 Dear students, we are going to discuss the topic of organizational context in the course of International Human Resource Management. You know that when an organization goes into internationalization, the organizational context changes from the domestic context. The organizational context is very much important to understand how an organization should operate in an international scenario. According to the environmental contingency theory, you must have discussed this theory in organizational theory courses. According to this theory, in order to survive in a given environment, an organization has to match its internal structure with the external environment. So if the external environment is complex, the internal structure of the organization also has to be a complex structure. You cannot have a simple structure in an environment which is very much complex. And therefore, the organizational context of an international organization is very much complex and according to that, you need to arrange your internal structure according to the environment. This concept is called isomorphism in sociology. Isomorphism is that an organization matches its formation the way it looks like according to the environment in which it exists. And therefore, in an international environment, an organization has to match itself with the environment in which it is existing and the organizational structure has to match with that environment. This model shows the elements of the organizational structure which are important to define the internal structure of an organization. You can see in this diagram that the demands of internationalization have various different elements. These elements are number one, size of the organization. If the size of the organization is large, then the demands of internationalization would be greater. Then structure of the organization is also important. If you have a mechanistic structure, your organization will operate differently. If you have an organic structure, your organization will respond differently to the international context. Number three is geographical dispersion. If your organization is spread in more countries, you will have to devise a structure in which you will have to control the coordination and control issues. If your organization is not geographically dispersed, say for example, it is operating in one or two countries, then you will have a different type of structure. Then you need to see the control mechanisms, what type of controls are applied from the international context as well as the host country. Then national culture and languages are also important to define your internal structure. If the language is the same, if the culture is the same, then your internal structure can match with the headquarters. But if it is a completely different structure, you cannot go for a structure which is very much similar to your headquarters. Then you also have to make changes according to the host country demands. The country in which that organization is existing, it is possible that they put some demands on what type of structure of an organization you can have. Then another aspect is the operation modes. Now operation modes are whether you are going for a sales subsidiary or you are going for a joint venture or you are going for merger or accusation. So according to that operation mode, your organizational structure will vary. Then another important aspect of your organizational side is flow and volume of information. If you have information and its volume and its flow, then you will have different type of structure. If your information channels are formal, then you will have a different type of structure in your organization. So therefore, there are different elements of organizational structure, which you have to take care of, which you have to devise on the basis of your organizational structure, and that has to match with the environment in which you are operating in the international context.