DRIVING THE ORGANISATION - ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT Assignment - 1

DRIVING THE ORGANISATION - ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT - Assignment Example The point of debate is that whether the organizational strategy is purposely changed to adapt to the external environment or the strategy is automatically determined due to external forces, as noted by Hannan and Freeman (1977). Wieck, (1979) agrees with this stance and argues that developing mutually exclusive theories; relying one single causation, focusing on the origins and elimination of elements such as â€Å"choice† are problematic. This theory can be put to test in Sony’s case - we see that Sony’s strategic direction was determined by external and internal factors, and as a result, the external and internal environment was influenced by its direction. Some strategic choices were made due to adaptation, while the others were determined by external forces- both these forces conglomerated to create Sony’s’ strategic direction. This can be better portrayed using a Venn Diagram Given Sony’s position in the market, it can be said that it had a number of strategic choices; although most of these choices were somewhat influenced by the external environment and company decisions, but due to its size and complexity, it was able to achieve its desired outcome with the availability of multiple choices. According to the work of Porter (1980), such Companies are able to follow â€Å"differentiation and focus strategies, choose market niches or segments within the constraints laid down by the environment or alternatively pursue different strategies despite external forces†, as stated by Berle and Means (1932). Upon using Porter’s (1983) analysis of the external environment on Sony, we can understand how the external environment shaped the Sony’s strategic direction and how Sony’s decision in turn shaped the external environment. The five elements of Porter’s design include: Threat of New Entrants: For Sony, this was a major external force that based their strategic direction, and this is evident