INTRODUCTION:
This article focuses on the concept of business environment which emerges from the combination of two different words namely business and environment. One scholar in the year 1993 defines business as a commercial or mercantile activity engaged in as a means of livelihood, the same source defines environment as the aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influences the life of an individual or community. Both of these definitions are either to mechanical or oversimplified for the purpose of this article, so that clarifications are necessary. We shall need to redefine business in a more technical science in order to understand the concept of business environment fully.
Business is generally regarded as any human activity concerned with the production and distribution of goods and services in an economy. It is a social device or institution by which society is organised economic effort. More specifically business may be defined as all the commercial and industrial activities that provides goods and services to maintain and improve our quality of life. In the context of this definition of business, commercial and industrial activities could not be limited to activities such as agriculture, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, assembling, transportation, banking, insurance, and wholesale and retail distribution, but would also include services of all kinds perform daily by members of our society. Therefore business is the lifeblood of any society for it enables members of the particular society to earn their living. In the Nigerian society, for instance each individual earns his living within a particular business Enterprise that may require not just his service but also the services of many other people. Having sex so much about business, we can post a little to ask and answer the question what is business environment?
The term environment is very popular in modern business, although little effort is usually devoted to clarifying what it means. Because it becomes very difficult to discuss intelligently those environmental variables that affect business activity without having a clear understanding of what we mean by the concept of business environment a definition of this concept would be in order. Business environment has the general meaning of external factors that surrounds and potentially affects the activities and behaviours of a particular business organisation. In other words business environment may be used to refer to enabling conditions for private enterprise and business competitiveness in an economy? We often speak of the economic and technological environment of business, the legal environment, the social cultural environment, the moral environment etc. Therefore, when we talk about business environment we are specifically referring to the aggregate of external factors or forces that operates to influence and affect the activities of a particular business organisation. Moreover, a study of the Nigerian business environment is thus the study of the physical, sociocultural, economic and technological, political, legal, moral, and behavioural factors that influences business policy and practice in Nigeria.
SCOPE OF THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT:
This article is organised the Nigerian business environmental system. Therefore it is important that all the components constituting that system be understood right at the outset. Six components from the root of the Nigerian business environment namely the physical environment, the sociocultural environment, the political and legal environment, the economic and technological environment, the moral environment, and the behavioral environment the six components are arranged in such a way that we can understand.
* Physical environment: the physical environment of business comprises of all things that are external to the business system itself, but which influence the way that system functions. It is in effect the whole geographical environment within which business functions. We can think of the physical environment in two ways (1) the natural environment which exist apparently independently of man and includes such elements as geology, landforms, climate, animal species, vegetation etc. and (2) the man modified environment which results from centuries of human effort and technological development. In the context of Nigeria business, the natural environment would refer specifically to the geographical framework of the country including locations, vegetation belts, type of soil, climatic condition, the different species of plants and animals, minerals, rivers, and lakes and many other natural factors that would in one Way or another influence the nation's business activity.
* Sociocultural environment: the sociocultural environment is a catch-all term for the social and cultural environments of our business Enterprise system. It consist of sociological, economic, and political institutions that directs social values and norms. Such institutions include the family, business firms, educational system, church, reference and pressure groups etc. The sociocultural environment is does the factor of public opinion and it operates through the norms, mores, ethics and moral principles of society. Because business functions within the constraints imposed by the social and cultural values of a particular society, those engaged in business might try to understand the institutional characteristics and features of the business environment and how they affect the organisation.
* Political and legal environment: this is one of the main subsystems of the social structure. The main components of this subsystem are the government and the system of laws. Government is there legally constituted administrative body of our socio-economic system. Our system of government is based on the three-tier system, in which government exist at the federal state and local levels. Which levels of government is empowered by the constitution to make its own laws but while federal law supersedes all other laws, state law supersedes those of the local government. Government influences Business by means of legal restraints and direct pressure. The legal environment is does the structure of common and statutory laws, and business organisations must operate in conformity with this loss because business Enterprises cannot operate successfully without some kind of legal framework, the Federal government of Nigeria has since independence formulated several laws to guide the conduct of business.
*Economic and technological environment: as part of the sociocultural system the economic and technological system examines not only the ways a particular society allocate its scarce resources to satisfy the wants of its members. But it also examines how the society applies its practical and industrial act tools to operations to get things done more quickly, more easily, and more efficiently. Societies adopt different types of economic system, body efficiency or productivity of any economic system depends to a large extent on the way that system combines to economic resources. The Nigerian economic and technological environment thus and encompasses the nature of the economic system itself, monetary and fiscal policy decisions, processes for transforming resources into output taxation and investment policies, the tariff system, competitive forces, and labour union activities, which of these influences in Nigeria business to a notable degree.
* Moral environment: the moral environment constitutes a vital elements in the business environmental system. It has many ramifications for business in the sense that it sets the standard for distinguishing between right and wrong actions by members of the society regardless of self-interest or immediate consequences to those who are acting.
* Behavioral environment: the behavioral environment, which is the last but not the least component in the model, examines day psychosocial forces that cause human beings to behave the way they do particularly in group situations. In short, the behavioral environment attempts to explain how interpersonal and intergroup relationships influences the actions of individuals in society.
This article focuses on the concept of business environment which emerges from the combination of two different words namely business and environment. One scholar in the year 1993 defines business as a commercial or mercantile activity engaged in as a means of livelihood, the same source defines environment as the aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influences the life of an individual or community. Both of these definitions are either to mechanical or oversimplified for the purpose of this article, so that clarifications are necessary. We shall need to redefine business in a more technical science in order to understand the concept of business environment fully.
Business is generally regarded as any human activity concerned with the production and distribution of goods and services in an economy. It is a social device or institution by which society is organised economic effort. More specifically business may be defined as all the commercial and industrial activities that provides goods and services to maintain and improve our quality of life. In the context of this definition of business, commercial and industrial activities could not be limited to activities such as agriculture, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, assembling, transportation, banking, insurance, and wholesale and retail distribution, but would also include services of all kinds perform daily by members of our society. Therefore business is the lifeblood of any society for it enables members of the particular society to earn their living. In the Nigerian society, for instance each individual earns his living within a particular business Enterprise that may require not just his service but also the services of many other people. Having sex so much about business, we can post a little to ask and answer the question what is business environment?
The term environment is very popular in modern business, although little effort is usually devoted to clarifying what it means. Because it becomes very difficult to discuss intelligently those environmental variables that affect business activity without having a clear understanding of what we mean by the concept of business environment a definition of this concept would be in order. Business environment has the general meaning of external factors that surrounds and potentially affects the activities and behaviours of a particular business organisation. In other words business environment may be used to refer to enabling conditions for private enterprise and business competitiveness in an economy? We often speak of the economic and technological environment of business, the legal environment, the social cultural environment, the moral environment etc. Therefore, when we talk about business environment we are specifically referring to the aggregate of external factors or forces that operates to influence and affect the activities of a particular business organisation. Moreover, a study of the Nigerian business environment is thus the study of the physical, sociocultural, economic and technological, political, legal, moral, and behavioural factors that influences business policy and practice in Nigeria.
SCOPE OF THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT:
This article is organised the Nigerian business environmental system. Therefore it is important that all the components constituting that system be understood right at the outset. Six components from the root of the Nigerian business environment namely the physical environment, the sociocultural environment, the political and legal environment, the economic and technological environment, the moral environment, and the behavioral environment the six components are arranged in such a way that we can understand.
* Physical environment: the physical environment of business comprises of all things that are external to the business system itself, but which influence the way that system functions. It is in effect the whole geographical environment within which business functions. We can think of the physical environment in two ways (1) the natural environment which exist apparently independently of man and includes such elements as geology, landforms, climate, animal species, vegetation etc. and (2) the man modified environment which results from centuries of human effort and technological development. In the context of Nigeria business, the natural environment would refer specifically to the geographical framework of the country including locations, vegetation belts, type of soil, climatic condition, the different species of plants and animals, minerals, rivers, and lakes and many other natural factors that would in one Way or another influence the nation's business activity.
* Sociocultural environment: the sociocultural environment is a catch-all term for the social and cultural environments of our business Enterprise system. It consist of sociological, economic, and political institutions that directs social values and norms. Such institutions include the family, business firms, educational system, church, reference and pressure groups etc. The sociocultural environment is does the factor of public opinion and it operates through the norms, mores, ethics and moral principles of society. Because business functions within the constraints imposed by the social and cultural values of a particular society, those engaged in business might try to understand the institutional characteristics and features of the business environment and how they affect the organisation.
* Political and legal environment: this is one of the main subsystems of the social structure. The main components of this subsystem are the government and the system of laws. Government is there legally constituted administrative body of our socio-economic system. Our system of government is based on the three-tier system, in which government exist at the federal state and local levels. Which levels of government is empowered by the constitution to make its own laws but while federal law supersedes all other laws, state law supersedes those of the local government. Government influences Business by means of legal restraints and direct pressure. The legal environment is does the structure of common and statutory laws, and business organisations must operate in conformity with this loss because business Enterprises cannot operate successfully without some kind of legal framework, the Federal government of Nigeria has since independence formulated several laws to guide the conduct of business.
*Economic and technological environment: as part of the sociocultural system the economic and technological system examines not only the ways a particular society allocate its scarce resources to satisfy the wants of its members. But it also examines how the society applies its practical and industrial act tools to operations to get things done more quickly, more easily, and more efficiently. Societies adopt different types of economic system, body efficiency or productivity of any economic system depends to a large extent on the way that system combines to economic resources. The Nigerian economic and technological environment thus and encompasses the nature of the economic system itself, monetary and fiscal policy decisions, processes for transforming resources into output taxation and investment policies, the tariff system, competitive forces, and labour union activities, which of these influences in Nigeria business to a notable degree.
* Moral environment: the moral environment constitutes a vital elements in the business environmental system. It has many ramifications for business in the sense that it sets the standard for distinguishing between right and wrong actions by members of the society regardless of self-interest or immediate consequences to those who are acting.
* Behavioral environment: the behavioral environment, which is the last but not the least component in the model, examines day psychosocial forces that cause human beings to behave the way they do particularly in group situations. In short, the behavioral environment attempts to explain how interpersonal and intergroup relationships influences the actions of individuals in society.
