ASSIGNMENT: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INTRODUCTION

1. TYPES OF ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR PURPOSES

1.1 TYPES OF ORGANISATION

1.2 PURPOSES OF ORGANISATIONS

1.3 RESPONSIBILITIES

1M1 ASSESSMENT OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH A SPECIFIC ORGANISATION

MEETS ITS STATE PURPOSES

2. STRUCTURE OF ORGANISATIONS

2.1 TYPES OF STRUCTURES

2.2 DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS

2.3 INFLUENCES OF GLOBALISATION

2D1 ASSESSMENT THE STRUCTURE OF A NAMED ORGANISATION

3. IMPACT OF THE MARKET ENVIRONMENT ON ORGANISATIONS

3.1 SUPPLY AND DEMAND

3.2 PLANNED INTERVENTIONS

3M1 ASSESSMENT OF THE RESPONSE OF A NAMED ORGANISATION TO

CHANGES IN ITS MARKET

1
4. THE NATURE OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

4.1 NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP STRATEGY

4.2 MONETARY AND FISCAL POLICY

4.3 IMPACT OF COMPETITION POLICY

4D1 BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES TO A SPECIFIC BUSINESS OPERATING IN

DIFFERENT ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTS

2
INTRODUCTION:

Year by year many organisations are getting more and more complex and structured. The
reason for this variation is due to many factors outside and inside of organisations in line with
economic and environmental criteria. It is important to evaluate what kind of factors might be
reasons of influence. Through the sections, we will go to cover every business` aspects
developing the correct assets of organisations.

1. TYPES OF ORGANISATION AND THEIR PURPOSES

1.1 TYPES OF ORGANISATION

Organisations are synthesized in three sectors: private sector, public sector, and the third
sector.

Private sector: owned by individuals and driven by profit. Those who receive benefits of this
organisation are owners, shareholders and investors.

Types of organisations:

⚫ Sole trader

Small size as it is owned by one person. Some examples are barbers, butchers, plumbers,
painter, repairmen.

PROS: the owner keeps profits and decisions, it’s simple and comparing to others it has fewer
rules.

CONS: the owner takes risks, liable for all the debts, personal assets are at risk, usually long
work hours. Often, the sole traders fund themselves through savings or family. They can ask
for a loan and it would be agreed just if the plan of the sole trader works.

⚫ Partnerships

It is owned by two or twenty 20 partners. Some examples are lawyers, estate agents, doctors,
dental practices.
They are associated with each other through a written agreement that outlines the rules.

PROS: More profits, generally the banks lend money easily to an organisation with more
partners. Also, having more partners means having more skills and their responsibilities and
workload are split by everyone.

CONS: Partners are decision-makers, so they may agree or disagree when they need to take
action. The profit is shared between them and they are liable for the debts.

3
 ⚫ Private Limited Company (Ltd)

When the business has got more than 20 partners we are talking about a private limited
company. They have limited liability, so the investor loses just what he invests.

PROS: Shareholders are the owners of a limited company. The dividend is shared between
the shareholders. They may raise money through investors who are protected by rules if the
company fails.

CONS: The mandatory costs are expansive, they need to keep more documentation. It is
difficult to control and motivate its workers which do not hold shares.

Public sector: The taxes are used to supply the needs of the community.

The services they provide are defence, international relations, economic policy, health,
education, police, transport and recycling.

Third sector: it is owned by trustees. Who works in this organisation is often a volunteer.
They don’t run by a profit, but their intention is to help the community through donations and
gifts.

There are two kinds of organisation in the third sector:

Charities: They get funds through National Lottery and donations. The earning is destined to
a specific cause. Some examples are the Salvation Army, Macmillan Cancer Support.

Community groups: They provide services to people. Their profits go back into the
organisation for every running cost. Football clubs, golf clubs, rugby clubs are some of the
common community groups.

Social enterprise: Profits are used to reinvest in the organisation. Some examples Goodwill
Industries, Greyston Bakery.

1.2 PURPOSES OF ORGANISATIONS

These three sectors are composed of multiple organisations and some of them are driven by
profit. Each sector has its own purpose and this is what we are going to analyse in the following
paragraph.

Private Sector

The private sector is a business that earns profit through sales. Its growth depends on
marketing strategies. This sector is customer service oriented and the vision and mission
might change during the time. Some examples are FedEx, Apple and John lewis.

4
Bulb Energy Ltd is an energy supply company, privately financed. Bulb noticed those common
issues that an energy supply industries might have, such as inefficiency and poor service.

Therefore, Hayden and Amit, the founders of Bulb, have decided to begin this company trying
to adjust these issues. Certainly, they make profits but also they deliver a good service to
many customers. They are making more manageable, affordable and greener energy.

Public Sector

The purpose of the public sector is to make sure the service is delivered for the good of the
public. In fact, their values, mission and vision should be always for the benefits of others. The
public sector is controlled by the government that funds its services through taxes. As we have
seen before, some examples are Police officers, schools and NHS.

Third Sector

The third sector’s purpose is focused on the community, helping the public with non-profit
purposes. Most of their employees are volunteers. Their money is often used to fund projects,
researches or other organisations that help those communities in struggle.

More specifically, each sector has purposes such as:

+ Make profit

The focus is on making high earnings in order to re-invest and expand the business into new
markets. The company uses various strategies to sell its products or services.

+ Growth

Every organisation holds the potential to grow but it needs excellent leadership, a good
structure choosing the right investment. Growth brings more customers and more profits and
more responsibilities, also. The globalisation may be helpful to grow internationally. Usually,
growth is the goal of private and charities sectors. Contrary, the public sector operates
nationally.

+ Return on Investment (ROI)

The Return on Investment is really necessary for an organisation as it measures the gain and
loss of investments. Also, it is used to make future financial decisions comparing the efficiency
of investments. It is calculated by this formula:

(Net profit / Cost of investment) x 100 = ROI

5
 + Sales

The organisation borns with the intention of selling goods or services, basically everything is
focused on how the organisation is going to selling.

+ Service customer satisfaction

When the organisation aspires in making high profits, it will need to satisfy its clients’ demands
and have great customer care with the responsibilities of following the selling progress to the
customer.

+ Corporate responsibilities

Corporate responsibilities ensure the organisation has a positive impact on the environment,
society and economy. It means being accountable to stakeholders and the public.

The organisation expresses its purposes through:

- Its mission & vision

Answers the question of WHY. Why does the business exist? We need to make clear across
of all the departments in order to remind themselves of the reason of why they belong to the
company. The mission is not static, it might change then, during the time.

- Values & culture

Values & culture determines the behaviour inside the organisation. It defined by how the
organisation is going to reach its goals. The values and culture are rules that every member
has to follow.

- Aims & goals

The micro section of the mission in an organisation is the aims and goals. Where they might
be defined as long term or short term goals. The organisation is composed of different
departments that all together run for the same goals and aims.

1.3 RESPONSIBILITIES AND STRATEGIES

Each organisation has different responsibilities and this is part of the process when we are
planning to set up our own business. This is something that we need to pay particular attention
to. The government, the workers and the customers will evaluate the credibility of the business
according to how they meet their responsibilities.

6
The responsibilities of organisations are regarding:

1. Legal Requirements

The legal requirements are legislations the government demands to follow in every
organisation. The legislation protects and ensures the work of the business is completed
lawfully, taking into account employees and customers interest.

The legislation in the UK is concerning:

Consumers:

Consumers are protected by the law when they purchase goods or services, making sure that
they are not treated unfairly.

Employees:

The employee legislation covers the aspects of employment like discrimination, employment
rights and health and safety at work.

⚫ The Equality Act 2010 covers different aspects of discrimination such as sex, religion,
pregnancy, race and sexual orientation.

⚫ The Employment Rights Act 1996 covers the relationship between employee and
employer. It includes contracts, pays, dismissal and grievance and time off.

⚫ The health and safety at work, Act 1974 legislation ensures the organisation does
everything to protect the employees’ health.

Environment:

Environmental legislations are those laws which protect the environment for any threats from
people and organisations. Some laws regard pollution, wildlife, conservation, climate change,
noise and planning.

⚫ Control of Pollution Act 1974 cover issues such as air, water, atmospheric pollution.

⚫ Wildlife and Countryside Act

Safety of products and services:

The United Kingdom, when selling products or services to consumers, adopts legislation
assuring the safety and the legal requirements in relation to labelling.

⚫ The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 requires that all products have to be
safe in their usage, also it has the authority to take appropriate actions. The legislation

7
 makes sure the product will be used with any risk, the records of technical
documentation are included, providing appropriate labelling and instructions of safe
use.

2. Ethical Practices

Ethical practices are the result of a set of values that an organization believes in. The values
explain the behaviour of the business especially for those who are in leadership. Honesty,
integrity, trustworthiness, fairness, accountability, loyalty, are some of the values that every
organisation feels the necessity for.

It is a good norm to:

- Develop Ethical Standards formalizing what kind of behaviours (business

conduct) all members have to adopt.

- Ensure the credibility of the leaders giving the example without not to
much emphasis on what they say but on what they are and behaves.

- Do not tolerate unacceptable behaviour but showing the right disciplines with
the appropriate tone.

- Praise positive behaviour acknowledging when employees are following the

rules and making efforts.

- Raising money for local causes or promoting volunteer programs.

3. Stakeholders interest

Organisations are responsible for satisfying stakeholders interests’. They must be identified
as they are part of the structure of the organisation and they play an important role in the
function of the business. Stakeholders having a direct interest in the organisations are
customers, employees, investors, suppliers, communities, governments and competitors.
Later on, it will be better explained the function and the purposes of each of them.

4. Potential conflicts of interest

Potential conflicts of interest are nepotism, self-dealing and excess compensation.

- Nepotism is the practice of giving favours to relatives or close friends when the
organisation is hiring or giving promotion, transfers or termination.

- Self-dealing is an action taken by some who has fiduciary duty for personal gain rather
for the benefit of the company.

8
 - Excess compensation especially in a non-profit organisation where officers, directors
or trustees is setting excessive compensation or benefits.

As we have already stated some of the policies, here a summary of what an organisation can
do to meet its responsibilities.

1. Business policies and procedures

To establish the correct conduct and behaviour inside the organisation, it is important to create
policies and procedures that every employee have to follow. Some examples are:

- Employee conduct policy classifies duties and responsibilities of each employee giving
them clear guidelines (dress code, workplace procedures, harassment policies, anti-
bullying policies).

- The fair treatment in organisations (equal opportunity policies)

- Attendance and time-off policy, where all employees have to follow the schedules,
defines the beginning and the end about working hours.

- Substance abuse policy prohibits the use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco in the
workplace.

- The workplace security policy that demands employees to show the ID card or the
company’s badge before conducting any works in the organisations.

2. Quality assurance mechanisms

The organisation needs to establish appropriate procedures and processes in order to develop
products or services using the standards of the organisation and following the law of the
country where is operating. It will help to prevent bugs or breaches checking all the process
stages until the final result. All the persons involved in the process must use checklists,
process documentation and project audit to ensure the development of the product.

3. Compliance

It is a legal obligation every organisation are subject to. The compliance for a sole trader is
less rigorous than a company. The legal obligations normally are:

- HMRC registration
- Employment law obligations
- Health and safety
- Data protection
- Legal obligations for selling products or services
- Corporate governance policies
- Website legal obligations

9
 4. Effective communication

Effective communication is essential to transfer messages through all departments. The

message has to be pertinent, clear and precise. The stakeholders have to realise what their
roles are, what are they supposed to do and how to do their tasks. Poor communication leads
to misunderstanding, conflicts, uncompleted tasks and missing deadlines.

5. Timely response

Part of effective communication is the timely response from the business to consumers. In
customer service is really important to give a timely response for any kind of queries. This will
affect the business’ quality activity. Customer service should be responsive and active for the
needs of consumers.

6. Satisfying stakeholders objectives

Shareholders, government, employees, consumers and investors are some of the

stakeholders who have different objectives based on the interests expressed in the firm. Every
stakeholder seeks to achieve objectives protecting their interests, so the organisation has to
collaborate with them in order to meet the goals of each of them.

7. Dealing with the conflicts of interests

The successful way to dealing conflicts of interest is to create policies about what constitutes
a conflict of interest. Some of the important points to take into account are:

- Define the interested persons

- Which type of relationships represent a conflict of interest
- Describe the potential financial interest
- Procedure to handle the conflict

8. Recruitment of expertise

The HR department has to prepare employees in order to accomplish their duties and
responsibilities inside the organisation. HR should recruit and train people so that can fulfil the
vacancy roles of the company. There are different aspects to take in consideration when HR
recruits people, for example, qualifications, experiences and skills.

ANALYSING OF STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR OBJECTIVES

Stakeholders have a direct/indirect interest in the organisation’s outcomes. Common

stakeholders are grouped into two, internal and external stakeholders.

10
 INTERNAL & EXTERNAL OBJECTIVES
STAKEHOLDERS

Employees (internal) Security, satisfactory pay level

Managers (internal) Profits, growth, earning promotions &

monetary management of resources

Owners (internal) Profits, Growth & security of the business

Suppliers (external) Revenue from the products sold to the

company

Society (external) Health, safety & economic development

Government (external) Taxes, the ability of the organisation to

create jobs

Creditors (external) Financial returns

Shareholders (external) Profits but proportionate to the ownership

Customers (external) Top-quality products or services

1M1 Assessment of the extent to which a specific organisation meets its stated
purposes

Apart from the third sector, the objective for an organisation is to make profit and meets
its responsibilities. In order to achieve the business’ objective, the organisation should
evaluate multiple factors such as marketing strategy, structure, management of human
resources and so on.

Tesco statement:

“Our business was built with a simple mission – to be the champion for customers,
helping them to enjoy a better quality of life and an easier way of living. This hasn't
changed. Customers want great products at great value which they can buy easily and
it's our job to deliver this in the right way for them.” (abstract from “Core Purpose and
Values of Tesco”).

If we look at the Tesco’s statement we can find that its main objective is to be the
champion for customers having a great product at a great value. In order to accomplish
the mission to be the leading supermarket, Tesco has set some objectives with a
relative strategy. The first objective is to maximize the profits by cutting prices,
increase deals and expanding stores. The second objective is to have more healthy
products (attracting more customers) by creating a range of healthy products. The third
objective might increase the sales by developing an online platform which lead more
customers to receive their shopping without even go in the store.
(markedbyteachers.com)

11
In conclusion, the listed statement of Tesco, express the definition of its objectives
which has been able to achieve by developing a new strategy and enhance its
relationship with its customers.

2. THE STRUCTURE OF ORGANISATIONS

All organisations get a chosen structure to meet their purposes. The efficiency of the business
depends on how work and power are distributed. Before knowing the aspects that an
organisational structure can have, we should ask ourselves what is the mission statement.
The vision and the mission of the business determine which structures are better to use for,
so it is good to ask why this business exists?

2.1 TYPES OF STRUCTURES

Function-based structure

The function-based structure is often found in a large organisation where the object is to
organise each worker by skills and knowledge. This structure helps the organisation to deliver
specific functions like marketing, sales, R&D and finance.

Product-based structure

Product or activity-based usually are found in the retail sector where the companies organize
the business along their product lines. Different functional staff is involved in the production or
marketing of the same product and each division can operate independently as M&S “per una”
division sells clothes or ASDA “George” division.

Project-based structure

In this structure, the staff is assigned to a particular activity or project. Each team is driven by
the project so they need to be self-sufficient with all the administrative and support functions.
Architectural firms such as Foster + Partners or Allies and Morrison, normally use this structure
as they undertake large and long projects.

Matrix structure

The matrix model is a mix of more used by large companies. It is defined by different roles
that take care of projects or functions. It’s easy to find managerial roles as the CEO.
This structure organises each member under the respective manager, so they can distribute
the work easily. Phillips has set up the matrix organization structure in its company in the year
1970.

12
Geography-based structures

Organisations with geography-based structures are focused on local needs. They have
different teams spread all over the regions and countries that communicate with each other
sharing the resources across the globe.
Addison Lee Group a famous taxi firm in the UK, has begun its business in London and now
is operating across different locations such as Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Liverpool,
Luton and so on.
Starbucks

Starbucks has taken 47 years to open a store in Italy as the Italians have a strong Italian
Coffee culture. Despite Starbucks’ first intention was to open its store in Italy, the business
had to change its mind offering lower charges for a coffee. This is because Italians normally
pay just one euro for their espresso. Consequently, the business had to forge a new
partnership with Italians brands to let the organisation flourish in the country.
Starbucks has made the right decision choosing Milan (city of fashion and finance) as an entry
point of his business. In fact, it would have been more difficult to be placed in other cities like
Rome or Naples where they would have to face the local culture.

The geographic division of Starbucks in Italy faced many difficulties such as:

- Culture
- Language
- Habits
- Fares
- the Italian value and meaning of drinking coffee

The strategy that Starbucks has used to face the challenges was:

- Choosing the right location as an entry point (Milan)

- Understanding the Culture
- Producing ideas from local organisations
- Choosing Italian staff
- Making partnerships
- Adjusting fares according to Italian’s mindset

2.2 FUNCTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS

As we have seen before, each structure has different departments led by the CEO who works
along the project manager to achieve the best from his company. Now, we are going to
evaluate more accurately the relationships between departments and their functions.

The Function-based structure is divided into different departments. The organisation would
need to be split into different departments. For example having marketers, salespeople, and

13
customer service in their own department. In this case, every employee has this convenient
opportunity to identify and rely on its proper manager about their activities. Putting staff in each
department can increase skills and develop their field of interest.
Sometimes this structure can create barriers between departments, limiting people’s
knowledge and this can be a disadvantage.

The Product-based structure has multiple functional structures. Each department can have
its own marketing team, sales team, etc, dedicated to a particular product line. If the
organisation has multiple products, this structure can help the development of the product.

The Project-based structure is based on projects assigned, particularly adopted by

construction or oil drilling companies. The client’s needs determine how to set up the project,
so there is a lot of flexibility in this structure. The manager is in charge to oversee the quality
of the project and assign that to the relevant team who works accordingly to the function.
Isolation and poor communication between teams can cause many disadvantages of this
structure.

The Matrix-based structure doesn’t follow the traditional model, typically it is a mix of
functional-based structure plus product-based structure. Usually, the employees have direct
relationships with the departments (Marketing, sales, services, etc), but indirect relationships
with divisions or projects. The matrix-based structure provides flexibility and balanced
decision-making but it’s more complex over who has authority.

The Geography-based structure establishes its division based on geography. Each division
covers territories, regions or districts. This structure is concentrated on the local needs, so the
division has its own departments with its own point of view, culturally speaking.

Resource: The Business Environment. Internal Environment. OBS 2020

Departments

Usually, in the organisation we find the following departments that handle specific tasks:

- Human Resource: It is the heart of the organisation as is dealing with people. They
recruit the right people with the right skills, qualifications, and experiences. It is also
involved in the training and development of the employees.

- Marketing: This department operates in the advertising sector and they are
responsible to communicate with the right customers to let them know the product or
services of the company. It helps to generate sales and growth of the business.

- Customer Service: Dealing with the customers required specific skills so that’s why
there is a dedicate department that is interacting with customers’ inquiries, complaints
and orders. For the company, it is vital to maintain a good relationship with the
customers in a way to create customer loyalty.

- Sales: They are responsible to generate revenue and profits for the company
developing ways and strategies to sell goods or service to customers. They need to
work along with the marketing departments.

14
 - Accounting and finance: Accounting, planning, organizing and producing statements
are some of the tasks of this department. They have to manage the incomes and
outcomes of the organisation.

- Legal department: They oversee and identify legal issues in all the departments and
sometimes, they represent the company, they handle accurately the legal documents
of the company.

2.3 INFLUENCES OF GLOBALISATION

At this time, there are several organisations around the world considering the globalisation as
a benefit or not.

For some companies, the globalisation presents many opportunities causing a progressively
growing.

Some of the benefits are:

- Expansion into new markets

- Acquiring human resources from a global pool
- Lowered costs for goods and services
- Increased creativity and innovation

Features of global companies are:

- The global company’s structure has an integrated operation worldwide and a

movement of staff in different locations.
- The product and the process need to be standardized.
- The knowledge that has been gained in a geography location may be used in a
different location.

The company’s response to the globalisation determines the effects of its growth.

There are several approaches to analyse when the company has decided to operate globally.

- Global ambitions lead the organisational structure.

By the global functional structure or the matrix-based structure, it is possible to achieve the
activities inter-dependency. Country managers are required in the structure. Information,
communication and knowledge need to be shared across geographies. So, it is important to
create a culture of values, collaboration and mindset at all locations.

PROS: More skilled people anywhere, collaboration and more customers.

CONS: Complex, slow process and occasional political battles.

15
 - Global sourcing, production and distribution.

Building a network of sourcing, production and distribution provide huge and competitive
advantages. For example, in some locations like China, the cost of the production and
sourcing of components is low.

PROS: cost efficiencies and experts in different areas of specialisations.

CONS: complex network and rarely lack of control.

- Global Marketing

Global marketing can be used as a strategy by a company, to let people discover the brands
on a global scale. Surely, this requires obtaining language skills useful to deliver the product
and meet the customer’s needs. We may say that an organisation is global when it has got
only one name in every single location (Coca Cola, Apple, Nike, etc).

PROS: cost savings, global brand and global customers.

CONS: ignores national differences and drop of sales for lack of differentiation.

Furthermore, it is important to have a clear idea of what are the organizational limitations that
want to operate in the global field.

1. Shipping Customs and Duties

Though we have now international companies as FedEx or UPS that make easy the shipping
process, this represents a limitation because of the extra fees the company has to face. Also,
the customer will be affected as well on the cost of the product.

2. Language Barriers

Have a good staff is not enough. The staff has to speak the same language of the country
where the product will be delivered, so it is important to have employees who speak the local
language. This is not limited just for the staff who works as customer service, but all the global
marketing area needs to speak, write and understand the local language.

3. Cultural Differences

It looks like a minor limitation, but every country has its own culture, so its own way to
understand, perceive and communicate their needs. Gestures and common saying are
different in every country.

4. Servicing Customers

Again, the customer service needs to work efficiently and this will happen just when the
organisation has the right strategy to overcome the limitations. The company has to be ready
to speak with customers that have different time zones and languages.

5. Returning Products

16
As the company has found the solution to ship the product, it also important to think about the
return of the product if there are some issues found from the client. The company has to
establish a good and fair policy of return.

6. Intellectual Property Theft

There are more probabilities that the product will be illegally copied when it is distributed
globally. Understand the importance of copywriting and the international intellectual protection
treaties will help to prevent any illegal reproduction.

REQUIREMENTS TO OPERATE GLOBALLY

Knowing the benefits and challenges of operating globally, it is not enough. We need to
evaluate what are the major strategies to adopt in the organisation.

- Know the language and culture

Without effective communication, the organisation can’t grow, especially if it is going globally.
So, It is important to eliminate all the interferences in the midst like language and culture
barriers. Communicate well means to transfer the right messages clearly. The organisation
may hire staff that speak the language of where the organisation has the intention to operate.
Normally the employees are native, so they are able to face the local cultural barriers, slangs
and customs.

- Management teams

Different time zones can be a problem for the company. The organisation needs to have 24-
hours management capabilities. To save money for air travel and manage well problems, the
organisation might be established management teams in each country where is expanding.
Having employees that work on the locations, it will increase the timely response for any
queries from customers.

- Be aware of exchange rates

It is essential to seek the service of a professional currency trading firm in order to establish
the right prices for products or services.

- Know International laws

Every country has different laws and regulations. Before making expansive legal mistakes,
the organisation should hire an attorney experienced in international trade.

2D1 Assessment of the structure of a named organisation, identifying areas for

development

17
McDonald’s corporation has a divisional organisational structure where the business
is divided into components that are given responsibilities based on operational
requirements. Each division handles a specific operation area or set of strategic
objectives. Principally, McDonald’s has the characteristics of a global hierarchy,
performance-based divisions and function-based groups. The global hierarchy covers
all the operations worldwide, the performance-based divisions use performance as the
basis for the new division its organisation structure such as international lead markets,
high growth markets and foundational market and corporate. The function-based
groups, which are led by a senior manager or corporate executive, has the task to be
focused on the corporate operations such as human resource management, supply
chain and sustainability. In fact they have a respective group for the listed categories.
The strength of having this kind of hierarchy corporate structure is the global
monitoring and control of the operations. The weakness found is difficult to be a flexible
organisation, in fact, McDonald’s tends to generalize strategies for the performance-
based divisions and this might be a limitation for the company. In conclusion,
McDonald’s should be more flexible by changing how the performance-based visions
are used in strategic implementation. (panmore.com)

3. IMPACT OF THE MARKET ENVIRONMENT

The market environment refers to the forces that affect the organisation that is building
relationships with its customers. Physical and social factors influence the decision-making of
the organisation.

The Macro-Environment includes forces that have an impact on the business (PESTLE)

The Internal-environment is formed by the mission, the structure, the leadership and the
approaches to change from the organisation.

The Micro-Environment is represented by Porter’s five forces.

3.1 SUPPLY AND DEMAND

The law of supply and demand are related to each other and they affect the price of the goods
in the market.

Supply exceeds demand = prices fall (consumers tend to buy more)

Demand exceeds supply = prices tend to rise

Following, an example of the law of supply and demand:

In the first year, when the season is favourable for the growth of lemons, the farmers have a
lot of supply of lemons. To sell all of them, the farmers have to reduce the price.

18
If a terrible drought arises, in the second year, and the number of lemons gets reduced but
the demand is still the same, the farmers have to increase the price of the lemons in order to
make a good profit.

The match between demand and supply makes the market equilibrium (equilibrium price). It
is important to understand this concept so that we are able to determine the market price of a
product (goods or services).
The disequilibrium happens when the price is below the market equilibrium causing demand
greater than supply and causing a shortage.

PRICING STRATEGIES

There are several pricing strategies that your organisation can adopt to decide the right charge
for the customers, attract customers and generate profits.

- Market Penetration

This strategy usually helps start-up to stand out as penetrate in the market. The business
offers low prices for its products or services, which initially could lead to a loss of profits but in
the long-term can gain exposure to raise the profits.
The company can decide to use the strategy just for a period of time and when they are
successfully penetrated in the market, they can raise the prices reflecting the position that they
achieved.

Netflix has used the market penetration strategy using a low price to attract customers away
from Blockbuster that was the largest competitor at the time.

- Premium Pricing

The premium pricing strategy is used to gain more profits highlighting benefits of premium
packages, luxury products or services. To be successful with this strategy it is important to
know the perception of the value that the consumers have over the product that the business
is offering and underline what they may get choosing a premium.

Spotify uses the premium pricing strategy explaining the benefits for using Spotify Premium
without interruption of adverts every 30 mins and the offline download of the music for just £ 9.
For those who use the free subscription have advertising while listening and the users can’t
download the music.

- Economy Pricing

To keep the prices down, the business reduces the cost of marketing, packaging and
production and to be successful they need to have large sales volumes.

Poundland in 1990 was promoting its strategy saying “everything’s £1”. The company was
able to achieve more than £1bn of revenues.

- Price Skimming

19
Price skimming allows a restrict range of customers to buy their product as the prices are set
high during the introductory phase. Apple uses this strategy to attract people, increase the
profits and gradually drop the prices but maintaining the premium line of each product. To be
successful they need to offer something that is exclusive or unique.

Apple has used the price skimming strategy when has launched the first iPhone at the highest
price start point.

- Price Anchoring

This strategy is one of the most powerful psychological effects to increase sales of a
determinate product, by comparing them with others that have higher prices. The customers
perceive the product with the lowest price as a bargain comparing to other products.

A famous app for taking notes, like Evernote, offers different plans such as Basic, Premium
and Business that include different characteristics.

- Psychology Pricing

This strategy encourages people to make decisions based on their emotions rather than
rationality. This strategy is able to create the illusion of the value for customer perception.

It’s more likely that the customers are more encouraged to buy a product that cost 99p than
£1. This is because people are focused on the big denomination rather than the small one,
people feel like they are getting more value for their money.

- Bundle Pricing

The bundle pricing strategy is when the customers buy multiple products instead of each of
them separately because of its affordability. The business offers bundles to sell the unsold
stock and increase the customer’s value perception, so it can generate a good profit on the
high-value products.

McDonald’s is using the bundle pricing strategy offering different combo meals more
affordable than buying them separately.

3.2 PLANNED INTERVENTIONS

Some of the interventions in the marketplaces that are impacting the organisations come from
the government. In fact, the government has promoted some initiatives to help businesses
and startups operating in the marketplace.

⚫ Companies who are undertaking real estate development, are eligible for the grant.

20
 ⚫ ECGD, Export Credits Guarantee Department provides insurance scheme and
participation in overseas exhibitions for entrepreneurs into exports.

All the amount of the grants, depending on the size, location and quality of the project.

Loans and Loan assistance

⚫ The “Small Loans for Business Scheme” provides 50’000 for small and medium
businesses.

⚫ When loans are denied by banks, the government gives a guarantee to banks, called
“Enterprise Finance Guarantee”.

To be accepted for these loans, it is important to prepare a business plan, making sure to
highlight the efficiency and scalability of the business model.

Training Schemes

⚫ “Business Bootcamp” is in intense preparation programme focusing on specialized

sectors. It is worth £275000 worth of funds from RBS and 135000 worth of funds from
the EU.

⚫ “Entrepreneur First” is for graduates who are planning to start their own business. It is
a two-year programme with training and mentoring and access to funding through a
network of investors, legal advice, software and a networking environment.

⚫ The “Get Mentoring Scheme” helps entrepreneurs to be mentored and become

volunteer mentors who offer coachings and training entrepreneurs to the essential
activities.

These are just some of the famous initiatives by the government to help entrepreneurs and
who is thinking to set up its own business.

Another important intervention from the government in the marketplace is called Maximum &
Minimum pricing:

- Used to intervene in markets which are failing to allocate resources efficiently.

Maximum pricing increases the allocation of resources in a market where legally the
product cannot be sold more of the maximum price set by the government. The
benefits are consumers who demand more and the rules are simple for businesses to
follow. Sometimes it might lead to imbalance, black markets, the elasticity of the
effectiveness of the policy and the price may not be appropriate for the society.

- Used to decrease the allocation of resources in a market. The government could use
this price policy for a unit of alcohol in a drink. The effect is to discourage and make
difficult for alcoholics to fund their addiction. The price has to be set above the current
market price in order to be effective. The benefits of this policy are to have a consumer

21
 that demand less, the company can follow the rules easily. It might be to an imbalance
in the market, black markets, the elasticity of effectiveness of the policy, it will not affect
the rich and it can be implemented wrongly by the government.

The government initiatives impact the market place and these are some of the effects:

1. Correcting market failures

To correct the market failure there are various policies that the government can adopt for
example:

- Tax: Increase the price of goods in order to reduce demand

- Subsidies: the government pays part of the cost
- Laws and regulations: minimum age for buying alcohol or tobacco
- Pollution permits: a fixed amount of pollution for companies
- Advertising: warning of the consequences for those consume alcohol or
tobacco
- Nudges: Making difficult to buy demerit goods
- Government price controls: Maximum & Minimum pricing
- Changes in property rights: giving rights over the river to sue firms who pollute
- Policies to reduce unemployment: increase education or training programs
- Labour market regulation: minimum wage and establish the maximum working
hours

2. Income and wealth

Income and wealth redistribution is another effect of government initiatives. It is aimed to

balance the wealth and income of the society through a direct or indirect transfer of income
from the rich to the poor.

- Income redistribution uses a progressive tax system where people that earn
above an amount, pay higher tax rates.

- Seizure of assets from the rich in society and distributing them to other poorer
members of society.

3. Managing monopolistic situations

The government regulates the excess prices (prices above the competitive equilibrium), the
quality of service, the market position, the natural monopolies and it promotes the competition.

The government regulates monopolies to protect consumers’ interest through:

- Price capping - limiting the increase in prices

- Regulates the mergers - if the firm with more than 25% of market share

22
 - Breaking up monopolies - extreme step just when the firm is becoming too
powerful

- Investigate cartels and unfair practices - collusive tendering, vertical restraints

and selective distribution.

4. Improvement of market performance

The government intervention increases the economic growth in two main aspects such as:

- Aggregate demand - lower interest rates, increase wages, increase the export
spending, devaluation or rising the wealth.

- Aggregate supply - incentives to develop new technology, new management

techniques to be more productive, skills and qualifications, more flexibility of
the working practices, increase the migration, raising the retirement age,
increase the supply of labour and public sector investments

In the United Kingdom, the government has set regulations regarding equality (Equality Act
2010) against discrimination and increasing the inclusion in society.

- Social inclusion

Social inclusion increase individuals and groups to take part in society, improving their abilities,
opportunities, the dignity of those are disadvantaged because of their identity. The major
barriers may be age, origins, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religions.

- Mobility inclusion

The government might incentive the organisation to create environments suitable for those
have disabilities. Mobility inclusion helps people with disabilities to be part of society as the
same as others.
The government may lend money to the organisation in order to create structural systems that
help people with disabilities to accomplish their duties.

3M1 Assessment of the response of a named organisation to changes in its market

Jessops Group Limited is the UK’s premier photographic retailer which operates in over 200
stores around the UK. The organisation has faced the regulation called Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment which aim to reduce the amount of electronic waste minimising the
environmental impact. Jessops has responded to this regulation by contributing towards a
national fund to assist local councils developing collection facilities for electronic goods. It also
has set up a convenient battery recycling points in its stores. (businesscasestudies.co.uk)

The intervention made it by the government has affected many companies, in fact, this
new regulation has brought some change in the organisation environment, where

23
businesses have now the obligation to minimise the environmental impact. The cost
that an organisation might face to develop electronic collection facilities can be
difficult, especially for small businesses. In the case of Jessops, its response has been
developed in a good manner, making changes inside the organisation developing
collection facilities.

In conclusion, Jessops has responded well to the new regulation and it increased the
competitiveness over the competitors which has responded to this regulation.

Another example of how an organisation has responded to changes in its market is the
case of John Lewis.

John Lewis is a well-known brand operating throughout Great Britain. The company
sells homeware, general merchandise and electricals devices. Due to its 22% decline
in profit as a consequence of restrained customer demand, political uncertainty and
general inflation, the organisation has responded making some changes.
In March 2018 John Lewis vowed to reinvest in their shopping and customer experience
creating an innovative online and offline experiences. Other companies as House of
Fraser and Debenhams are following the example of John Lewis.

John Lewis has established a plan to save up to £500 million a year in the next three
years, in order to invest in products and service innovation so that the company can
rebuild their profitability as a business. The company is also committed to investing in
their partner’s skills and product knowledge giving extra training and courses to
improve the customer service. Another strategic change is that John Lewis has now
incorporated a rebrand that sees a change in name to “John Lewis & Partners” and
“Waitrose & Partners”. The aim of this change is to show to the customers the centrality
of the organisation towards its employees which are the heart of their business. The
integration aims to create a single creative platform for both brands, in theory,
decreasing overall spend on expenditure like advertising. (generateuk.co.uk)

4. THE NATURE OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

The Business Environment consists of three-level:

- Local Level: when the business cooperates with the local authorities, for example when
the company needs to extend its buildings.
- National Level: the business is influenced by the interest rate, inflation, national
policies.
- International Level: international policies, international prices, regulations of
supranational bodies like the EU can affect the business.

4.1 NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

24
Before proceeding with the importance of national entrepreneurship, it is important to know
who is an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is the act of starting a business while building and scaling it to produce
profits. The modern definition is also about transforming the world by solving big problems
(social change, innovative product or a new-life changing solution). In other words,
entrepreneurs are able to take the first step into making the world a better place, for everyone
in it.

So, an entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business with the aim to make a profit.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The profits made by entrepreneurs increases National Income. Entrepreneurs enable new
wealth and new markets to be created and developed.

EMPLOYMENT INCREASED

The result of the national entrepreneurship is the creation of employment. Also, increasing
employment creates higher earnings to better national income.

SOCIAL CHANGE

The result is an improved quality of life, morale and greater economic freedom.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Entrepreneurs often use their money in community projects or local charities.

4.1 ENTREPRENEURSHIP STRATEGY

It is important to understand and synthesise a few keys that will help in your process to be an
entrepreneur, developing a strong model and concept of the business.

Some of the keys to analysing are:

1. Identify the entry points to begin a strategy market:

Pursuing a new business idea starts with our understanding of the market environment which
our company will be involved. So, we need to answer two important questions::

- Who are we going to be selling to?

- How are we going to reach them?

I would suggest taking time to deeply research and after that identifying the key entry point
that will help to make our decision.

25
 2. Evaluate factors such as cost, consumer demographics, challenges and opportunities.

All these potential factors will contribute and determine our market for building our business
plan.

- Cost: This represents all costs we may face (taxes, import and export costs, pricing
strategies).
- Consumers: as we have seen before, the question who and how are extremely
important.
- Challenges: surely, challenges will arise, so we need to be flexible and open-minded
to face the challenges prepared.
- Opportunities: change and adapt our plan to new opportunities to let the business
grow.

3. Global market opportunities

There are overseas opportunities when the business has succeeded. Some advice to be ready
for the extensions are:

- Know the customs of the new market.

- Currency value fluctuation, import, export and regulations of a country.
- It is fundamental to know the nation’s business rules.
- Research on consumers.
- Understand the competition in the new place.

4. Current competitive aspect

We need to take time to examine the success and downfalls of our nearest competition. It is
important to research how many competitors are present and remember if the market is
already saturated, we may not be able to push our product successfully.

5. The exit strategy

It is important to be prepared for the future, so we have to plan if we have an enormous

success or if we fail. In both of the cases, we need a plan in place. MarketResearch.com is a
service who will allow us to research all the aspects of the market on our chosen budget.

4.2 MONETARY AND FISCAL POLICY

26
Monetary concerns the interest rate and money in circulation by the central banks. The Fiscal
policy is a collective term for taxing and spending actions of the government.

MONETARY POLICY

It regulates macroeconomic variable such as inflation and unemployment managing the

money supply in the economy.

The objectives of monetary policy are:

1. Inflation: the monetary policy might target inflation levels when it is too high.

2. Unemployment: through the higher money supply that stimulates the activities of the
businesses leading to expansion.

The main tools used in the monetary policy by central banks are:

1. Interest rate adjustment: central banks can change the discount rate for short-term
loans.

2. Reserve requirements: a minimum amount of reserves held by a commercial bank.

3. Open market operations: purchasing or selling securities issued by the government

such as government bonds.

The central banks incentivize individuals and business to borrow and spend in a way to boost
the money activity stimulating the economy and checking its growth.

FISCAL POLICY

Fiscal policy is used by the government in order to adjust its spending and to monitor the
performance of the economy through the tax rates. It also has a major impact on the
productivity of the economy.

The main objectives of the fiscal policy are:

1. Boosting employment
2. Economy’s growth
3. Stabilize the price levels
4. Encourage the development of the economy
5. Improve the standard of living
6. Equilibrium of payments.

Tools used in fiscal policy are:

1. Taxation: income, property, sales, investments

27
 2. Public spending: subsidies, transfer payments, salaries, welfare programs, public work
projects.

As for the monetary policy, the fiscal policy has two types, expansionary and contractionary
fiscal policy.

- Expansionary fiscal policy: it stimulates economic growth increasing the consume and
lowering taxes. The goal is to give money to citizens in order to have money to spend.

- Contractionary fiscal policy: taxes are raised and the spending is low. The aim is to
slow the economy`s growth and control inflation.

GOVERNMENT POLICY & RELATED AGENCIES

PRIVATE FINANCE INITIATIVE (PFI)

The PFI is a way of financing public sector projects through the private sector. Under the PFI,
the private company can handle the up-front costs instead of the government.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Government spending refers to money spent by the public sector on the acquisition of goods
or investments in services such as education, defence, healthcare, social protection.

The source of government spending are:

- Direct or indirect taxes

- Government borrowing

The government spending is toward:

- Good and services

- Achieve improvements (education for example)
- Provide subsidies to industrial for expanding
- Help redistribute income and promoting social welfare

QUANTITATIVE EASING

Quantitative easing is the process of the central banks to purchase government bonds in order
to pump money into the financial system.

The objectives are to:

28
 - Increase household and corporate spending
- Lending and spending increased
- Aggregate demand to move out of recession
- Achieve the inflation target (2%)

INTEREST RATES

Central banks establish interest rates in order to influence the evolution of variables in the
economy (exchange rates, consumer prices). The common policies interest rate are:

- Overnight lending rate

- Discount rate
- Repurchase rate

The result of rising interest rates is systematised in currency depreciation, credit growth,
capital outflows and curb inflation.

SECTOR REGULATORS

Regulators exercise supervisory authority over a variety of endeavours in the UK. There are
several regulators in different sectors such as charities, education, environment, finance,
health, housing, law, social care, transport and utilities.

4.3 IMPACT OF COMPETITION POLICY

Organisations must evaluate the impacts of the competition policy in order to ensure
effectiveness on their work.

The main objectives of competition policy are:

1. Promoting competition in markets - organisations obliged to produce better goods or

services than others, in order to make more profits.

2. Promoting competition price between suppliers - suppliers are stimulated to give the
best prices to the organisation and people.

3. Contributing to efficiency - competition incentives to produce better quality products to

reach a good position in the market.

4. More choices for consumers - consumers have a wide range of products and services
to choose, often those that have a better price.

5. Innovation - competition boosts the technology innovation of new products.

Competition improves the economy and incentive organisations to grow and produce more.
The consequences of competition are more employment as they produce more investments
and enhance the skills and creativity of organisations.

29
Competition is one of the main factors of economic growth as it stimulates organisations to be
better.

COMPETITION POLICIES

The 4 key points of the competition policy in the UK and EU are:

4 KEY POINTS ARE:

1. Antitrust & cartels: elimination of agreements that restrict competition

2. Market Liberalisation: introducing competition in sectors such as energy supply, retail
banking and so on.
3. State aid control: the investigation of aid measures such as airline subsidies.
4. Merger control: researches of mergers

Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

CMA is the UK competition regulator which its role is to:

- Investigate mergers
- Investigate where there may be competitions
- Investigate the breaches of UK or EU laws
- Enforce consumers protection
- Carry criminal proceedings
- Co-operate with sector regulators

Its role is to protect the public interest and move against firms that abusing their dominant
position.

Competition Act of 1998

The act prohibits any anti-competitive behaviours such as:

- When a supplier has stopped to supply products

- Quotes are similar from various suppliers
- If a supplier sells its products just if the consumer buys an unconnected product
- The supplier has dropped the prices extremely at low levels that not cover its costs

Enterprise Act 2002

Enterprise Act 2002 enforce competition law, penalised anti-competitive behaviours in order
to establish more awareness of competition law.

Office of Fair Trading (OFT)

It is now closed but at the time, it was responsible for protecting the interest of consumers and
ensured consumer rights.

OFGEM

30
OFGEM regulates the monopoly companies that run gas and electricity and help the industries
to improve their environmental impact.

CAA

Civil Aviation Authority regulates aviation safety in the UK, determining the use of the airspace.

Companies Act 2006

The Companies Act aims to modernise and simplify company law.

Public Sector Borrowing

The government must borrow if their revenue is insufficient to pay for expenditure, the situation
is called Fiscal Deficit.

Evaluation of why CMA has blocked the merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda.

The CMA has blocked the Sainsbury’s / Asda merger after finding it would lead to increased
prices in-store, online and many petrol stations in the UK.

The merge between Asda and Sainsbury, the largest supermarkets in the UK, would result in
a substantial lessening of competition at the national and local level. It means that the
shoppers across the UK would be affected as well.

The CMA’s investigation has issued the decision to prohibit the merger after a carefully
reviewed. The potential results would be an increase in price, reduced quality of service and
fewer delivery options when shopping online.

Most importantly, the merger would reduce competition in the market and is likely to lead to
price rises than price cuts.

The impact of the CMA policy has blocked the merger between these two large supermarkets.

4D1 THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF OPERATING IN DIFFERENT ECONOMIC

ENVIRONMENTS

One of the globalisation’s fruit for a business is the opportunity to operate in a different
economic environment. This can present some benefits and challenges that we are going to
look in this section. Following, the example of Starbucks that has been able to operate in a
different economic environment.

BENEFITS

31
 1. New markets: It is a way to extend the business for new consumers. So we can
increase our sales along with our income.

2. Diversification: growing globally sometimes means creating unique products for

specific countries. This can help to maintain a positive revenue stream but also, can
diversify their assets to protect a company for unforeseen events.

3. Foreign investment opportunities: new resources and connections are available in

global markets. Also, the business can benefit from investment opportunities that may
not exist in their original country.

CHALLENGES

1. Physical distance: be and talk with our partners or customers in person would be better
when we run a business, but with the technologies opportunities that we have today,
we can face this challenge easily. So we need to be ready to manage the business
even if we are distant.

2. Unfamiliar Cultures: Behaviours and social settings are few of the challenges to face
in an unfamiliar culture. To assimilate more customers, we need to understand them
and for doing that, we need to know their culture.

3. Organizational communication: handle communications, report or track the efforts of

our team in the organisation. So, the business needs to make sure that it has a good
set of protocols and leadership system to keep going the international expansion.

4. Human Resources: when the business is planning to extend the borders, it often would
need an additional investment like hiring new team members from the country where
the company is operating to be more successful in that location.

5. Tariffs and export fees: typically to bring goods into another company there are some
fees and tariffs to pay. We need to plan how much it would be the cost and incorporate
in our financial planning.

6. Choosing the right countries: if the business wants to succeed in the country where it
intends to operate it is critical to do a lot of researches. Analyzing the benefits and
drawbacks of each country will determine which markets are most ideal for
globalization.

7. Adapt documents and content to the culture: it is not enough just translate documents
to our consumers, we would be able to adapt so they can understand what the
business has to say.

Starbucks, the famous multinational chain of coffeehouses that operates across the world, has
decided to expand its business in Italy as well. As we have seen, operating in a new and
different economic environment compromises benefits and challenges. Starbucks has gained
new markets which has consequently extended the business towards new consumers

32
(increasing the profits). It also has developed a unique product as the cultural tradition about
coffee is really important for Italians. The consequences of this decision have led Starbucks
to new investments and new opportunities where it couldn’t gain in the original country. the
challenges faced by Starbucks is the unfamiliar culture, where tradition and values has forced
the company to develop new product and strategy. The brand had also dealt with a new
language, consequently hire people that speaks Italian.

In conclusion, Starbucks has successfully operated in the Italian economic environment

because it has been able to overcome the challenges strategically and being able to
understand the customer’s needs and wants.

Every challenge hides opportunities, so it is vital to take into consideration each of them and
develop an appropriate plan to support the business growth into new markets.

References:

33
A little more about it. Available from: https://bulb.co.uk/about/
Bhasin H. (2019) Matrix Organization: structure, types, examples and advantages. Available
from: https://www.marketing91.com/matrix-organization/
businesscasestudies.co.uk. (2019) 6 Responding to changes in the market environment.
Available from: https://businesscasestudies.co.uk/responding-to-changes-in-the-market-
environment/
CAA. Available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-aviation-authority
CMA Blocks the merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda. Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-blocks-merger-between-sainsburys-and-asda
Chappelow J. (2020) Quantitative Easing. Available from:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/q/quantitative-easing.asp
Company stakeholders and their interests. Available from:
https://www.upcounsel.com/company-stakeholders-and-their-interests
Competition and Market Authority. Available from:
https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Business_economics/The_CMA.html
Competition Act 1998. Available from:
https://orr.gov.uk/rail/promoting-competition/competition-act-1998
Consumer Rights. Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/consumer-protection-rights
Davis J. (2017). What are the stakeholders’ Objectives in an organisation? Available from:
https://bizfluent.com/facts-6370590-primary-purpose-shareholders-.html
Devaney E. (2019). 9 Types of organisational structure every company should consider.
Available from: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams
Duff V. (2019) The pros & cons of going global with a business. Available from:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/pros-cons-going-global-business-40458.html
Dunsby M. Pricing strategies: which is best for your business? Available from:
https://startups.co.uk/pricing-strategies-price-skimming-penetration-pricing-and-premium-
pricing/
Dynamic Language (2014)What are the 8 main challenges for companies going global?
Available from: http://blog.dynamiclanguage.com/what-are-the-8-main-challenges-for-
companies-going-global
Environmental legislations. Available from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/environmental-legislation
Eriksson U. (2016). Quality Assurance vs Quality Control: know the differences. Available
form:
https://reqtest.com/testing-blog/quality-assurance-vs-quality-control-differences-2/
12 Ethical Principles for business executives. Available from:
https://josephsononbusinessethics.com/2010/12/12-ethical-principles-for-business-
executives/

34
European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition. Available from:
https://www.devex.com/organizations/european-commission-directorate-general-for-
competition-dg-comp-75938
Ferreira N. (2020) What is entrepreneurship? Entrepreneur definition and meaning. Available
from: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/what-is-entrepreneurship
Functional organisational structure: everything you need to know. Available from:
https://www.upcounsel.com/functional-organizational-structure
Generateuk.co.uk. The John Lewis Brand: How an why it has changed? Available from:
https://www.generateuk.co.uk/blog/the-john-lewis-brand-how-and-why-it-has-changed/
Government-backed schemes and initiatives promoting a new business start-up. Available
from: https://www.entmagazine.com/start-ups.htmlGovernment spending. Available from:
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/government-
spending/
Globalization benefits and challenges. Available from:
https://velocityglobal.com/blog/globalization-benefits-and-challenges/
Investing Answers. (2019). ROI - Return on investment
https://investinganswers.com/dictionary/r/return-investment-roi
Kammiri A. (2016). Private, public and voluntary sectors. Available from:
https://www.slideshare.net/AmalKammiri/private-public-and-voluntary-sectors
Kenton W. (2019) Private Finance Initiative. Available from:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/privatefinanceinitiative.asp
Kimberley A. (2020) Monetary policy tools and how they work. Available from:
https://www.thebalance.com/monetary-policy-tools-how-they-work-3306129
Kramer L. (2019) How does law supply and demand affect prices? Available from.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/033115/how-does-law-supply-and-demand-
affect-prices.asp
Luenendok M. (2016) Income redistribution. Available from:
https://www.cleverism.com/lexicon/income-redistribution-definition/
Markgraf B. Project-based organisational structure. Available from:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/projectbased-organizational-structure-60902.html
markedbyteachers.com. Aims and objectives of Tesco and McDonalds. Available
from:http://www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/business-studies/aims-and-objectives-of-
tesco-and-mcdonalds.html
Maximum & minimum prices. Available from:
https://www.mrbanks.co.uk/maximum-minimum-prices
Minning L. (2019) Types of stakeholders. Available from:
https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/types-of-stakeholders
Moltz B. (2018) 6 Disadvantages of international trade (and tips that may help solve them).
Available from: https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-
insights/articles/6-disadvantages-of-international-trade-and-tips-that-may-help-solve-them/

35
Money and finance. Supply and demand examples. Available from:
https://www.ducksters.com/money/supply_and_demand_examples.phpMonetary policy.
Available from:
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/monetary-policy/
Murray J. (2019) What is a conflict of interest? Give me some examples. Available from:
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-a-conflict-of-interest-give-me-some-examples-
398192
Office of Fair Trading. Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-fair-trading
OFGEM. Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofgem
Ofwat. Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofgem
panmore.com. McDonalds Organisational structure & Its characteristics - An analysis.
Available from: http://panmore.com/mcdonalds-organizational-structure-
analysis#:~:text=McDonald's%20Corporation%20has%20a%20divisional,or%20set%20of%2
0strategic%20objectives.
Pettinger T. (2019) Fiscal policy. Available from:
https://www.economicshelp.org/macroeconomics/fiscal-policy/fiscal_policy/
Pettinger T. (2018). How to increase economic growth. Available from:
https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/4493/economics/how-to-increase-economic-growth/
Pettinger T. (2019). Regulation of monopoly. Available from:
https://www.economicshelp.org/microessays/markets/regulation-monopoly/
Pettinger T. (2019) Disequilibrium. Available from:
https://www.economicshelp.org/concepts/disequilibrium/
Pettinger T. ( 2019) Policies to overcome market failure. Available from:
https://www.economicshelp.org/micro-economic-essays/marketfailure/government-policies/
Pineda M. (2018). The four social responsibilities of a business. Available from:
https://www.versiondaily.com/the-four-social-responsibilities-of-a-business/
Prasad A. What are the rights and responsibilities of business? Available from:
https://smallbiz-resources.com/what-are-the-rights-and-responsibilities-of-businesses/
Policy interest rate. Available from:
https://www.focus-economics.com/economic-indicator/policy-interest-rate
(2019) Product Safety Advice for Business. Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/product-safety-advice-for-businesses
Public borrowing and debt. Available from:
https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Global_economics/Public_sector_borrowing.html
Quantitative easing. Available from:
https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Global_economics/Quantitative_easing.html

36
Rennie M. (2018) What is the enterprise act 2002? Available from:
https://www.delta-net.com/compliance/competition-law/faqs/what-is-the-enterprise-act-2002
Resource: The Business Environment. Internal Environment. OBS 2020
Riley G. Competition policy in markets and industries. Available from:
https://www.tutor2u.net/economics/reference/competition-policy-in-markets-and-industries
Riley G. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Available from:
https://www.tutor2u.net/economics/reference/competition-and-markets-authority-cma
Rossum J. (2017) 5 Benefits of international expansion. Available from:
https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2017/12/5-benefits-of-
international-expansion.html
Sayer L. (2019). How to manage conflicts of interest in your organisation. Available from:
https://www.ganintegrity.com/blog/how-to-manage-conflicts-of-interest/
Segal T. (2020) Monetary policy vs Fiscal policy. What’s the difference? Available from:
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100314/whats-difference-between-monetary-
policy-and-fiscal-policy.asp
Seth S. (2019) Why entrepreneurship is important to the economy? Available from:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/101414/why-entrepreneurs-are-
important-economy.asp
Sevilla C. (2015). Functional areas of a business. Available from:
http://foundersguide.com/functional-areas-of-a-business/
Stewart C. (2015) Why entrepreneurs must understand their market before entering it?
Available from: https://blog.marketresearch.com/why-entrepreneurs-must-understand-their-
market-before-entering-it
Scott S. (2019). Examples of company policies & procedures. Available from:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-company-policies-procedures-10995.html
Social inclusion. Available from:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/social-inclusion#1
Stephen (2018). Legal obligations of a business and compliance requirements. Available from:
https://www.legalo.co.uk/guides/legal-obligations-business-compliance-requirements/
tescoplc.com. Core purpose and values Available from:
https://www.tescoplc.com/about/how-we-do-business/core-purpose-and-
values/#:~:text=Our%20business%20was%20built%20with,the%20right%20way%20for%20t
hem.
Thakur A. (2019) How do supply and demand affect prices on the market? Available from:
https://www.quora.com/How-does-supply-and-demand-affect-prices-on-the-market
The impact of the national environment of a company on Its financial policy. Available from:
https://researchleap.com/impact-national-environment-company-financial-policy/
Types of business organisation. Available from:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpx7gdm/revision/1
Umana K. (2018) The role of entrepreneurship in national development. Available from:

37
https://researchcyber.com/role-entrepreneurship-national-development/
Velocity Global (2020). Globalization benefits and challenges. Available from:
https://velocityglobal.com/blog/globalization-benefits-and-challenges/
Wang J. (2018) Why it took Starbucks 47 years to open a store in Italy. Available from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennawang/2018/09/13/why-it-took-starbucks-47-years-to-
open-a-store-in-italy/#5d2b010dfc00
(2019) What is fiscal policy, its objectives, tools and types? Available from:
https://efinancemanagement.com/financial-management/fiscal-policy
(2018) What is a project-based organization? Available from:
https://www.invensislearning.com/resources/pmp/what-is-a-project-based-organization
(2015) What is companies Act of 2006. Available from:
https://www.companybug.com/what-is-the-companies-act-2006/
What legislation covers the employment relationship? Available from:
https://informi.co.uk/legal/what-legislation-covers-employment-relationship
What is a Stakeholder? Available from:
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/finance/stakeholder/

38