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DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES
DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION
Robius Bagoka
MPA: Public Policy And Administration
bagokar@yahoo.com
Question: The uncertainty of organisational environment in developing countries
February, 2015

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Introduction
Overview of Organizational Environment
The organizational environment is a vital element in influencing the nature of policy, administrative
reforms or any programs of change (Turner et al, 1997). In developing countries Organizational
environmental has been increasingly uncertain; for example the invasion of new technologies, the
adoption of political pluralism, rapid population growth e.t.c has increased the vulnerabilities among
these countries to both internal and external shock (Turner et al, 1997). Uncertain organizational
environment in developing countries has been affecting respective organization operations and
growth. Organizational operations models or management model which are successful in one area
may not be applicable in other area within developing countries due to the diversity and heterogeneity
of environmental conditions such as geographical location, environmental catastrophes like eruption
of disease like Ebola in West Africa , just to mention a few (Ibid and Rainey, 2009). Government,
business and civil society in developing countries are increasingly faced with long-standing
controversies over complex societal problems as a result of environmental uncertainties (Koppenjan
et al, 2004). Organizations and managers, policy-makers must remain effective and efficient in
keeping their structures and strategies to the demands of the environment (Turner et al, 1997). On the
other hand, organizations which pays much attention to their environment and engage in
environmental scanning have greater chance of success and performing better than those which
ignore environmental scanning (Ibid).
Contemporary researchers and experts now regard organizational environments, and the challenges of
dealing with them, as absolutely crucial to analyzing and leading organizations. This is certainly true
for public organizations, because they are often more open than other organizations to certain types of
environmental pressures and constraints. Public organizations tend to be subject to more directions

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and interventions from political actors and authorities who seek to direct and control them (Rainey,
2009).
Thus this paper outlines and discusses some of the key organizational environmental conditions or
uncertainties in developing countries that in one way or another hampers development progress, and
so, the policy makers, public administrators, development administrator, researchers has to take into
considerations while planning, designing, and implementing development programs.
The general organizational environmental conditions (uncertainties) in developing countries
The organizational environment in developing countries differs from one country to another based on
different contexts such as the economy, historical differences, culture, level of technological
adoption, geographical locations (localities), the status of interrelationship with other states, just to
mention a few. Turner et al, (1997), identified internal and external variables within the organization
in developing countries that are mostly prone to be uncertain. The internal variable are such as
culture, technology employed, work practices, intra-organizational politics, just to mention a few. The
economic elements, demographic patterns, social institutions just to mention a few comprises the
macro environment. Borrowing from Austin’s Model (1990), classified these variable (elements) of
organizational environment into Economic, cultural demographic and political components (Turner et
al, 1997). On, the other hand Rainey (2009) identified these components and classified them into
technological conditions, legal conditions, political conditions, economic conditions, ecological
conditions and cultural conditions (p91). Thus, this paper discusses in details these organizational
environmental components borrowing from both authors (Turner, 1997 and Rainey, 2004, among
others) in the following section.

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Economic conditions (uncertainties); administrators and policy makers in developing countries need
to know on what is happening in both domestic and international economy. There is a need for
information about gross national products, availability of capital, change in structure of production
and labour market and projections of international debts (Turner et al, 1997). Developing countries
depend on crude gross domestic products, meaning that the production of goods and services does not
match with their growing population, thus failing to cater for their welfare. However, developing
countries have greater reliance on natural resources exploitation for developing their economics such
as mining, agriculture, tourism, forestry, fisheries e.t.c For example, in Tanzania about 75% of the
population depends on agricultural sector to sustain their living while employing traditional
(conventional) farming production methods (use of hand hoes) that ultimately leads into low
production outputs hence low economic development (URT, 2013). Also taking Botswana as another
example of which its economy depends much on gold mining, with less economic diversification
which is uncertain that may lead into the “Tragedy of Commons” as the more the exploitation of
diamonds the more it depletes because it has no replacement (mutation). (Botswana NDP, 2013).
Arguably, developing countries are experience capital scarcity including weak financial institutions
which are unable to regulate the economy adequately and mobilize savings (Turner, et al, 1997).
They, experience high inflation rates which affects production and consumption; for example in
Zambia the inflation rates continued to mount from 7.6 to 7.7 in February and March 2014
respectively (Africa Economic Outlook). This has been affecting the rate of savings, increase in
interest rates hence low investment. Also, the foreign exchange rates in developing countries has been
falling shortly in supply which has reduced the level of external purchasing power and capital scarcity
(Turner, et al, 1997). This has increase high level of foreign aid and debts in most of developing

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countries; whereby, the levels of foreign debts has been increasing portion of government budgets
and even foreign exchange rates has been channeled into servicing debts rather than into economic
activities and development programmes (welfare programmes) (Ibid).
Desolately, Infrastructure and Technology in developing countries are other environmental variables
that place uncertain conditions in organizations within these countries. Large cities in developing
countries are frequently outgrowing and placing much more demand for infrastructures like housing
to cater for the growing population, road, railways, airports, water utilities, electricity, schools and
universities, health facilities (just to mention a few) while in rural areas the nature of infrastructures
are often poorly developed or even lacking (Lipton, 1997). Agreeably, technology in developing
countries is less complex, inefficient and ineffective and much concentrated into modern activities
like large scale manufacturing, national airline e.t.c, on the other hand, the modernity has increased
vulnerability in most of the developing countries whose technology are inefficient and ineffective
(Turner, et al, 1997 and Rainey, 2009); For example the use of special army air forces, health related
sophisticated machines, carrying research and developing, and so much more, that the developing
world has been forced to adhere to the modernity following the changing organizational environments
that demands diversity. Furthermore, there are increased vulnerability and powerless in developing
countries that perpetuate poverty, which leads into unequal distribution of resources and incomes and
subject the poor into unregistered and informal business that operates outside the state regulations and
oftenly less productive. For example in Democratic Republic of Congo which is endowed with
abundant natural resources (minerals) yet the distribution of these resources in uneven.
Cultural conditions (uncertainties); the predominant values, attitudes, beliefs, social customs,
gender, religious practices, ethnicity, and the history are some few variables that comprises the
cultural organizational environment (Turner, et al, 1997 and Rainey, 2009). The societal ethnicity are

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predominantly key environmental elements that the development administrators and policy makers
has to take into consideration especially in developing countries in framing their policies and
programmes. The ethnicity differences and identities may weaken development progresses; for
example, reminding us from the 1994 Rwanda genocide which resulted from ethnic identities and
difference (Hutu and Tutsi), also the 2005 civil wars in Burundi erupted from ethnic differences, and
current disasters occurring in Nigeria being related with religious difference between the Christians
and Muslims (Northern and Southern provinces). Furthermore, the predominant values, norms,
customs, attitudes also presents another organizational environments that may be uncertain to the
respective organization (s). These guides the organizational administrators and other policy makers
within the organizations to guide and give meaning to what they do and what is acceptable in dealing
with the society (Turner, et al, 1997).
Demographic patterns (uncertainties); developing countries are prone with changing size (mostly
increased population growth), composition (age-structure) and uneven distribution of their
population, for example; Nigeria with more than 170milion people (ILO, 2014) mostly concentrated
in cities of Abuja, Lagos, Aba e.t.c that puts much demands for infrastructures like roads, water
utilities, sanitation, police, airports, housing, just to mention a few. The composition of the these
population is much dwelt by youth; for example in South Africa almost 35% to 50% of the growing
urban population growth are youth and most of them being unemployed (Ibid). Then, there has been
an increasing in massive urbanization in developing countries especially in Africa; this increase has
been putting too much pressure on the demand for services within urban areas while many
devastations erupting among these cities like diseases, crime (South Africa), violence, pollution
(environmental pollution and noise pollution) (Frank, 2010). The rate of urbanization has been
uneven and often concentrated in certain areas of localities in a respective country (countries) such as

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near the ports, mining areas, which has lead into massive rural-urban migration (uneven population
distribution) leaving the rural areas undeveloped.
Political and legal conditions (uncertainties); concerns over legitimacy and power mongering is
something that affects developing countries (Turner, et al, 1997); that there more self-appointed
presidents for life for example in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe and Uganda under Yoweli K.
Museveni that they have stayed on power for so many years. While the nature of regime in power
(socialism, communism, and capitalism), use of authoritative (dictatorial) rules persist in most of
developing countries where they establish constitutional martial laws, manipulating history; for
example Libya under Moham Gadhafi, the former Uganda under Iddi Amin, DRC under Mobute Sese
seko who amasses vast personal wealth and attempted to purge the country of all colonial influence
while enjoying considerable support by the United States due to his Anti-communist stance.
However, the electoral outcome in developing countries has been very uncertain in one way or
another, for example the erupted as an economic, political and humanitarian crisis in Kenya (2007-
2008), after incumbent former president Mwai Kibaki declared the winner of the presidential election
in 2007, while Kibaki’s opponent, Raila Odinga of the Orange Republic Movement (ODM) alleged
electoral manipulation (BBC News, 2007), similarly to Zimbabwe in 2012 election results
controversy between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, presents cases for electoral impacts as
uncertain in developing countries. Furthermore, the legal and institutional conditions that includes
the laws, regulations, legal procedures, court decisions, characteristics of legal institutions and values
such as provision of individual rights and stability of institutional legal process and capacity in
developing countries place an adverse condition in an organizational domain (Rainey, 2009).
Ecological conditions (uncertainties); the nature and climatic conditions in most of the developing
countries is uncertain, placing the organizations into a very vulnerable state (position) for them to

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operate; for example in the Philippines were they have been experiencing Torrential Monsoon rains
causing submerging of landscape, landslides, displacement, floods that costed the lives of some
people and destruction of properties (BBC World News, 2014). In some areas, like Namibia and
Botswana are characterized by dry lands (desert) which does not offer for any productive activities
like farming, thus placing the countries in dependence of few sectors of the economy like mining,
tourism for their economic development.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the organizational environment in developing countries seems offers both desirable and
undesirable outcome (opportunities and limits), whereby certain conditions such as resources scarcity
limits policy options while others like labour surplus due to high population growth rate can be
utilized for generating high productivity in different sectors of the economy (organizations). The
organizational environmental variables are of a very diversity and they are interrelated with each
other. Some of these conditions (elements/uncertainties) are traced back from the historical
background of respective individual developing countries which actually differs across countries in
the developing world. Thus, as development or public administrators and policy makers, we should
view the organizational environment as an open system rather than a closed system as the conditions
within the organizational environment interact with each other within the same organization and
outside the organizational environment, that is to say there are extrinsic and extrinsic (endogenous
and exogenous) that affects the organizational environment being the institutional, demographic,
economic, social, cultural (just to mentions a few) which requires immediate attention by the public
administrators, development administrators, policy makers and researchers.

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