‫‪College of Computing and Informatics‬‬

‫الجامعة السعودية االلكترونية‬

‫الجامعة السعودية االلكترونية‬
‫‪IT499 – Practical Training‬‬

‫‪26/12/2021‬‬
IT499 – Practical Training
Lecture 1
Corporate Environment and
Organizational Culture
Contents
i. Introduction
ii. Organizational Structure and Management Hierarchy
iii. Corporate/ Organizational environment
iv. Internal environment
v. External Environment
a. General environment
b. Task Environment
vi. Organizational Environment Relationships
vii. How Organizations Adapt to Their Environments
viii. Organizational culture
Introduction
• For many of the students, internship is the first opportunity to sneak
into corporate environment and have real experience of working in an
organization.
• There are different types of organizational structures and
management hierarchies.
• Professional environments require a certain degree of skill, self
discipline, good working norms and professional ethics.
• In addition, there are external factors, such as inflation and
demographics, that usually affect indirectly all or most organizations.
Organizational Structure and Management
Hierarchy
• An organizational structure is a system that outlines how certain
activities are directed in order to achieve the goals of an organization.
• These activities can include rules, roles, and responsibilities. The
organizational structure also determines how information flows
between levels within the company.
• Hierarchical management is a workplace leadership structure in which
authority is assigned in ranks and employees take directions from their
superiors.
Organizational Structure Management Hierarchy
Example 1
Organizational Structure Management Hierarchy
Example 2
Organizational Structure Management Hierarchy
Example 3
Organizational Structure Management Hierarchy
Example 4
Organizational
Environment

A typical Corporate/ Organization and its

Environment
Internal
Environment
• Owner: someone who has legal
property rights to a business.
• Board of directors: governing
body elected by a corporation’s
stockholders and charged with
overseeing the general
management of the firm.
• Employees: those employed by
the organization.
• Physical work environment: the
firm’s facilities.
 External Environment
• Typically, External environment constitutes of:
1. The General Environment
2. The Task Environment
The General
Environment
• Economic dimensions: the overall
health and vitality of the
economic system in which the
organization operates.
• Technical dimensions: the
methods available for converting
resources into products or
services.
• Socio-cultural dimensions: the
customs, morels, values, and
demographics of the society in
which the organization functions.
The Task Environment
• Competitors: an organization that
competes with other organizations.
• Customer: whoever pays money to
acquire an organization’s products
or services.
• Supplier: an organization that
provides resources for other
organizations.
• Regulator: a unit that has the
potential to control, legislate, or
influence an organization’s policies
and practices.
Organizational Environment Relationships
• Uncertainty: Ambiguity or unpredictability of certain factors external to an organization
• a driving force that influences many organizational decisions. E.g.
• governmental regulations
• competition
• stability of inputs
• demand characteristics
• e.g. Customer bargaining power
• Competitive forces:
• Threat of new competitive entrants.
• Competitive rivalry.
• Threat of substitute products.
• The power of buyers.
• The power of suppliers.
External Environment and Uncertainty
High
High Adapt to and
Uncertainty Influence
Environment

Rate of
Change in
Factors in
Environment

Low
Uncertainty

Low Low High

Number of Factors in
Organization Environment
How Organizations Adapt to Their
Environments
Each organization must asses its own unique situation then adapt
according to the good judgment of senior management, for example:
• Information systems.
• Strategic responses.
• Mergers, acquisitions, and alliances.
• Organizational design and flexibility.
• Direct influence of the environment.
Organizational Culture
• The set of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that helps
the members of the organization understand what it stands for, how it
does things, and what it considers important.
• Organizational culture is important for it determines the “feel” of the
organization.
• Its starting point is often the founder.
• The manager must understand the current culture and then decide if it
should be maintained or changed.
• Managers must walk a fine line between maintaining a culture that
still works effectively versus changing a culture that has become
dysfunctional.
Levels of Corporate Culture
Culture that can
be seen at the
surface level Visible
Artifacts, such as dress, office .1
layout, symbols, slogans,
ceremonies

Invisibl
e
Underlying assumptions and deep .2
beliefs, such as “people are lazy
”and can’t be trusted

Deeper values and

shared understandings
held by organization
members
Thank You