Many organizational changes occur as the result of forces outside an organization’s control,and HR professionals must understand how these forces impact existing organizationalstrategies as well as the effect of those forces on HR processes. These external forces affectother organizations as well, and how different organizations respond to these forces plays arole in determining whether they succeed in the new environment:Technological Developments Historically, developments in technology have driven thegrowth and decline of organizations. Family farms have largely been replaced by corporatefarms as a result of improved techniques and equipment, for example. Typewriters andmimeograph machines have been replaced by computers and plain-paper copy machines.Organizations that make a point of keeping abreast of these types of developments thrive,while others deteriorate when they ignore or dismiss the changes as insignificant.