Importance of PESTLE Analysis in Business Environment

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................4
Organizational Structure.............................................................................................................4
Importance of PESTLE analysis.................................................................................................5
PESTLE Analysis of Pearson......................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
The study is based on Pearson, which is an education and publishing company founded in UK.
The study tells about the organisational structure of the company, its directors, how it is
governed and managed. The importance of PESTLE analysis in an organisation and how it
influences the organisation is discussed. PESTLE analysis of the company is done which
highlights the factors influencing the organization.
Executive Summary
The study tells about organization governance and structure and the external environment factors
which influence the organization. The importance of the external factors of how they affect the
business environment of the company has been emphasised.
Overview
Pearson Plc is a multinational in UK which is dealing in education business and is based at
London. It started originally as a construction business in 1840s but switched to publishing in
1920s. It has become the largest education company and was once the largest book publisher in
the world. In 2015,company announced that it will solely focus on education.
Organisational Structure
The organisation structure at Pearson focuses on three global lines of business namely, School,
Higher Education and Professional. The company has three geographic market categories- North
America, Growth and Core.
The board of directors include Sidney Taurel as Chairman, Andy Bird as CEO, Sally
Johnson as CFO, Vivienne Cox as senior Independent Director; company has these has non-
executive directors namely Dame Elizabeth Corley, Sherry Coutu, Linda Lorimer, Michael
Lynton, Graeme Pitkethly, Tim Score and Lincoln Wallen (Williamson, 2020).
The company's executive leadership includes Andy Bird as CEO, Sally Johnson as CFO,
Tim Bozik as President, Global Product and North America Courseware, Rod Bristow as
President, UK and global online learning, Lynne Frank as Chief Marketing officer and Co-
President, Direct-to-Consumer, Giovanni Giovannelli as President, International, Albert
Hitchcock as Chief Technology and Operations Officer, Mike Howells as Chief Strategy Officer,

Ishantha Lokuge as Chief Product Officer and Co-President, Direct to Consumer, Cinthia
Nespoli as chief legal officer, Anna Vikstrom Persson as Chief Human Resources Officer, Bob
Whelan as President, Pearson Assessment.
Talking of CEO Andy Bird, he was appointed to the Board on May 1,2020 and appointed
as Chief Executive Officer on 19 October 2020. Andy has a remarkable career spanning 35 years
in the media industry. Andy has spent 14 years working for Walt Disney, as firstly President and
then Chairman. Andy had done remarkable work in enhancing company's local presence in
countries around the world (Neis, Pereira and Maccari, 2017).
Speaking of Chairman Sidney Taurel, he has over 45 years of experience in business and
finance. He was appointed on January 1,2016. He is also the Director of IBM Corporation, where
he is serving the corporate governance committee. The chairman has commanded several
prominent posts in various sectors and is also an awarded person.
Importance of PESTLE analysis
This analysis is used to reduce business threats. It judges the macro external factors which can
influence a company's decision-making. The points which analysis addresses are:
a) Cost effectiveness: The only cost factor which the analysis involves is time. PESTLE can be
made very easily on a pen and paper basis.
b) Understanding of environment: Environments which are directly affecting or indirectly
affecting the business are noticed by this analysis (Perera, 2017).
c) Alertness development: It can narrow down on factors which are urgent address and require
attention of the company.
PESTLE analysis has the following factors associated in it:
a) Political: The factors which affect the business environment and trade markets are
government regulations. It includes factors like political stability, tax guidelines, trade
regulations, safety and employment laws. Government regulations can change with change in
government. With changing political structure, relations can change of a country with other. This
can lay effect on the business. The tariff rates can change which were imposed earlier by
previous government. Also, the tax policies can change for corporates by changing governments