Internal/External Factors

Internal and External Factors

Luke Dixon

MGT/230

01/12/2015

Wanda Jones-Heath

Internal and External Factors

Management is comprised of a multitude of separate factors that each play their own role in adapting management to work for particular situations. These factors for a business can be internal or external depending on the type of business, the location, and the people who run the business. The factors affects the four functions of management in different methods and can create considerable or minor changes in the way a business is ran. The four functions of management are planning, leading, organizing, and controlling. Each of these functions are a vital part of successfully managing a business the correct way and every great manager knows how to use these functions to create a stable, successful, and profitable work environment. Lowe’s Inc. has been in business since 1921, starting out as a hardware and building material only business. Many factors have shaped Lowe’s into its current state including globalization, technology, innovation, diversity, and ethics.

When Lowe’s first began the two owners split up due to differences in management styles and the ideas they had for expanding. These differences in the planning and organizing functions of management were what ultimately led Lowe’s to expand so quickly. Lowe’s stores are now located in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and soon to be Australia. This is a prime example of the globalization factor. Lowe’s began only in the United States until the early 2000’s and then ventured into Canada. This expansion into a new country changed the way Lowe’s managed their business. They now had to take into account Canadian shipping customs, ethics, holidays, culture, and so much more when planning the store layout, location, and products they would carry. “While being efficient requires managers to...