Business Environment: Primark and its Objectives

BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Identification of type of organisation and its purpose......................................................1
1.2 The extent to which Primark meets its objectives............................................................2
1.3 Responsibilities of Primark and strategies employed by the company to meet them......3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Operation of different economic systems to allocate resources effectively.....................4
2.2 Assessing the impact of monetary and fiscal policy on housing and farming sector.......5
2.3 Competition policies and their impact..............................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
3.1 Determination of pricing and output decisions of businesses in different market structures
................................................................................................................................................6
3.2 Way in which market forces shape organisational responses..........................................7
3.3 Impact of business and cultural environment ..................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
4.1 Significance of international trade to UK business organisation.....................................8
4.3 Impact of policies of the European union on UK business organization.........................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Business environment is determined as the internal and external factors that influence the
operating situation of an organisation. These factors include customers, suppliers, competitors,
government regulations, technological changes, economic factors and social trends. The present
report is on Primark, an international retailer which is a subsidiary of ABF (Associated British
Food) Groups. The company was launched in 1969 and is headquartered in Dublin under the
name Penneys (Welte and Smallbone, 2011). By 2012, the company had over 238 branches
operating across Ireland, UK and Europe. It offers a variety of products ranging from children's
clothing, men and women wear, accessories, footwear, homeware, beauty products and
confectionery. Innovation and fashion driven edge has made the company distinctive across the
globe. This report explains different types of organisation and their objectives. Further, it
evaluates operation of different economic system and allocation of resources. Lastly, it provides
an understanding of different market structures and their impact on output and pricing decisions
on the cited organisation.
TASK 1
1.1 Identification of type of organisation and its purpose
Primark is a private retail organisation operating in the business of fashion industry. The
business firm in private sector of an economy is controlled and operated by private individuals.
The company is engaged in offering wide range of products such as clothings for children, men
and women, homewares, accessories, footwear etc. The company has an competitive edge due to
its innovation and strategy to sell trendy outfits at lower price (Arasti, Zandi and Bahmani,
2014). The main focus of company is to offer quality products to its customers to enhance brand
value and customer loyalty. Following are the main objectives of Primark :
 To satisfy the needs of customers by offering them quality products and services.
 Providing quality products at comparatively lower prices to attract new customers and
retain old ones.
 Establishing healthy customer relationship to ensure their loyalty and enhance brand
image.
 Strategies are formulated that can maximize profits and wealth of the organisation which
helps in offering high dividend to the shareholders.
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 To achieve economies of scale by efficient distribution channels of products which aids
in surviving in different market conditions.
a) Public sector : Tesco is a good example of public sector company which is engaged in
the diversified business of retailing of products such as clothes, books, furniture, electronics,
toys, software and also services including financial services, internet and telecom services
(Pikka, Iskanius and Page, 2011). A public sector organisation is owned and operated by
government and engaged in providing goods or services to its citizens.
b) Charity : Charitable organisations are type of non-profit organisation which focus on
social well-being and philanthropic goals. For example – Cancer Charity UK is a cancer research
and awareness charity which aims to reduce deaths caused due to cancer. It is also involved in
research for prevention and treatment of disease and carry out campaigns to aware people about
the disease.
c) Cooperative : Cooperatives are autonomous association of people who gather to meet their
social and economic needs through a jointly owned and controlled organisation. Cooperatives
UK is an example of cooperative whose objective is to unite and develop cooperatives across all
the sectors.
1.2 The extent to which Primark meets its objectives
Primark is one of the leading retailer engaged in fashion industry. The success of a
company depends upon different stakeholders which may be internal like employees of the cited
organisation or external such as customers and suppliers. The company forms and execute
various strategies to meet its objectives and match the needs of its stakeholders. This helps in
building a good brand image and establishing long term relationships with the stakeholders
(Bryman and Bell, 2015). The major stakeholders of the company and the extent to which
Primark meets its objectives are :
1. Employees : Employees are the most valuable asset of an organisation. These are the
people employed by the company who work to achieve organisational goals. Primark
seeks to care of employees and their concerns. It provides both monetary as well as non-
monetary benefits to employees such as incentives, bonus, promotion, job security etc.
This ensures that employees feel motivated and work effectively and efficiently. This
helps in maintaining healthy environment at workplace and ensure long - term
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