imarily with the external environment of the organization, and (5) the development of strategy, which is the end result of the combined effects of the other elements of the strategic cycle.
As the description of the strategic cycle indicates, strategic planning is closely associated with an organization's external environment. It is, thus, necessary for the strategic planner to (1) know of what the external environment of an organization consists, and (2) understand how an organization's external environment affects the strategic planning process.
The external environment of the UCLA Medical Center may be perceived as an external coalition. Included in this external coalition are (1) the governmental entities that in effect own the institution, (2) suppliers, (3) unions, and (4) the general public. This external coalition, however, does not describe completely the external environment that governs the strategic planning process at the UCLA Medical Center. The additional elements of the external environment for the institution include economic factors, governmental and legal factors, market and competitive factors, supplier and technological factors, geographic factors, social factors and other factors (Glueck, 1993, pp. 144-147).
The institution's external environment, thus, is composed of an incredibly complex and diverse array of factors, each of which must be addressed in the strategic planning process. Unfortunately, all of these factors have a dynamic characteristic. The one thing on which the strategic planners at the UCLA Medical Center can rely is that the inputs to the institution's strategic planning process will not remain stable for very long; over the short-term, perhaps,
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