Business Environment: Sector Comparison & M&S Analysis - April 2018

This report provides an analysis of the UK business environment, comparing public, private, and voluntary sectors, with a focus on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), National Council for Voluntary Organizations (NCVO), and Marks and Spencer (M&S). The report examines the purposes, sizes, scopes, and organizational structures of these entities. It includes a PESTEL analysis of the UK retail sector, identifying both positive and negative impacts of the macro environment. Furthermore, it delves into internal and external analyses of Marks and Spencer, explaining how strengths and weaknesses interrelate with external macro factors. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of market analysis for strategic organizational expansion.

BUSINESS AND BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT
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Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................2
PART 1 ESSAY...................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................9
PART 2 THE UK SUPERMARKET SECTOR........................................................................................10
P4 USING PESTEL MODEL, IDENTIFY THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS THE MACRO
ENVIRONMENT HAS UPON THE UK RETAIL SECTOR.................................................................10
P5 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ANALYSIS OF THE MARKS AND SPENCER (M&S).......................12
P6 EXPLAIN HOW STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES INTERRELATE WITH EXTERNAL MACRO
FACTORS WITH RESPECT TO MARKS AND SPENCER.................................................................14
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
There are several different types of organizations that are present in the market and serve their
respective group of targeted customers by providing different qualities of products and
services. The following assignment discusses about the different aspects that are either directly
or indirectly allied to the concept of using business procedures in the different types of
organizations. The different types of organizations that are present in the market include;
public organizations, non-governmental or voluntary organizations, and private organizations.
All these different types of organizations differ from each other in terms of different entities
and factors such as; size, scope, procedures of business operations, etc.
In order to comprehend about these differences between the organizations, the three
organizations are taken into consideration in this subsequent assignment. These three
organizations are; British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), NCVO, and Marks and Spencer
(M&S). The following assignment is divided into two parts. The first part is an essay which
depicts the comparison of public, voluntary, and private organizations on the basis of different
parameters; and the second part of this assignment is a report which depicts the influence of
internal and external factors on the business activities of organizations belonging to the UK’s
supermarket sector. This assignment also deliberates about the differences in functions and
organizational structures of the different types of organizations.
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PART 1 ESSAY
INTRODUCTION
The three different types of organizations that operates in a market and serves the customers
with different products and services include; public organizations, voluntary organizations, and
private organizations. In this subsequent essay, these different types of organizations are
compared on the basis of diverse parameters. The organizations that have been selected for
the comparison are NCVO, BBC, and Marks and Spencer. Along with the comparison of different
types of organizations, this essay also portrays about the differences in functions and
operations of these different organizations.
MAIN BODY
P1 DIFFERENT TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS
The organizations that are owned and run by private entities in the market are known as
private organizations, while the organizations in which the majority of shares are owned by the
government of a nation are known as the public organizations. There is a third type of
organization too, i.e. voluntary organizations. These are those organizations that are run by the
different social groups or communities for the sake of wellbeing of human kind of the society.
The major purposes of operations of these different organizations of the UK are as follows:
MARKS AND SPENCER (PRIVATE ORGANIZATION)
The major and foremost purpose of private organizations like Marks and Spencer is to earn
profits for the business by selling its products and services to the respective targeted group of
customers (Islam, 2016). Similar to any other private organization of the market, M&S also aim
for the generation of higher revenues every year and gain highest competitive advantages in
the local as well as in the international market. Marks and Spencer follows the legal structure of
type unincorporated. The organization follows the sole proprietorship type of business type and
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thus it is not controlled directly by the government of a nation. M&S was founded in the year
1884 and its headquarters are situated in the London, UK. M&S is one of the leading private
organizations in the supermarket sector and offers an assortment of different products in the
category of home products, clothing, etc. (Ahuja, et al. 2016).
BBC (PUBLIC ORGANIZATION)
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) lies under the category of public organizations as the
majority of company’s shares are owned by the UK government. BBC belongs to the sector of
mass media and is spread in the several countries in all across the globe. BBC’s headquarters
are located in London, UK and the organization was established in the year 1922 (Billis, 2010).
The government of the United Kingdom has direct control over the operations and other
business related activities of the BBC. Being a public organization, BBC follows the legal
structure of type Corporations. Achievement of customer satisfaction through the services of
the company is the major purpose of establishment of this organization (Boström, 2016).
NCVO (NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION)
Non-governmental organizations are present in every nation of the world. Thee type of
organizations are formed and run by the different social groups or communities with the help
and support of nation’s government. NCVO is one of the largest voluntary organizations in the
entire United Kingdom and its major purpose is to create a good cause among the needful
population of the society. This organization does not aim for profit making or generation of
revenue, but aims for the creating of a better society in the nation. Being a non-governmental
organization, NCVO follows the legal structure of type Corporation.
Consequently, these are the major purpose of operations of different types of organizations in
the market of UK.
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P2 SIZE AND SCOPE OF THE ORGANIZATIONS
There are different types of organizations and these types have been discussed in the previous
section of this report. These different types of organizations could be either small, micro,
medium-sized, or large sized organizations. The purpose of public, private, and voluntary
organizations are different from each other and thus their size and scope also varies from each
other. The size and scope of these different organizations; i.e. Marks and Spencer, BBC, and
NCVO are as follows:
MARKS AND SPENCER (M&S)
Being the leading organizations of the supermarket sector of the industry, the size and scope of
the Marks and Spencer is very huge. M&S is a large multinational organization, which is spread
in several different countries of the world. There are approximately around 1450 stores of
Marks and Spencer that are situated in various different parts of the globe. Marks and Spencer
operates in the international market and serves its customers with a wide range of food
products, clothing items, etc. By providing good quality products at an affordable price rates,
Marks and Spencer gains high level of competitive advantages in the UK as well as in the entire
world.
Since the business of Marks and Spencer is not so successful in the African and eastern nations,
thus it has the scope of getting success in those nations by offering new products and services.
In order to succeed in achieving this objective of the business, the management committee of
the Marks and Spencer can use the different strategies like market development, product
development, differentiation, etc. (Carroll, et al. 2010).
BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION (BBC)
Although BBC belongs to a public organization, its size is very vast. BBC is spread in several
different nations of the world and is one of the leading organizations in the mass media
industry. The company has employed more than 22000 employees in its different branches. The
majority of the company’s shares are owned by the UK’s government and thus it does not aim
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for the generation of profit. Although BBC has expanded its business into many different
countries of different continents, but still there is a wide scope of company’s expansion in the
other nations of the world. Achievement of customer satisfaction through the services of the
company is the major purpose of establishment of this organization. Another scope for BBC is
to gain higher competitive advantages in the international market by utilizing latest
technologies in company’s business operations.
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS (NCVO)
There are several non-governmental organizations working in the United Kingdom for the
welfare of nature, animals, and mankind; and NCVO is one of them. The size of this non-
governmental trust has been expanded drastically in the last few years and the quality of its
services has also been improved. The scope of NCVO is to expand more of its size by connecting
more and different types of local social communities under it.
Consequently, these are the size and scope of Marks and Spencer, BBC, and NCVO.
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P3 ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS
For the successful achievement of organizational goals and objectives, the different aspects
such as; supervision, task allocation, and coordination are needed to be directed appropriately
in the right direction. The direction of these aspects for the achievement of company’s goals is
defined by the organizational structure of an association (Dhingra, et al. 2016). The different
types of organizations follow different organizational structures depending on the size and
scope of the company. The private organizations like Marks and Spencer usually follows the
organizational structure of type Tall. In this type of organizational structure, the different
departments and the head of the organization are situated into a workplace in a tall vertical
structure. The superiors have their own juniors and staff members working under them.
Figure: 1. Tall Organizational Structure of Marks and Spencer
[Source:http://engineering.iu.edu.sa/index.php/facultyofengineeringorganizationalstructur/]
Since Marks and Spencer is a large multinational organization, thus the tall organizational
structure fits best for their operations and organizational success. The other organizations, i.e.
BBC and NCVO follow different types of organizational structures, i.e. functional structure and
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matrix structure respectively. The following of these different types of organizational structures
by these organizations depends on the size, scope, mission, and vision of the company.
The overall missions and objectives of the organization like Marks and Spencer is linked with
the different organizational functions that are performed by the functional departments like
the department of Human Resource Management, marketing department, department of
logistics, etc. of the company. The sales of products and services of Marks and Spencer have
been enhanced drastically in the last few years and are expected to grow with the same rate
over the upcoming period of time. This continuous development of the organization has taken
place due to the appropriate interrelationship between the different functional departments of
the organization. The role of HRM department at Marks and Spencer is to hire skilled
employees for the company as per the needs of the organization. The department of Human
Resource Management is also given with the responsibilities of providing appropriate training
to the staff so as to make them understand about their respective job role effectively.
The marketing department of an organization like Marks and Spencer also plays a vital role in
the development of the company’s business. The marketing department of the company
conducts and manages the promotional activities of the firm effectively by developing an
appropriate marketing plan for the company. The financial department of the Marks and
Spencer looks after the management of inflow and outflow of company’s capitals. Thus, in this
way the interrelationship between the different functions of the organization can be
maintained by the organization in order to achieve all the aims and objectives of the business
successfully.
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CONCLUSION
From the above portrayed essay, it can be concluded that the different types of organizations in
the market have different size, scope, and functions depending on the organizational structure
and function of that firm. It can also be concluded from this essay that the organizations like
Marks and Spencer, BBC, and NCVO needs to analyze the market conditions appropriately, so as
to successfully develop strategies of the expansion of organization in the market.
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PART 2 THE UK SUPERMARKET SECTOR
P4 USING PESTEL MODEL, IDENTIFY THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS
THE MACRO ENVIRONMENT HAS UPON THE UK RETAIL SECTOR
The retail sector of the United Kingdom has experienced several changes in the last few years.
The leading organizations of the UK retail sector include; Tesco, Marks and Spencer, DIY, etc.
There are several factors that influence the businesses of these organizations of the retail
sector in the UK. The influence of these factors can be analyzed by carrying out the PESTLE
analysis. The PESTLE analysis of UK retail sector is as follows:
POLITICAL
The sector of UK retail industry is majorly affected by the political factors of the nation. After
the BREXIT, an assortment of policies has been changed within the nation and these changes in
the policies have led to the adverse impacts on the different industries. After the BREXIT, the
rates of taxes on the imports and exports of the resources have also been changed, and thus it
also possesses impacts on the industry (Groeneveld, et al. 2012).
ECONOMIC
There are several different economic factors that influence the rate of development of an
organization like Marks and Spencer in the international market. The biggest economic impact
on the UK retail sector that would take place after the Brexit will be the increment in the
trading costs. The change in currency rates may also affect the industry in the negative ways.
SOCIAL
An assortment of social factors is present in the market of UK that affects the business activities
of Marks and Spencer in both positive as well as in negative ways. The behaviour and
perceptions of customers are the major factors that are needed to be analyzed appropriately by
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the marketing department of an organization from the UK retail sector so as to develop
strategies as per the needs and demands of the customers.
TECHNOLOGICAL
The changes in the technological factors within the retail industry have influenced several
associations in the international market. The utilization of latest technology for the
implementation of company’s tactics and strategies can prove to be highly beneficial for an
organization like Marks and Spencer to gain competitive advantages in the market.
LEGAL
The government of UK has developed and implemented an assortment of different policies in
the nation for supporting the organizations like M&S (Marks and Spencer) in the international
market. The different policies are based on the diverse factors regarding the workplace. These
diverse factors on the basis of which the business policies are developed include;
discrimination, equality, income, salary, human rights, etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL
It is one of the most important factors that are needed to be analyzed by the organizations
from the UK retail sector, so as to ensure the maintenance of environmental sustainability. The
retail sector if the United Kingdom is known to use ecofriendly procedures within their
respective workplaces.
Thus, in this way the macro-environmental factors of the UK retail sector have been analyzed
by carrying out PESTLE analysis of the sector.
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