Business and Business Environment Analysis Report: John Lewis Company

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the business environment, using John Lewis as a case study. It begins by defining the business environment and its importance, then introduces John Lewis as a private limited company. The report explores different types of organizations, including public limited companies, private limited companies, and voluntary organizations, detailing their characteristics, scope, and size. It then delves into a critical analysis of various business functions such as marketing, human resources, and finance, explaining how these functions are interlinked with the company's structure and objectives. The report further discusses the size and scope of different organization types, using John Lewis, NHS, and Oxfam as examples. Finally, the report incorporates PESTLE and SWOT analyses to evaluate the internal strengths, weaknesses, and external factors influencing John Lewis's operations. The report aims to provide a thorough understanding of how businesses operate within their environments and the factors that contribute to their success.

Business And The
Business Environment

Table of Contents
ACTIVITY 1....................................................................................................................................3
Different types of organisations.............................................................................................3
Size and scope of different types of organisation...................................................................5
Critical analysis of different type of business structures........................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
Books & Journals.................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business environment is the sum total of external and internal factors which
highly influence the business operations and functionality. It is very essential for the company to
examine these elements which affects the success of the company. In addition to this, business
environment consist of various factor which includes suppliers, competitors, owners, clients,
technology, government activities and many more (Andersson, Forsgren and Holm, 2015). In
this report, John Lewis company is chosen as the base company. This enterprise was
incorporated in the year 1928 and its headquarter is located in London, UK. John Lewis plc offer
various home products which includes furniture, cooking and dinning products, accessories and
many more. It is a subsidiary company of John Lewis Partnership plc. This report includes detail
description of various types of organisations along with their scope and size. In addition to this, it
also includes the explanation of relationship between different functions of an organisation as
well as how they can link with the structure and objective of an entity. Along with this, present
report going to cover negative as well as positive outcome of macro environment. At the end of
this report, PESTLE and SWOT analysis are going to discussed in detail in order to determine
the internal strength and weakness of the organisation.
Different types of organisations
There are various types of organisations available at the business environment in order to
operate their business functions and activities. These organisations consists of private, public and
voluntary. All these companies have their own goals, objects, aims and purposes. All these
organisations are explained in detail:
Public limited company– Public limited company is owned, controlled and managed by
the government of country. It is the company with limited liability and sold their shares to the
public (Babu, 2012). It is the company which provide quality services and basic necessary
products to their customers. For instance, National Health Services (NHS), is one of the public
limited company incorporated in the year 1948. It is one of the biggest health care organisation,
who perform all there activities in an effective manner. There major aim is to develop effective
services for their customer's. Each company have different norms related to the formation of
public limited company. In order to form a public limited company it requires minimum two
directors along with one secretary. There is a minimum number of share capital before starting a

public limited company. There must have allotted shares of the amount of around £50,000. Large
number of shares and authority are in the hand of government of that country.
 Central government department – Public limited companies in a particular state or
district is run by Central government.
 Local authorities – On the other hand, local authorities refers to those which is controlled
and managed by specific city organisation.
Private limited – It is the kind of organisation which is privately held by small business
enterprise which is mainly started by an individual person or by an entrepreneur. Liabilities of
the members are limited to the total amount invested by them in order to run this business. In
addition to this, shares of the private limited companies can not be sold to individual person or
public (Boons and Lüdeke-Freund, 2013). Along with this, it has been identified that there is
minimum 2 members and maximum 200 members are required to start a private limited
company. One of the biggest advantages of such companies are that there are minimum number
of shareholders requires. John Lewis is a private limited organisations, incorporated in the year
1928 with the aim of providing high quality goods and services to their customers. It includes
following enterprises such as:
 Partnership: It is one of the most effective method used by large number of organisations
while staring their own private business organisations. In addition to this, it is also very
beneficial for those who have low funds while establishing a business. Partnership
business are divided into two main categories- two partner business or more than two
partner. In this type of organisation, both the partners need to invest money in order to
run their business operations and functionality in an effective manner (Sodeyfi, S., 2016).
 Sole traders: Under this type of business organisation, individuals have the right to
operate and handle all the functions and operations of business. In addition to this, owner
is liable for both profit as well as loss. Sole trader is the organisation where individual
person have the right to take decisions and implement them in the organisation.
Generally, it includes members from their own family members.
Voluntary Company: It refers to the company which is based on the motive of non
profit. All such companies managers do not need any kind of monitory benefits for running these
business functions (Dima, Grabara and Modrak, 2014). Voluntary organisations are commonly
known as non profit business companies reason behind this is that they do not get any kind of

profit for running their business functions. It has been identified that voluntary organisations are
the one works with the motive of developing the underdeveloped individuals of the society.
Along with this, they works for the social welfare. For instance, Oxfam is one of the biggest
charitable organisation which helps in removing poverty from world. In addition to this, their
main aim is to promote happiness across the globe by eliminating poverty. It is the voluntary
organisation with large market share as they provide services across the whole country. Oxfam
mainly works on trade justice, health, livelihood, education, gender equality and many more.
Size and scope of different types of organisation
Each and every organisation have their own size and scope according to their capital and
objective. It has been identified that every organisation largely depend upon their customers, as
they are the one who assist them in order to attain their goals and objectives. The size and scope
of organisations depends on key factors of business while expanding in different markets. The
size and scope of above mentioned types of organisation is listed below-
John Lewis- The John Lewis and Partner is a chain of high ended departmental stores
that is operating in United Kingdom. This was created by John Lewis in the year 1929. John
Lewis is a private limited organization, developed with the aim of providing high quality goods
and services to their customers.
Size and scope: In today's competitive environment, John Lewis is operating presently in
51 stores across England, Wales and Scotland. They provide wide range of products which
includes furniture, cooking and dinning products, accessories and so on. This company has a
large scope to invest in business in various countries (Ehret, Kashyap and Wirtz, 2013).
NHS: This is a public organisation and this is involved in providing services related to
social and health care services. NHS is a Public limited organisation located in England, Wales
and Scotland. Main principle of the organisation is that all the services provided to the
individuals must be universal, comprehensive as well as free at the time of delivery. The main
motive of this organisation is to make customer's happy and satisfied.
Size and scope: The size of this organisation is huge and it is advisable for the
entrepreneur of the company that he is doing a very good job as providing these facilities to
people is a good way of helping people and also earning money.
Oxfam: This is a voluntary organisation which is involved in the social welfare of the
company. The main objective of this organisation is to remove poverty from society. Oxfam is

one of the biggest charitable organisation which helps in removing poverty from world. In
addition to this, their main aim is to promote happiness across the globe by eliminating poverty
(Seethamraju, 2012).
Size and scope: The size of this organisation is not wide as this company is not able to
provide facilities to people effectively. It is the voluntary organisation with large market share as
they provide services across the whole country. Oxfam mainly works on trade justice, health,
livelihood, education, gender equality and many more.
Critical analysis of different type of business structures
Every business organisation is required to perform various functions so that operational
functions can be carried out smoothly and effectively. Because there are different functions
which are performed by John Lewis Company and are interlinked with objective and
organisation structure. Therefore, these functions are mentioned below:-
Marketing: This function is considered as promotional tool which is helpful for every
business organisation as this help to increase awareness about products and services of company.
As John Lewis has wide range of product line which consist of toys, financial services, petrol,
clothing, gifts and home furnishing etc. So it is necessary for company as this helps to increase
level of awareness for various products and services of business organisation. It is responsibility
of manager to perform their role in proper way so as to attract more and more customers which
would result in increase in sales and profits. It will help John Lewis to maximise their profits and
capture huge market share. Marketing is the department which plays large role in the overall
accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the organisation. Marketing department of John
Lewis help the company in order to attract large number of customers, so that they can easily
accomplish their targets (Hockerts, 2015). Along with this, marketing department can conduct
market research in an effective manner so that they can fulfil the requirements of customer's.
Human resource department: The human resource department is that function which
performs various function of recruitment,selection, training and development within the
organisation. As John Lewis is successful and leading company and have large organisation
structure so it is essential role of Human Resource managers of company to hire and select
candidates as per their structure. It is necessary for human resource manager of John lewis to
recruit highly skilled and talented people on the basis of requirements of organisation. This helps
to enhance sales as employees perform their roles effectively because they want to accomplish

their objectives. In case of Human Resource Department, they are the one who have the
responsibilities to organise and manage the employees of the company in an effective manner. In
case of John Lewis, managers of the human resources departments manage the staff members in
such a manner so that they can attain the ultimate aim of the company (Hilton and Platt, 2013). It
is essential for human resource manager of John lewis to recruit highly skilled educated and
talent people on the basis of requirements of organisation. With this, they will be able to achieve
their goals and objectives effectively and within given period of time.
Finance: To run organisation functions finance plays one of the most important part for
every company so that operations can be performed more efficiently and effectively. If
organisation have deficit of funds than business concerns can not expand their functions and
attain their goals and objectives. As the structure of John Lewis is large so it requires more
finance to perform their different business activities so that cash flow can be maintained for the
purpose of smooth working of business. For business expansion it is very important to have
adequate amount of funds and for this finance manager of the company is responsible. They have
the responsibilities to manage and organise the funds so that it can accomplish its objectives
which will help to expand business with the objective to maximise profits. Finance is required to
attain the organisational goals and objectives of the company. In the present case of John Lewis,
finance department helps in providing funds to the other departments of the company, so that
they can work accordingly. With the help of pre defined budget plans, it becomes easy to allocate
funds according to the requirements. Along with this, if company wants to expand its business
functions at international marketplace, they require huge amount of funds.
Production: It is the department which have the responsibilities to develop and
manufacture the products and services in an effective manner. It is very essential for the
marketing department to produce goods and services according to the requirements of customers.
Along with this, if they manufacture high quality products they will be able to maintain the brand
name at the competitive market place (Dima, Grabara and Modrak, 2014). Production
department mainly works according to the marketing department as they help them in examining
the requirements and demands opf customers. In addition to this, it is also very important to
produce goods and provide them within a specific period of time. In the present case of John
Lewis, production managers of the company need to analyse market trends and requirements of
customers, so that they can develop products according to the need of customers.

As per the above mentioned departments, it has been identified that all these departments
are interlinked with each other as they works together in order to accomplish the goals and
objectives of the company (Babu, 2012). It has been determined that marketing department helps
production department in order to manufacture goods and services according to the requirements.
Similarly, production department help the human resource department in order to hire new and
skilled employees for the accomplishment of goals and objectives of the company. At the end,
for fulfilling all the requirements of each and every department, it is very essential for them to
have adequate amount of funds. As funds plays very important role in the development of whole
organisation. As well as if company wants to expand its business functions at international
marketplace, it is required to have relevant amount of funds and skilled employees.

CONCLUSION
As per the above analysis, it has been concluded that it is very essential for a business
organisation in order to perform their business activities in an effective manner. For this, it is
very essential for them to examine internal as well as external environment effectively. It has
also been identified that, each business organisation is differ according to there size and
structure. In this report it has been identified that there are three main types of an organisation
which includes public limited company, voluntary companies and private limited companies. In
case of private limited company almost 50% of the shares are in the hand of owner but in case of
public limited company government holds maximum number of shares and they take almost each
and every decisions. It has been identified that voluntary organisation is the one which mainly
operates to help the society and for the development of overall backward areas. On the other
hand it has been determined that private limited companies run on the basis of earning profit at
the competitive marketplace.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Andersson, U., Forsgren, M. and Holm, U., 2015. Balancing subsidiary influence in the
federative MNC: A business network view. In Knowledge, Networks and Power (pp.
393-420). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Babu, K. V. S. N., 2012. Business intelligence: Concepts, components, techniques and benefits.
Components, Techniques and Benefits (September 22, 2012).
Boons, F. and Lüdeke-Freund, F., 2013. Business models for sustainable innovation: state-of-the-
art and steps towards a research agenda. Journal of Cleaner production.45. pp.9-19.
Dima, I. C., Grabara, J. and Modrak, V., 2014. Sustainable logistics and business
competitiveness. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences. 15 (2).
pp.148-156.
Ehret, M., Kashyap, V. and Wirtz, J., 2013. Business models: Impact on business markets and
opportunities for marketing research. Industrial Marketing Management.42(5). pp.649-
655.
Hallward-Driemeier, M. and Pritchett, L., 2015. How business is done in the developing world:
Deals versus rules. Journal of Economic Perspectives.29(3). pp.121-40.
Hilton, R. W. and Platt, D. E., 2013. Managerial accounting: creating value in a dynamic
business environment. McGraw-Hill Education.
Hockerts, K., 2015. A cognitive perspective on the business case for corporate sustainability.
Business Strategy and the Environment.24(2). pp.102-122.
Seethamraju, R., 2012. Business process management: a missing link in business education.
Business Process Management Journal.18(3). pp.532-547.
Sodeyfi, S., 2016. Review of literature on the nexus of financial leverage, product quality, &
business conditions. Journal of Economic & Management Perspectives.10(2). pp.146-
150.
Tutunea, M. F. and Rus, R. V., 2012. Business intelligence solutions for SME's. Procedia
economics and finance.3. pp.865-870.
Voegtlin, C., Patzer, M. and Scherer, A. G., 2012. Responsible leadership in global business: A
new approach to leadership and its multi-level outcomes. Journal of Business
Ethics.105(1).pp.1-16.