D. External Environment - Company American Express

1. Draw a chart and/or describe your organizations domain. List the organizations products and customers and the forces in the task and general environment (separately) that have an effect on it. Which are the most important forces that the organization has to deal with?

2. Analyze the influence of the environment on the organization in terms of simple-complex and stable-unstable dimensions. From this analysis, how would you characterize the level of uncertainty in your organizations environment?

E. Organizational Structure

1. What kind of structure (e.g., functional, divisional, geographical) does your organization have? Draw a diagram showing its structure and identify the major subunits or divisions in the organization.

2. Why does the company use this kind of structure? Provide a brief account of the advantages and disadvantages associated with this structure for your organization.

3. Is your organization experiencing any particular problems in managing its activities? Can you suggest a more appropriate structure that your company might adopt to solve these problems?