This course focuses on the external environments facing organizations. As we face the new millennium, these environments are complex, dynamic, unpredictable, and, occasionally, hostile. How can organizations survive and even prosper in such conditions? The answer lies in developing strategies to confront important elements in their environments. Among the important elements considered in this class are inter-organizational collaboration (strategic alliances), developing competitive advantages and distinctive competencies, using information technologies, and confronting opportunities and challenges of managing societal expectations. Required for the General Management Concentration.