This short article examines how the atmosphere affects and creates conditions for either the results or failure of business enterprise organizations and how it operates to demand productive strategic considering on the a part of decision-makers if companies are to survive and thrive.

Take the classic instance of Mark & Spencer PLC, which began in 1894 as a single high street store owned by two men, selling all items said to be costing no more than a penny to the customer. Over the years it conquered the retail sector with branches in prime locations all over the UK, and in overseas territories, totalling more than 885 stores. Not only did Marks & Spencer evolve into the giant corporation which it is today by reading the changes in the atmosphere well, and meeting the growing needs of more and more affluent consumers, it also influenced the shopping habits of its clients. The organization firm is not a faceless entity; at best, it can be an icon of social and economic progress, and at worst become vanquished by its inability to read the environment, Woolworths and MFI being two recent examples of such failure.

How the atmosphere impacts around the fortunes of the enterprise firm is nowhere more evident than in the collapse of many company enterprises including financial institutions (e.g.banks) in the current worldwide economic downturn. Even starker is the effect of continuing bad weather either in the form of floods or snow on the viability of a whole range of firms in the UK. Had the atmosphere represented by the UK government not provided a lifeline to some of the major banks in the form of taxpayer subsidies, or buy-outs, they would not have survived. Different political ideologies at different times affect the business enterprise enterprise in different ways. The collapse of communism and the breaking down of the Berlin wall in 1989, coupled with the Internet phenomenon resulted in the abolition of legislation preventing global communication and industrialisation. Since then there has been a plethora of international mergers, acquisitions and alliances which saw transnational corporations (TNCs) grow in size and economic power as never seen before. Denning (1993) has identified the interaction between ownership advantage (OA) brought by the TNC and the location advantage (LA) of the countries where TNCs seek to invest. Researchera identified synergies sought by TNCs in foreign direct investment (FDI) as being motivated by strategies for market seeking (MA), efficiency seeking (ES), and knowledge seeking (KS) respectively, depending on their reading of the business atmosphere.

Before going any deeper, it is necessary to take stock of what is meant by the business firm, and what its objectives are, and proceed to analyse the process and effects of this rapid globalisation. A business enterprise firm is a legal entity. Unlike a sole trader, or partnership, it is required to be incorporated with rules and objectives that are documented. It may be capitalised with borrowings or by shareholder contributions. While the shareholders own the enterprise and have claims to sharing the profits, it may be managed day-to-day by paid employees. The objective of the firm is 'to maximise its value to its shareholders' (Van Horne, 1974). Historically, 'maximisation of profits is regarded as the proper objective of the firm, but it is not as inclusive a goal as that of maximising shareholder wealth' (op. cit.). There are difficulties even in this conceptualization where 'maximising market price per share' is preferred by some to 'maximisation of earnings per share' (op. cit.).

A enterprise firm currently in the news is Blacks Leisure, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, when the current adverse weather conditions improved its fortunes by providing a market for its thermal wear products. Now it is planning to expand further. Meanwhile the adverse economic atmosphere has encouraged Poundland offering cheap goods to fill the gap left by Woolworth's demise. The British salt manufacturing firm Ineos Enterprises chose to cancel a 12, 000 ton shipment of industrial salt promised to Germany, diverting the stock to local authorities in the UK in dire need of supplies to grit roads covered by snow. It is a good example of the environment influencing selection makers of private firms to act in a socially responsible manner. This upholds Van Horne's (1974) assertion that even at the risk of not maximising shareholder wealth in the short term, management of organization firms ought not to ignore the need for 'social responsibility' which brings long term benefits although perhaps not immediately apparent.

As related to company firms, social responsibility concerns such things as protecting the consumer, paying fair wages to employees, maintaining fair hiring practices, supporting education, and becoming actively involved in environmental issues like clean air and water... However, the criteria for social responsibility are not clearly defined, making formulation of a consistent objective function difficult' (op. cit.).

It is now generally understood that a business enterprise does not, and cannot function in a vacuum. It has to react to events occurring outside its factory and office walls. The very first concern should be a close awareness of competitors' strengths and weaknesses vis-a-vis its products and services. Additionally, most analysts require awareness of the atmosphere in terms of political, social, economic and technological factors which impinge around the enterprise firm.