jobholders will become highly professionalized and knowledgeable. An organization that has adopted the latest technology is flush with scientists.

4. Cultural Forces: Culture creates the type of people who become members of an organization. Culture trains people along particular lines, tending to put a personality stamp upon them. When people with different cultural backgrounds promote, own and manage organizations, they themselves tend to acquire instinct cultures. The attitudes of workers towards work are the result of their cultural background. HRM people in societies that focus on the present, care more for employees on the rolls. Employees are hired and maintained as long as they are useful to the organization and are dispensed with once they cease to be so. American society is an example of this.

Work ethics, achievement needs and effort-reward expectations, which are significant, inputs determining individual behavior, are the results of culture. In the context of an organization, ethics implies hard work and commitment to work. A strong work ethics ensures motivated employees whereas the opposite is true when work ethics is weak.

Achievement needs; too, have a behavioral implication. A person, with a high need to achieve tends to seek a high degree of perusal responsibility, sets realistic goals, takes moderate risks and uses personal performance feedback in satisfying his or her need to achieve.

Elements/ Components of HRM Environment

Elements/ Components of HRM Environment

Environment literally means the surrounding external objects, influences or circumstances under which someone or something exists. The environment of any organization is “the aggregate of all conditions, events and influences that surround and affect it”. In simple words, environment comprises all those forces which have their bearing on the functioning of various activities including human resource activities. Environment scanning helps HR (Human Resource) manager become proactive to the environment which is characterized by change and intense competition.

Human resource management is performed in two types of environments that is internal and external.
  1. Internal Environment: These are the forces internal to an organization. Internal forces have profound influences on HR functions. The internal environment of HRM consists of unions, organizational culture and conflict, organizational objectives, policies etc.
    1. Unions: Trade unions are formed to safeguard the interest of its members like recruitment, selection, training, compensation, industrial relations and separations are carried out in consultation with trade union leaders.
    2. Organizational culture and conflict: As individuals have personality organizations have culture. Each organization has its own culture that distinguishes one organization from another. Culture may be understood as sharing of some core values or beliefs by the members of the organization. “Value for time” is the culture of Reliance Industries Limited. The culture of the Nepal Tourism board is “Naturally Nepal once is not enough”. HR practices need to be implemented that best fit the organizations culture. There is often conflict between organizational culture and employed attitude. Conflict usually surfaced because of qualities such as personal goal Vs organizational goal, discipline Vs autonomy, right Vs duties etc. Such conflicts have their bearings on the HR activities in an organization.
  2. External Environment: External environment includes forces like economic, political, technological, socio-culture etc. These exert considerable influence on HRM.
    1. Economic Environment: Economic forces include growth rate and strategy, industrial production, national and per capita incomes, money and capital markets competitions, industrial labour and globalization. All these forces have significant influence on wage and salary levels. Crowing unemployment and reservation in employment also affect the choice for recruitment and selection of employees in organizations.
    2. Political Environment: Political environment covers the impact of political institutions on HRM practices. For example, democratic political system increases the expectations of workers for their well being. The total political environment is composed of three institutions.
      1. Legislature: This is called parliament at the central level and assembly at the country level. A plethora of labour laws are enacted by the legislature to regulate working conditions and employment relations.
      2. Executive: it is the government that implements the law. In other words, the legislature decides and the executive acts.
      3. Judiciary: This is like a watch dog above the two. It ensures that both the legislature and the executive work within the confines of the constitution and also in the overall interest of the people.
    3. Technological Environment: Technology is a systematic application of organized knowledge to practical tasks. Technological advance affect the HR functions in more than one way. First, technology makes the job more intellectual or upgraded. Second, it renders worker dislocated if they do not equip themselves to the job. Third, job becomes challenging for the employees who cope with the requirements of technology. Fourth, technology reduces human interaction at the work place. Finally, jobholders become highly professionalized and knowledgeable in the job they perform.
    4. Socio-Cultural Environment: Socio-cultural environment differs from country to country. It mainly comprises the customs, values and demographic characteristics, often reflected in laws, rules and regulation of a country. There are four dimensions of national culture which effect employee’s work-related attitudes.
      1. Power distance: Managers operating in such value systems feel powerful and remain distant from the subordinate employees.
      2. Uncertainty avoidance: In countries with a low level of uncertainty avoidance, people are encouraged to take risk and to work in ambiguous situations.
      3. Individualism-collectivism: In individualistic cultures, managers are very individualistic. They work behave from an individual perspective.

Technological Environment of Project

The one of the environment surroundings that influence projects is technological environment. Technology consists of skills, methods, systems and equipment. It includes inventions and innovations. It makes work more efficient.

Technology influences projects by bringing about changes in jobs, skills, life styles, products, production methods and processes. Automation, computerization, robotics, informatics, biotechnology, new materials and artificial intelligence have all influenced projects.

Factors in the technological environment consist of:
Factors in Technology Environment of Project
1. Level of Technology

The level of technology can be appropriate or sophisticated. It can be labor-based or capital-based. The level of technology influences projects.
  • Labor-based Technology: Human labor is mainly used for the operations.
  • Capital-based Technology: Machinery is mainly used for operations. Technology is represented by automation, computerization, robotization, etc. The technology can be high, intermediate or low.

2. Pace of Technology Change

Technology is a dynamic force. Its pace of change is accelerating. Projects should adapt t the changing technological forces.

3. Technology Transfer

Sources of technology can be within the organization, within the country or foreign countries. Technology transfer implies technology imported from technologically advanced foreign countries.
Technology transfer can be through:
  • Globalization: Global companies are the key sources of technology transfer in developing countries. The modality can be contracts, franchising, technical collaboration, joint ventures, subsidiary establishment.
  • Projects: Turn-key projects based on global bidding serve as a source of technology transfer.
  • Trade: This consists of sale of equipment or machines by the manufacturer.
  • Technical Assistance: Bilateral and multilateral donors under technical assistance provide international consultants who bring new technology with them.
  • Training and Publications: They provide opportunities to learn about new technology.

4. Research and Development (R & D)

R & D is the essence of innovation. Expectations for improved technology are increasing. Customers expect projects for superior quality which are safe, comfortable and environment-friendly.

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