Business environment is the sum total of all external and internal factors that influence a business. The systems approach to the study of business organisations stresses the interaction between a firm’s internal and external environments. Key aspects of the internal context of business include the organisation’s structure and functions and the way they are configured in pursuit of specified organisational objectives. If the enterprise is to remain successful, constant attention needs to be paid to balancing the different influences on the organisation and to the requirement to adapt to new external circumstances. This responsibility lies essentially with the organisation’s management, which has the task of blending people, technologies, structures and environments.
Scenario
Even the world’s largest and most powerful business organisations are affected by a changing business environment, a point well illustrated by the problems currently being faced by General Motors (GM), the largest car company in the world. In the first quarter of 2005, GM reported losses of over $1 billion in North America and subsequently announced its intention to close some of its plants and cut 25 000 jobs over the next three years from its North American operations. This plan follows in the wake of its job cutting exercise in GM Europe which is ultimately expected to reduce its European workforce by around 12 000 jobs, most of them in Germany. GM’s decline in fortunes has been attributed to a number of important developments: a falling market share, problems with its product mix, rising raw material prices and the soaring costs of providing healthcare for its US workers (see e.g. Guardian, 8 June 2005, p.19).
The Business plan on External & Internal Factors
Verizon Communications, (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, is one of the world’s leading providers of high-growth communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with over 137 million access line equivalents and over 34 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the world’s ...
According to the company’s Chief Executive, the latter was the most challenging problem facing the business, with the cost of the healthcare programme estimated to account for around $1500 on the price of every vehicle sold.
By slimming down its operations and running its remaining plants at full capacity, GM is seeking to address some of the demand (i.e. sales) and supply side (i.e. costs) problems it is experiencing. The company is also taking steps to make its offering more attractive to customers by increasing its spending on new vehicles and by improving its marketing effort in the hope that this will arrest the decline in market share. As far as the healthcare programme is concerned, this is likely to prove more of an intractable problem for the organisation’s management, particularly as the unions are currently resisting any attempt to shift some of the burden on to the employees. It is worth noting that the burgeoning cost of healthcare provision is by no means unique to GM, but is one facing a large number of US corporations. Indeed, according to some observers the healthcare burden faced by corporate America is so substantial that it threatens not only the future prospects of individual businesses but also the long-term strength of the American economy and its international competitiveness. Adapted from: Ian Worthington and Chris Britton., fifth edition, The Business Environment, 2006. Task 1 (L.O. 1: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and M1, D2)
Considering yourself as the newly appointed regional manager of GM or any other organisation of your choice. Write an essay on the following: 1. Identify the purposes of different types of organisation. 2. Describe the extent to which GM or any other organisation of your choice meets the objectives of different stakeholders 3. Explain the responsibilities of GM or any other organisation of your choice and strategies employed to meet them To achieve M1, you will find appropriate solutions in explaining the responsibilities of GM or any other organisation of your choice and strategies employed to meet them. Also you will have met the deadline to submit. To achieve D2 you will have demonstrated an effective approach to independent research as evidenced from the citations and reference list and study and will have met the deadline to submit the tasks and achieve the unit assessment criteria. Task 2 (LO2: 2.1, 2.2 2.3 and M2, D2)
The Business plan on International Business Environment Impacts On Retail Industry
In this individual term report, I will write a report to analyze how the international business environment impacts on retail industry. In the body of this report, 1 Identify the retail industry and the function of this industry. Present some researches on retail industry on economic, financial factors by focusing on over the past two years. And then, show the effect of socio-cultural in retail ...
As the newly appointed manager you are expected to write a report informing the board on the following: 4. Explain how economic systems attempt to allocate resources effectively 5. Assess the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on business organisations and their activities 6. Evaluate the impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms on the activities of GM or any other organisation of your choice
To achieve M2, you will apply appropriate methods/techniques in evaluating the impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms on the activities of GM or any other organisation of your choice in question 6. To achieve D2 you will have demonstrated an effective approach to independent research as evidenced from the citations and reference list and study and will have met the deadline to submit the tasks and achieve the unit assessment criteria. Task 3 (LO3: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and D2, D3)
As the newly appointed regional manager of GM or any other organisation of your choice. Write an essay on the following 7. Explain how market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of businesses 8. Illustrate the way in which market forces shape organisational responses using a range of examples 9. Judge how the business and cultural environments shape the behaviour of GM or any other organisation of your choice. To achieve D2 you will have demonstrated an effective approach to independent research as evidenced from the citations and reference list and study and will have met the deadline to submit the tasks and achieve the unit assessment criteria. To achieve D3, you will have to creatively justify how the business and cultural environments shape the behaviour of GM or any other organisation of your choice in question 9. Task 4 (LO4: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and M3, D1, D2)
The Term Paper on Strategic Operational Issue Of Organisation Of Your Choice
Introduction Operations and processes are the foundation of every organisation that produces goods and services for its customer. A well designed and managed operations will enable the organisation to deliver its strategic goals by lowering its costs, improving quality and ensuring that right quantities are provided in time and at the right place. Hence, understanding the operations issues is ...
As the newly appointed regional manager of GM or any other organisation of your choice, you are expected to inform you team in the region on the followings: 10. Discuss the significance of international trade to UK business organisations 11. Analyse the impact of global factors on UK business organisations 12. Evaluate the impact of policies of the European Union on UK business organisations.
To achieve M3, your findings and research should be well presented and communicated within the report. To achieve D1, Use critical reflection to evaluate the impact of policies of the European Union on UK business organisations and justify valid conclusions in question 12 To achieve D2 you will have demonstrated an effective approach to independent research as evidenced from the citations and reference list and study and will have met the deadline to submit the tasks and achieve the unit assessment criteria.
