Management (管理學人士請進,20分)

A study of macro-environment could offer many insights to management and managers of an organization for whom how to set up their strategies to adapt ever environment changes.
Today macro-environmental changes may refer to the six major forces such as the shifts of policy & regulation of government, economy, socio cultural matter, technology; globalization, and demographic ( PEST +GD).

For instances, there have been some major changes of macro-environment in HK & China as of 1997-2007
Policy and Regulations: The handover of the regime in 1997 to our motherland, signed CEPA-II; Open traveling market to individual mainlanders of certain cities in China; RMB currency open to conversion; GST (Selling Tax) is being negotiated & debated; the approval of qualified foreign direct investment in China & qualified domestic investment and the like.
Economy: economy downturns in 1997 and also 2001 & 2003(the terror on Sep11 & SARS disease that were failed to predict); China accession to WTO in 2001; Continues rising of gross domestic product and inflation rate; declining jobless rate shall reach about 4.0%; Price of crude oil rising continues and shall reach usd80 per barrel; China industrialization still continues.
Socio-cultural matters: the pursuit of The Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing ; New Disney established in HK; the mass establishment of casinos and hotel in Macau .
Technology: The set up of new airport at Chap Lap Kok, Airport express, West-rail and Ma-rail; the use & becoming high popularity of RFID, electronic money, WIFI, 3G communications. Wide bodied aircraft of the A380 took off virgin flying.
Globalization: Business activities from upper stream as raw material procurement, component assembling, product manufacturing, logistics, technology, know-how, finance, to down stream as marketing & retailing for product or service are often found in different countries without barriers by national boundaries. Therefore competitive advantages of such a company ad entity by superior low cost, high speed, quality and innovative (the 4 pillars of superior) under efficient business operation (distinctive capability & core competence) could be realized.
Demographic: Baby Boomers are planning or continuing going to retirement; the small family size is often down to 2.5 or 3 members; average age of population of HK is around 45 and which is moving upward; married with HK husbands there were more than 300,000 women immigrates in the period (97-07) bring sexual unbalance in HK.
All above would have impacts on business and operation, by scenario planning (of course it should be 1997) knowledgeable management and mangers had already envisaged above changes before they were going to be happened. They had made decisions by developing what is called the corporate strategy (M&A, corporate integrations of vertical & horizontal, backward & forward, and concentric; downsizing & right sizing, spin-off, and the like) and the business strategy (such as the BCG or GE/McKinsey matrix for portfolio planning & analysis that what business should be continued with new investment, what should be scrapped, and what should be maintained) to maintain their competitive advantages. In addition by use of the Michael Porter’s Five Forces to analyze (the analysis of no. of rivalry in the industry; new entrances; substitutes; customer bargaining power, supplier bargaining power) competitive environment of the industry, therefore there likely no wrong decision is made when an effective information is given by critical analysis that could positively support business assumptions.

Management is to plan ahead for your busines. External environment affect your direction aboiut your business...especially on reasource allocation, right?