Issues Affecting Footwear Sector

This report discusses the major issues affecting the footwear sector, including changing consumer preferences and growing technology. It provides a PESTLE analysis of these issues and explores their impact on businesses. The report also includes a reflection on the challenges faced in completing the report.

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Two issues affecting the footwear sector...............................................................................3
PESTLE for the two issues.....................................................................................................4
Impact of the issues on the business.......................................................................................5
Reflection...............................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Business environment is defined as the combination of all the internal and external
factors which impacts the working of the business. It is very ne4cesary of the companies to study
the business environment because of the reason that the company exist in the environment which
is dynamic and because of this there are many changes which takes place in the environment
which impacts the business and its working (Hamilton and Webster, 2018).
The present study is based on the analysis of the footwear sector and the company
Reebok. This is an English apparel and footwear brand which was founded by Jeff Foster and
Joseph William Foster in the year 1958. The present report will outline the latest issues
impacting the sector and the PESTLE analysis of the issue. Further it will discuss the positive
and negative impact of the issues over the company. In the end the reflection of the challenges
faced and lessons learnt from the report will be highlighted.
MAIN BODY
Two issues affecting the footwear sector
The business is run and operated within the business environment which is frequently
changing and dynamic. Therefore, it is very necessary for the footwear sector to analyse the
whole changing scenario. This is because of the reason that if the companies do not overlook to
the changes and adapt to those changes then the company may become obsolete. The two major
issues highlighted from the study over the footwear sector are as follows-
Changing consumer preference- the company within the footwear sector works in order
to satisfy the needs of the consumers. But with the changing trends and modernization the
preferences and trends of the consumers keeps on changing very frequently. This is a challenge
for the footwear sector. it is so majorly because of the reason that if the sector does not adopt to
these trends and preferences of the consumer and make changes in accordance with those needs
than the consumer will not like the products and services.
Also, it is very costly for the footwear companies because of the reason that the
companies had to make changes in their product and it is possible that when the company brings
in new and innovated products the trend of that product changes (Gaganis, Pasiouras and
Voulgari, 2019). Then again, the company had to make the changes in the product. Also, it is
very complex and tedious job for the company to time to time do a market research in order to

find the changing needs and requirements and trends of the consumers and then make the
changes in its product line (Huang, Ran and Liu, 2019).
Growing technology- this is another major issue which impact the footwear sector of the
country. This is because of the reason that with the increasing trend of globalization many new
technologies have been coming in the country in the footwear sector. This new technology is a
challenge because of the reason that now if the footwear sector does not adapt to these new and
advanced technologies then the companies will become obsolete in the technology and this will
not be liked by the consumers.
Also, very high cost is involved in the installation of the technology within the
companies. And also, the training needs to be provided to the employees within the company in
order to train them to operate the new and advanced technology. The latest technology is like use
of polyurethane capsules in athletic shoes which provides the runner a buoyancy that helps the
runner in expending less energy. Also, some shoes are manufactured with help of tracker in the
shoes to track the speed and distance covered.
PESTLE for the two issues
PESTLE is a model used to analyse the impact if the changes taking place within the
external sector over the working of the company. This tool is very necessary because of the
reason that this helps the company in getting knowledge of the changes in the environment and
then make changes in the product and services of the company.
Political factor- these are the factors which relates to the changes in the government and
political sector. Like in the present case if the footwear sector brings in new technology form
outside the country then it has to pay some charges to the government in form of taxes and
because of this source of income the government will support the new technology.
Economic factor- if the company is bringing in new technology and also working in
accordance with the taste of the consumers then this will increase the income and profits of the
company. And if the profits will be increased then it will have to pay more of the taxes which is
beneficial for the government. And the government will support the footwear sector in all
possible ways (Epstein, 2018).
Social factor- this is the factor pertaining to the attitude and preferences of the people of
the society towards the company. if the footwear sector follows all the latest trends and
requirements of the consumers then the society will like the company and will support the

company. This is because of the major reason that the company is thinking about the consumers
and in the same way the consumer will also support the company whenever the company
requires support of public (Rogers, 2018).
Technology factor- this is another factor which impacts the whole footwear industry. The
major reason underlying this fact is that if the sector adopts to these technologies then this will
benefit the company as this will increase the profitability and productivity of the companies
under the footwear sector.
Legal factor- these are also the main factor which impacts the growth and working of the
footwear sector. This is because of the reason that when the company goes for globalization it do
business with many different countries and every country has its own set of rules and regulation
which the footwear sector needs to follow.
Environmental factor- these are the factors from the environment in which the company
operates. The footwear sector needs to take care of the environment as the company operates in
the environment and if the sector harms the environment then it will not be liked by the
consumers.
Impact of the issues on the business
Both the two issues have major impact in the business of Reebok. These issues can be
either in positive or in negative way. These have been discussed in the following connected
points below-
Positive impact- the major positive impact of analysing the taste and preferences of the
consumer is that with this the company can know what is currently going on in the market and
then produces the products according to that only and this will be preferred by the consumers.
Another positive impact if the issue is that the use of new and advanced technology helps
the company in increasing the efficiency of the company as most of the work is done with the
help of the machinery and this saves the time of the employees and then this time can be utilized
in some other work.
Another positive impact if using both the issues in correct way is that it will increase the
goodwill of the company (Ciambrone, 2018). The major reason behind this fact is that when the
company tries to make products according to the needs of the consumers and with use of the
latest techniques than the consumers like the company and its product very much. Therefore, this
increases the goodwill of the company to a great extent.

Negative impact- with every good thing some or the other bad thing is always attached
with the things. In the same way both the issues of the footwear sector that is technology and
consumer preference also have some negative impact on the company (Stanković and
Novaković, 2019). The major negative impact on the Reebok company are as follows-
The most common negative impact of both the issues on the company is that the adoption
to these two issues increases the cost for the company. This is majorly due to the fact that the
company has to install the new technology within the business and for this they have to involve
high cost and the cost of installation of new techniques is very high.
Also, another negative impact of these two issues on the business is that the company has
to appoint a person to do market research within the business environment. This is majorly
because of the reason that to study and analyse the changes within the consumer trends and
preferences it is necessary for the company to constantly study the external environment.
The other negative impact of the technology is that the company has to hire some experts
and professional to train the employees for the latest techniques. This is majorly due to the fact
that the employees are not having enough knowledge of the new techniques. Hence, it is the
responsibility of the company to provide for the training of the employees and for this they have
to hire some professional and for this they have to pay fees.
Also, another negative point is that this takes a lot of time. This is because of the reason
that till the training is provided the employees cannot perform the task on the machines and
technologies. Also, for understanding the needs and preferences of the consumers it takes a lot of
time then after understanding the needs the modification in the products are made and then it is
launched in the market. Therefore, both these issues take a lot of time of the company for their
installation.
Reflection
From the above study I learnt that making the report is a very tough job and for this many
crucial steps need to be taken. For the starting of the report it was very difficult to identify the
different issues which affects the working of the footwear industry (Berman and Dalzell-Payne,
2018). This was majorly because of the reason that there are many different factors which
impacts the working of the whole industry. With thorough and long analysis and evaluation the
two issues were identified. This problem of identifying the issue was solved with help of
researching over the internet and taking guidance from the tutor.

Another problem which I faced was of selecting the data to use in the report. This was a
problem because there are many different websites over the internet which provides data for the
given topic. Now the problem which I faced was of choosing which source of data to select and
which information not to select. This was a very time- consuming task for me as I had to wait
for making the report till the data is being finalized. This is majorly due to the fact that if the data
will not be finalized then how the report will be prepared and this selection of the data took a
very long time.
The learning from this experience of the report was that analysing the business
environment is very necessary and for this the company can use the tool of PESTLE analysis.
This is a tool which helps the company in analysing all the factors which are external to the
company but any change in them affects the business either in positive or in negative way (Acar
and Özşahin, 2018). Therefore, the tool of PESTLE helped in knowing the impact of the issues
on the business. Also, experience provided me learning about the different researching skills.
This is majorly because of the reason that for this report I had to research a lot for making the
report. Hence, this experience helped me in learning and enhancing my research skills.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it can be concluded that study of business environment is very
necessary because the company works in the environment which is very dynamic and frequently
changing. Thus, for this the present report mainly focused on the major issues which impact the
footwear sector that is the changes in consumer preferences and changes in the technology was
discussed. Further the report aimed at doing the PESTLE analysis of the issues and also the
positive and negative impact of the issue on the business. In the end the reflection over the
learning and the challenges faced in completing the report was highlighted.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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innovativeness, and business performance. International Journal of Innovation
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Berman, S. and Dalzell-Payne, P., 2018. The interaction of strategy and technology in an era of
business re-invention. Strategy & Leadership. 46(1). pp.10-15.
Ciambrone, D.F., 2018. Environmental life cycle analysis. CRC Press.
Epstein, M.J., 2018. Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring
corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.
Gaganis, C., Pasiouras, F. and Voulgari, F., 2019. Culture, business environment and SMEs'
profitability: Evidence from European Countries. Economic Modelling. 78. pp.275-292.
Hamilton, L. and Webster, P., 2018. The international business environment. Oxford University
Press.
Huang, J.L., Ran, S. and Liu, M., 2019. Vocational interests in a global business
enVironMent. Vocational Interests in the Workplace: Rethinking Behavior at Work,
p.224.
Rogers, D., 2018. The Future of Lean Sigma Thinking in a Changing Business Environment.
Productivity Press.
Stanković, J. and Novaković, I., 2019. Impact of Local Self-Government Institutions on Creating
a Business-Friendly Environment: Multi-Criteria Analysis. In Socio-Economic
Development: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1466-1488). IGI
Global.