Specifying External Relations: Definition of and Actors in an Organization's Environment

Abstract

Organization-environment concerns have become an increasingly important topic for both academic researchers and organizational practitioners. Unfortunately, some of the academic perspectives on organization-environment relations have emphasized the study of constructs within an organization's environment more than specific activities that an organization may adopt with actors in its environment. This paper proposes a three-step process for bridging academic research and organizational practice around organization-environment relations. First, distinctions between environments as nonmanipulable elements and niches as manipulable elements can be made. Resource dependence, efficiency, and uncertainty perspectives on environments have particular application at organization-niche interfaces. Ecology and uncertainty perspectives have relevance at the organization-environment interface. Second, niches can be at least partially identified through methods used to define strategic groups or populations. Classification and evolutionary analyses are two promising techniques that can be used to define populations and niches. Third, once niches are defined, actors within a niche can be identified and specific relationships between an organization and actors examined.