The specific environment
The multiple stakeholders that may exist in the external environment of a typical business are shown in the diagram on the right. Important stakeholders common to the specific (or task) environment of most organisations include:
- customers — specific consumer or client groups, individuals and organisations that purchase the organisation’s goods and/or use its services
- suppliers — specific providers of the human, information and financial resources and raw materials needed by the organisation to operate
- competitors — specific organisations that offer the same or similar goods and services to the same consumer or client groups
- regulators — specific government agencies and representatives, at the local, state and national levels, that enforce laws and regulations affecting the organisation’s operations.