Business and Business Environment

This report discusses the interrelationships within management functions and the positive and negative impact of the macro environment on business operations. It explores how companies like M&S navigate the dynamic business environment to achieve sustainability and growth. The report also highlights the importance of understanding external factors such as political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors. Desklib offers a wide range of study material and solved assignments related to business and business environment.

Business and business
environment
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TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO2..................................................................................................................................................3
P3 Interrelationships within management functions....................................................................3
LO3..................................................................................................................................................5
P4 Positive and negative impact of Macro environment on operation of business.....................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Business and business environment can be understood as the parameters and avenues on
which companies establishes huge diversification based on various arenas for higher
sustainability targets. The global business environment is undergoing rapid change and
diversification for which, M&S being one of the biggest retail clothing brand highly focuses
towards maintaining strong balance between all management departments. Report explains the
interrelation of various management functions with each other and positive, negative impact of
focusing towards external environment where macro factors development are highly important
for company (Albertoni,Elia and Piscitello, 2017).
LO2
P3 Interrelationships within management functions
The organisation structure of M&S can be understood as highly dynamic and competitive
evolving culture where the objectives are highly connected with strong force of development
within internal and external forces. M&S company is globally recognised to bring innovative
products and services for customers worldwide with strong customers satisfaction through digital
marketing platforms, where internal management is highly effective to gain cooperation through
strong cooperation. Management functions within various departments are highly interconnected
with each other based on various parameters, where goals of company is highly structured for
gaining huge competitive edge among all global brands and companies. The interrelationship
with company business models can be understood as follows (Elia, Massini and Narula,2019).
 The interrelationship within production and research department of M&s can be
understood as one of the most vital function and highly focused towards reaching
innovative business development for higher profits on business revenues and goodwill
among consumers market share. Production department has role to focus on bringing best
performance standards among its outputs when focus is on gaining best technology and
resources for cost effective products. Research department has also foremost vital role to
search for best technology and innovative machinery to use for inputs within resources ,
so as to bring cost effective technology output with latest quality parameters among
various benchmarks set by M&S. The company production and research factors are
correlated with various segments being highly adaptive ton changing business world
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needs to gain huge profits and high sustainable production objectives through which
expansion is highly strengthened.
 The interrelation within marketing and promotion departments can be understood as one
of the most high functional business function through which higher goals of strong
benchmarks among competitive retail industry can be attained. Marketing function is one
of the most highly important business functions in company business segments where
latest innovative marketing techniques through digital platforms attracts customers
worldwide. Promotion business function is another most important segment where the
target potential customers worldwide can be innovatively attracted for extended business
sales, targeted and segmented into various business parameters. Promotion and marketing
department functions are strongly connected which shows the relative synergy on which
M&S plans to bring clothing fashionable apparels among customers market share. M&S
company through high focus towards marketing and promotional business services can
gain huge optimum business avenues for further expansion into international countries
globally.
 The interrelation within finance departments and various other business functions can be
understood by the fact that strong capital funds for investments, allocation of resources
for various business management activities is the main focal point on which finance
department directs its goals (Heikkilä, Kaipia and Ojala,2018). The various business
functions which are governed under company business models are based on the financial
funds and capitalization utilisation through which higher goals can be achieved. Finance
department in M&S is highly functional and operational based on various fundamental
key associations within production, researching best methods where capital needs to be
invested by company for high capital optimum profits and higher expansion. Finance
department has the role to potentially provide strong funds and stability of capital within
various business goals so as to provide high functional leverage among wide functional
goals.
 The interrelation of human resources can be understood with production department
where business goals are highly diversified to bring forward best output and enable
employees to be one of the biggest strength of company goodwill. Human resources are
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highly focused towards bringing high quality output with cost effective resource
utilisation through which business goals can be achieved as per the set benchmarks.
Human resources are given strong importance within M&S business culture where it is
integrally important to provide them advanced training, skill enhancement platforms and
enhance various fundamental key horizons within digital business world through which
higher goals can be achieved. Human resources are given high importance with providing
with motivational techniques and enhancement focused services, through which various
business objectives can be achieved for long term. Research departments brings various
horizon development platforms through which employees skills can be developed for
higher goals as per the latest benchmarks for gaining strong customer satisfaction
services (Painter, Pouryousefi and Russon, 2019).
LO3
P4 Positive and negative impact of Macro environment on operation of business
Macro environment refers to external environment that impact positively and negatively on
operation of business and enterprise does not have control over such factors. Therefore Marks
and Spencer has effectively analysis and evaluated various external factors such as policies of
government, economic condition, and preference of particular group of people, technological
changes and legal laws (Outhwaite, 2017). It helps Marks and Spencer in formulating effective
strategies and plans to cope up with various challenges and opportunity that are present in the
market. Thus, various impact of macro environment on operation of company can be understood
through use of model named PESTLE Analysis such as:
Political factors: It is factors that explains about policies, laws, rules and regulation of particular
government in which company is operating its function. Marks and Spencer operate in UK and
government has introduced Brexit that has adversely impacted on sales volume and profitability
of organisation. It has also reduced import and export of various products and services thus
reduce Marks and Spencer market share and profitability. But free trade regulation introduce by
government helps company to easily expand its business across worldwide within minimum
restriction and impose of tax duties thus helps in raising overall profitability of firm (Kattel,
Trapido and Dulova, 2016).
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Economic factor: Organisation performance is also affected by economic condition of particular
country such as interest rate, disposable income of customers and employment rate within
particular industry. Economic condition of UK is not good as it is facing situation of recession
and high employment rates therefore company cost of production, interest rate on capital had
increased. Thereby it has reduced company profitability and increase cost of manufacturing
qualitative products and services to satisfy needs of customers (Blake, 2019). On the other hand
high employment rate stated that Marks and Spencer can hire highly skilled qualified employees
by offering minimum compensation thus helps in reducing cost of operation and increasing profit
share of company.
Social factor: Preference need and demand of customers changes as per changes in external
environment so that company needs to identify unsatisfied need to gain competitive advantages
over another company. Marks and Spencer has identify that people are more concerned about
their health and safety due to increasing various diseases thereby company have planned to
launched organic products category for people that are highly concerned about their health and
wellness. Thus, change in customer trends has positively impact on company operation by
increasing its sales and profitability. Due to low disposable income of people in UK customer are
demanding qualitative products at reasonable rates that has impact negatively on company as it is
forced to reduce its profitability to satisfy need of customers.
Technological factor: It is one of the most important factors that keep on changing so that
economic of particular country can grow and develops and enhance living standard of people.
Company need to tract technological development in order to meet customer need effectively
and gain differentiate positioning in the market. Marks and Spencer has use social media and
develop its own websites so that it can easily offer wide varieties of products and services to
number of customers. Thus, it provide ease to customer and helps in retaining existing as well as
new customer to prefer products of Marks and Spencer over another. Therefore it also helps in
effective and attracting marketing of products and enhancement of market share of company
(Wang, Dou and Jia, 2016). Innovation in technology has also increased cost of company as it
has to bring and use innovative technology and trained people so that they can effectively
perform various function.
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Environmental Factor: Another factor that impact on Marks and Spencer is increasing concern
and awareness among existing customers related to environmental issues. Company has takes
step to ensure health and safety of people through effective utilise resource and manufacturing
organic products thus increases sales (Tussyadiah, 2016). On the other hand it has also lead to
increase in cost of production of Marks and Spencer as it had to invest more in technology for
protection and conservation of environment.
Legal factor: It is last factors that is considered by Marks and Spencer while operating its
function such as health and safety law employment law and discriminative law that helps in
satisfying needs of customers and employees (De Clercq, Brieger and Welzel, 2019). Company
has to invest lot of its time, effort, energy and money to implement various laws within
organisation.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that Marks and Spencer by considering macro
factors able to effectively utilise available opportunity in environment. It can also be concluded
that interrelationship among different department helps in growth and expansion of Marks and
Spencer in retail industry.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Albertoni, F., Elia, S. and Piscitello, L., 2017. Complementing the reshoring of manufacturing
activities: the relocation of business functions. In Reshoring of Manufacturing (pp.
57-75). Springer, Cham.
Blake, M.K., 2019. More than Just Food: Food Insecurity and Resilient Place Making through
Community Self-Organising. Sustainability, 11(10). p.2942.
De Clercq, D., Brieger, S. A. and Welzel, C., 2019. Leveraging the macro-level environment to
balance work and life: an analysis of female entrepreneurs’ job satisfaction. Small
Business Economics, pp.1-24.
Elia, S., Massini, S. and Narula, R., 2019. Disintegration, modularity and entry mode choice:
Mirroring technical and organizational architectures in business functions
offshoring. Journal of Business Research/ 103. pp.417-431.
Heikkilä, J., Kaipia, R. and Ojala, M., 2018. Purchasing category management: providing
integration between purchasing and other business functions. International Journal
of Procurement Management. 11(5). pp.533-550.
Kattel, E., Trapido, M. and Dulova, N., 2016. Treatment of landfill leachate by continuously
reused ferric oxyhydroxide sludge-activated hydrogen peroxide. Chemical
Engineering Journal, 304. pp.646-654.
Outhwaite, S., 2017. The Social Life of British Organic Biodynamic Wheat: Biopolitics,
Biopower & Governance. The University of Manchester (United Kingdom).
Painter, M., Pouryousefi, S., and Russon, J.A., 2019. Sharing vocabularies: Towards horizontal
alignment of values-driven business functions. Journal of Business Ethics, 155(4),
pp.965-979.
Tussyadiah, I. P., 2016. Factors of satisfaction and intention to use peer-to-peer
accommodation. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 55. pp.70-80.
Wang, Q., Dou, J. and Jia, S., 2016. A meta-analytic review of corporate social responsibility
and corporate financial performance: The moderating effect of contextual
factors. Business & Society, 55(8). pp.1083-1121.
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