Understanding Contextual Factors For Business Management Context

Organizational Structure of Hewlett-Packard

Discuss about the Conceptualization of Contextual Factors For Business Management Context.

Over the years, business management process has emerged a major challenge for many organizations thriving in the current continuously changing environmental. As a consequence, much research has been done in this area and with regard to the majority of the researchers; businesses ought to be context-aware for them to fully comprehend the direction of the company in terms of performance. Due to the ever-changing business settings various factors, internal and external, domestic and international affect their performance since they directly influence the management process in the entire organization. A good example of such a company is Hewlett-Packard (HP), one of the leading informational technology multinational companies in the United States headquartered in Palo Alto, California. This corporation specializes mainly in the production of computers, printers, digital cameras, calculators, among other wide variety of hardware as well as software components.

The organizational structure of Hewlett-Packard is quite diverse and complex owing to its wide customer base and products dealt in. By activity, the organizational structure of Hewlett-Packard composes of various groups headed by exceptionally qualified personnel who control various operations taking place in different administration levels. These functional sets include the imaging and printing group, HP financial services scheme, enterprise and personal systems. These sub-organizations are chaired by executives ranked in a strategic manner to aid in executing chain of command where a manager at a lower level reports to another immediate administrator just above his or her rank in the management structure.

Just like any other organization operating in the contemporary business world encountering several environmental forces, Hewlett-Packard Company over the years has been impelled to analyze such influencers to ensure splendid management practices guaranteeing the corporation success in all aspects.  There exist various significant issues that affect the decision-making processes in this international corporation. Such contextual aspects include past administrative experiences, cognitive partialities, and individual differences such as age and socioeconomic prominence. These factors although within the control of the company affect the decision-making process as well as the decisions made by the responsible personnel in Hewlett-Packard.

Donelan, Walker and Salek (2015) in their work argue that previous experiences affect how people make future decisions. For instance, when the previous resolutions yield positive results managers in Hewlett-Packard may tend to decide in a similar manner, provided an identical situation. Besides, various cognitive partialities impact decision-making procedures. These types of preferences include hindsight prejudice, omission predisposition, and belief bias. In the process of decision making, cognitive partialities often influence managers by impelling them to over depend on previous knowledge while at the same time ignoring critical information or trends deemed uncertain. Moreover, various individual differences may impact on the decision-making procedure. Such dissimilarities may include socioeconomic positions, age, and intellectual aptitudes. For example, an old person chairing various departments in Hewlett-Packard may seem overconfident while formulating policies thus inhibiting their capability to employ relevant strategies. (Nooraie, 2008).

Impact of Internal Environmental Forces on Hewlett-Packard Incorporation

Performance and strategies pursued by Hewlett-Packard change depending on the contextual factors when launching its products either locally or internationally. In this regard, it is, therefore, imperative for this organization to identify various domestic and international influencers which can contribute to its success or failure. Some of the national and global contextual issues which have the potential of impacting on Hewlett-Packard structure and strategy include competition, social-cultural differences, and political-legal factors among others like technological differences, and adverse economic fluctuations (Shah, 2012).

Currently, Hewlett-Packard has been subjected to various levels of competition originating from other businesses providing a similar or a close substitute of the products dealt in.  This organization strives to acquire a substantial market share, splendid customer base, and the most outstanding corporate image. However, Hewlett-Packard cannot achieve such missions with ease due to the existence of stiff competitions which compel it to employ different competitive strategies to attain its set goals and objectives. Increased competition forces this company to aim at augmenting its responsiveness to competitive threats and in the process transform its organizational structures. An example of such a phenomenon took place when it reformed its organizational structure to attract and maintain an exceptionally qualified pool of employees who would have otherwise been absorbed by other firms in the informational technology industry (Fox, & Trebilcock, 2013). 

 Besides, social-cultural differences are well known for their impact on the Hewlett-Packard structure and strategies .Every nation in the world has its distinct cultural practices and understandings. Such diverse cultural dissimilarities often pose various risks to this multinational forcing it to take on strategies to manage them. In some circumstances, this corporation in an attempt to maintain its competitive advantage is obliged to alter its organizational structures to accommodate hazards resulting from sociocultural differences in a foreign country (Snir, 2014). Closely related to the major issue of cultural divergences is the challenge of the language barrier. This problem is often encountered by Hewlett-Packard during its dealings with foreigners who may have a deprived literacy skills and as such poor English speakers. Sales people, agencies among other company representatives may therefore face inconveniences communicating with such targeted customers.  In such a case then the firm is always be obliged to execute various strategies meant primarily to meet the needs of those people deemed to be only well conversant with their local language.

Apart from competition and sociocultural factors Hewlett-Packard is also influenced by political and legal requirements. All companies functioning nationally are expected to conform to certain rules and regulations as set by the local central government. Examples of common governmental laws include taxation rates, operation hours among other internal federal expectations (Chang, 2015). Hewlett-Packard is henceforth required to implement various strategies to ensure conformity and act within the rule of the law. As such it may be compelled to modify its business configurations to ascertain conventionality and avoid excommunication by the country’s federal government. Different countries and regions usually have dissimilar political and legal practices critical for the feasibility of the organization. For instance, a governmental body may initiate rules and regulations to control the operations of a particular sector requiring the businesses in that industry to employ some strategies to make sure that they conform to the requirements (DE MEZA, 2009).         

Domestic and International Contextual Issues and their Effect on Hewlett-Packard Structure and Strategy

 Organizations flourishing in the current multi-faceted environment are influenced by various factors which when not well controlled can hinder their success significantly. The commonest among those issues include risks, innovations, e-commerce, and knowledge management.

 The engine driving any business like Hewlett-Packard to seek market success is risk taking. Perils are, however, seen only as threats, despite the fact that they can provide valuable opportunities and potentials for organizational feasibility as well as significant competitive advantage resulting in increased profitability both in the short term and in the long run (McLeay & Riccaboni, 2001). In other words, perils and opportunities complement each other-they are like the two sides of a coin. However, risks in a firm if not well mitigated can result in losses. In order to manage several risks surrounding the operations in Hewlett-Packard, the responsible personnel have put in place stringent measures to abate their impact and severity. Technologically advanced tools of risks mitigation are employed in this multinational thus reducing their impact and severity the business is exposed to.

Technological innovations in the contemporary business world have emerged as other trends influencing the performance of Hewlett-Packard. Over the years, advancement in technology has turned the world into a village like setting changing how this organization communicate internally and externally with its interested publics. Hewlett-Packard presently is shifting from the application of archaic and outdated methods of production to the use of current scientific approaches. Top and middle executives in this company are consistently making use of the new technology products and devices in their decision-making processes.

Moreover, Hewlett-Packard has had an obligation to handle confidential information and resources belonging to the company with efficiency (Rao, & Krishna, 2003). Though not a new requirement, this company has had the responsibility to ensure that information and data deemed critical for the success of the company is keenly handled to curb it from falling into the wrong hands. In conjunction with the above factors is the introduction of electronic commerce. This refers to a broad range of business activities carried out online, and the parties involved transact electronically rather physical interactions. In this new and revolutionary business world where technology has become prevalent, Hewlett-Packard can formulate and implement decisions such as sales or marketing strategies without any physical contact with their customers (Vilcox, & Mohan, 2007).

Regionalization and Globalization are two primary features developing in the contemporary world of operations. Nevertheless, the two phenomena are not completely new since their influence and intensity have in place since time immemorial though in different phases (In Capello, & In Dentinho, 2012). The effects of these two features can be witnessed in the economic, sociocultural, and political compasses. Globalization, for instance, has played a critical role in the inter-national system by enabling Hewlett-Packard to transact with ease, propose and implement key business resolutions. Regionalization, on the other hand, has enhanced economic collaboration within regions as well promoting regional integration among the member states thus aiding substantially in the success of Hewlett-Packard Incorporation (Schelhase, 2008). 

Conclusion

Summarily, it is significant for any organization whether national or a multinational to be context-aware and keep abreast with time to fully comprehend major trends in the environment which have prospective of affecting their performances.  Companies thriving in the contemporary multi-faceted globalized world are faced with various internal and external forces which might substantially impact on the management as well as organizational structure if not well scrutinized. As depicted in this paper, despite the market position of such corporations like Hewlett-Packard, it is imperative for the managers to collaborate with other stakeholders to maintain and if possible improve on their current status quo, advance in productivity, widen their customer base, broaden their market coverage and develop in several other aspects.

References

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Donelan, R., Walker, S. and Salek, S. (2015). Factors influencing quality decision-making: regulatory and pharmaceutical industry perspectives. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 24(3), pp.319-328.

Shah, F. (2012). A Critical Review of Multinational Companies, Their Structures and Strategies and Their Link with International Human Resource Management. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 3(5), pp.28-37.

Snir, G. (2014). International business negotiations: do cultural differences matter? The case of India and Israel: research report. International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 8(3), p.361.

De Meza, D. (2009). Multinational Corporations In Ldcs: A Comment. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 39(3), pp.237-241.

Chang, C. (2015) Who are the winners and losers if GST is increased? Retrieved Decemeber 16, 2016, from https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/who-are-the-winners-and-losers-if-gst-is-increased/news-story/051f1f26fc4dad0a7a5b5c241a79f7c4 

Vilcox, M. W., & Mohan, T. O. (2007). Contemporary issues in business ethics. New York: Nova Science Publishers.Top of Form

McLeay, S., & Riccaboni, A. (2001). Contemporary Issues in Accounting Regulation. Boston, MA: Springer US.

In Capello, R., & In Dentinho, T. P. (2012). Globalization Trends and Regional Development: Dynamics of FDI and Human Capital Flows.

Schelhase, M. (2008). Globalization, regionalization and business: Conflict, convergence and influence. Basingstoke [England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Fox, E. M., & Trebilcock, M. J. (2013). The design of competition law institutions: Global norms, local choices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rao, V. S. P., & Krishna, V. H. (2003). Strategic management: Text and cases. New Delhi, India: Excel Books.