1. Contemporary best-selling management books often argue that customers are the most important element in the external environment. Do you agree? In what company situations might this statement be untrue? 2. The population is aging because of declining birth rates, declining death rates, and the aging of the baby-boom generation. What might some of the implications of this demographic trend be for a) pharmaceutical company, b) the home construction industry? 3. How national cultural characteristics impact management and organizations? Use an example of one of Hofstede's dimensions