Business and Business Environment: A Comprehensive Analysis of Virgin Money

BUSINESS AND BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................2
P 1 Explain different types and purposes of organizations; public, private and voluntary
sectors and legal structures..........................................................................................................2
P2 Explain the size and scope of a range of different types of organisations.............................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................5
P3 Explain the relationship between different organisational functions and how they link to
organisational objectives and structure........................................................................................5
LO3................................................................................................................................................10
P4. Identifying the negative and positive impacts the macro environment has upon business
operations, supported by detailed examples..............................................................................10
LO4................................................................................................................................................12
P5. Conducting external and internal analysis of particular organisations for the identification
of the strengths and weaknesses of the organizations...............................................................12
P6. Explaining how the strengths and weaknesses are interconnected with the external macro
factors........................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
References......................................................................................................................................18

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Report of Magic White Board...........................................................................................4
Table 2: Report of Swing Patrol......................................................................................................4
Table 3: Table showing the PESTLE analysis of Virgin Money..................................................11
Table 4: SWOT analysis of Virgin Money....................................................................................12
Table 5: Table showing the TOWS analysis of Virgin Money.....................................................13

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Statistics of profit generation of SMEs in UK.................................................................4
Figure 2: Functional organizational structure..................................................................................5
Figure 3: Functional organizational structure..................................................................................6
Figure 4: Matrix organizational structure........................................................................................7
Figure 5: Figure showing the TOWS matrix and its elements......................................................13

Introduction
Any organization, in order to improve the efficiency and productivity, needs to expand not only
in its own economy but globally. Various micro and macro factors affect this expansion process
of the organization and the business environment is concerned with the solutions to such micro
and macro problems. This business environment and the problems associated with it consider
various factors like the size of the business, the scope for its expansion, the innovation in the
product or service provided et al. Such business environment can have only two effects on the
current functioning are of the firm, either positive or negative. These factors and their effects can
be understood by the analysis of Virgin money through SWOT analysis which analyses both
micro and macro factors and brings out the strengths and weaknesses along with opportunities
threats of the organization.
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LO1
P1 Explain different types and purposes of organizations; public, private and voluntary sectors
and legal structures
Introduction
In order to identify the problems in any organization, the first step is to analyse the type of the
organization, which can be profit or non-profit, big or small, etc. The classifications of
organizations can be done on the basis of function, structure, type, scope etc. which is described
as follows:
Differences between profit, not for profit and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
Profit organizations: It can be defined as the organization which is endured with the sole
purpose to earn profit with the help of various stakeholders and owners (Arvidson and Lyon,
2014). The profit organizations focus on the needs of the market and satisfy those needs in
returns of profits for the organization.
Not for profit: It can be defined as the firms established with the purpose of providing services
and products to the public in order to induce development and welfare. Such a purpose of non-
profit organization helps the economy and hence government is mainly the initiator for such
organizations (Aldashev et.al. 2015). Even though the purpose of this organization is not to earn
profit a part of revenue has to be generated for the existence of the firm.
Non-governmental: It can be defined as the organization which is owned by individuals who are
not a part of the government body and are able to finance the organization through various means
without the help of the government officials. They focus on public welfare and practices.
Business purpose and supply of goods and services
The type of the business determines its purpose of existence and the types of goods or services
they provide to the society. For example the enduring purpose of a profit organization is to
generate as much profit as it can. The organization in this type of business is dependent on the
demand and supply of the market. For instance, in Marks and Spencer the production of various
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