Environmental Factors Essay

270 Words2 Pages
Checkpoint: Environmental factors Katie Pettway HSM/220 August 16, 2012 Sarah Stoakes Checkpoint: Environmental factors According to Kettner (2001), external environment refers to everything outside the boundaries of the agency or organization itself. There are four external environmental factors: economic factors, sociological factors, technological factors, and political and professional factors. Economic factors include all funding types, labor costs, supply and demand as well as the competition. Sociological factors concern community demographics and their needs as well as abilities. Technological factors refer to the usefulness and need to acquire and use more user friendly equipment, including computers, software, etc. Lastly, political and professionals factors are concerned mainly with the laws and regulations, federal, state, and local as well as those created by the community. In addition to the four external environmental factors, there are six internal environmental factors that identify the significant components of an organization; these six factors being: corporate authority and mission, leadership style, organizational and program structure, programs and services, personnel policies, and technical resources. As important as all of these factors are, both external and internal, economic factors and corporate authority and mission are the most important to the success of a human service organizations. In order for a human service organization to be successful, they need available funding as well as placement in an area that can afford and support their services. Working in harmony with economic factors is the companies authority and mission, which refers to their standing as well as their platform. Reference Kettner, P. M. (2001). Achieving Excellence in the Management of Human Service Organizations. New York, NY: Allyn and Bacon,
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