Fundamentals of Management, 8th ed

Customers

A second dimension of the task environ-

ment is

customers

, or whoever pays money to acquire

an organization’s products or services. Most McDo-

nald’s customers are individuals who buy food. But cus-

tomers need not be individuals. Schools, hospitals,

government agencies, wholesalers, retailers, and manu-

facturers are just a few of the many kinds of organiza-

tions

that

may

be

major

customers

of

other

organizations. Some institutional customers, such as

schools, prisons, and hospitals, also buy food in bulk

from restaurants such as McDonald’s.

Supplier

Suppliers

are organizations that provide

resources for other organizations. McDonald’s buys

soft-drink products from Coca-Cola; individually pack-

aged servings of ketchup, salt, and pepper from various

J.P.

MOCZULSKI/

AFP/

Newscom

Organizations can serve a variety of different kinds of

customers. For example, customers can be individuals,

the government, or other businesses. This pizza

deliveryman, for example, is dropping off pizzas for the

staff of a hospital emergency room.

competitor

An organization that

competes with other

organizations for

resources

customer

Whoever pays

money to acquire an

organization’s

products or services

supplier

An organization that

provides resources

for other

organizations

Chapter 2: The Environments of Organizations and Managers

3 9

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wholesalers; Big Mac ingredients from wholesale food processors; and napkins, sacks, and

wrappers from packaging manufacturers. Besides material resources such as these, busi-

nesses also rely on suppliers for information (such as economic statistics), labor (in the

form of employment agencies), and capital (from lenders such as banks). Some businesses

strive to avoid depending exclusively on particular suppliers. Others, however, find it

beneficial to create strong relationships with single suppliers.