BARCLAYS Bank PLC Business Environment Analysis

The assignment involves analyzing the business environment of BARCLAYS Bank PLC, which includes understanding internal and external forces that affect the organization. This includes making good relations with stakeholders, evaluating the effects of external environment, and conducting a PESTEL analysis to inform future plans and strategies. Additionally, a SWOT analysis is performed to identify strengths and weaknesses of the organization.

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
1. Examine the management structure and, the governance of chosen company............................3
2. Assess and evaluate the effects of external environmental influences on your chosen
organisation......................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Business environment means all internal and external forces that affect functioning
of an organisation including consumers, management demand, business regulations and
employees. These factors can be internal or can be external to business, internal factors
are those that arises in the business premisses, where as, external are those which are
other than the business premises. BARCLAYS Bank PLC is one of the biggest multi
national bank of Britain. It was established in 1690 at City of London (Asamoah, Andoh-
Baidoo and Agyei-Owusu, 2015). They provide their services in investment and financial
work. Along with this, personal banking, corporate banking, wealth management services
are also rendered by this bank. This report will explain the management structure, it's
hierarchy along with their governance of BARCLAYS Bank PLC. A study will take place on
the effects of external environment on the working of BARCLAYS Bank PLC.
1. Examine the management structure and, the governance of chosen company.
BARCLAYS Bank PLC is one of the biggest British bank, which provide their
services at different part of world.
History : BARCLAYS Bank PLC is about 328 year old bank and it is the 6th bank of
UK. BARCLAYS Bank PLC is providing their service in London and UK from 17th
November, 1690. the first bank was opened at City of London. By 1736, James Barclay
come with bank as partner, and by 1896, several small and medium English banks and
London banks along with Backhouse's Bank and Gurney's Bank joined the stock of
BARCLAYS Bank PLC. They provide their services in different banking facilities like,
investment bank, financial services, personal banking, corporate banking, wealth
management ( Barclay and et. al, WMS Gaming Inc, 2014). In 1967, BARCLAYS Bank
PLC installed world's first cash dispenser (ATM machine). The management structure of
BARCLAYS Bank PLC is divided into different parts, which starts from Head Office, then
goes to Regional Offices and Centres, after which Regional offices get divided into Group
parent Branches and these get divided into Group member branches.
Management structure of BARCLAYS Bank PLC : The management hierarchy of
BARCLAYS Bank PLC have James Staley, who joined bank on 1st January, 2015 as CEO
of bank, along with them John McFarland is chairman of BARCLAYS Bank PLC and
serving the bank from 1st July 2015. There are about 24 members in board of directors of
BARCLAYS Bank PLC (Management structure of BARCLAYS Bank PLC, 2019). Along
with them, board of directors in BARCLAYS Bank PLC have some executive and some

non – executive members, which are as follow :
Non - executive members :-
1. Michael Jary
2. Avid Larizadeh Duggan
3. Kathryn Matthews
4. Andrew Ratcliffe
5. Sir John Timpson CBE
Executive members :-
1. Paul Compton
2. Bob Hoyt
3. Tushar Morzaria
4. Laura Padovani
5. C.S. Venkatakrishnan
Stakeholders are essential members and parts of an organisation, without whom it
is not possible for the company to exist and survive in the market. The term stakeholder
was first used and defined in 1963 at Stanford Research Institute. Later on in 1980s, this
theory was developed by R. Edward Freeman, which says that, stakeholders are the
person, which lead an organisation to make changes in their decisions, so that they can
achieve their goals and objective. Customers, suppliers, board of directors, government,
employees, investors are some important stakeholders of BARCLAYS Bank PLC ( Barclay,
2014). For them, it is very important that the relationship between stakeholder and their
board of directors remain positive. This help them in providing better services and also
lead them in attaining their goals and objective. Relationship between board of directors of
BARCLAYS Bank PLC and stakeholder are as follow :-
1. Relation of share holders with board of directors : Share holders are commonly
known as the stockholder of organisation, which have at least one or more shares
of company, and also have proprietor rights of that organisation, which depends on
percentage of share owned by them. Share holders can be an individual, institute or
a company. Board of directors are the person who work for organisation and use to
take huge decisions which help organisation in future. BARCLAYS Bank PLC have
large number of share holders through out the world, for this board of directors have

to take decisions with the permission of share holders who have high percentage of
shares. This will help them in taking decisions which are best for future of
organisation along with this, it will improve the relation between them also.
2. Relation of employees with board of directors : Employees are the person, who
are known as back bone for any organisation. As they use to work on the plans and
strategies designed by organisation in order to fulfil the requirements of customers
and organisation also. Board of directors of BARCLAYS Bank PLC have to make
plans and strategies which can help in betterment of employees for this, they can
include improved salary and holiday policies for employees. This will help in
increasing the engagement of employees with company and also help in improving
the relationship between both of them.
3. Relation of customers with board of directors : Customers are the most
important part for an organisation, as they are the only one who provide funds for
goods and services offered by organisation. Board of directors have to make plans
and strategies which help BARCLAYS Bank PLC in making quality products and
services, which can increase customer satisfaction and also help in improving the
trust of customers over services and products provided by them ( Berdan, 2016).
For this, board of directors have to study the feedbacks provided by customers, so
that the relationship between customers and board of directors get improved.
2. Assess and evaluate the effects of external environmental influences on your chosen
organisation.
Importance of conducting PESTLE analysis – A PESTLE analysis is conduct by
an organisation as this helps to establish the external factors that could impact decisions
made inside the organisation, and by understanding these external factors, it is possible to
maximise opportunities and minimise threats to the organisation. Using Pestle analysis
produces a comprehensive evaluation of a project.
External factors the commonly the factors which are not in control of organisation,
and which directly can affect their working and functionality. These factors are underlined
in macro environment, small change in factors related to this environment can disturb the
complete working of an organisation. For identifying this, BARCLAYS Bank PLC can use
PESTEL analysis. It is an analytical tool which is used by business analyst of organisation,
so that they can use the results in making their future plans and strategies according to it
only. PESTEL help an organisation to make plans which can adopt changes that will take

place in external environment of business, so that they do not get affected by this. PESTEL
analysis of BARCLAYS Bank PLC is as follow :-
1. Political : Political factors are one of the most important factor which an
organisation have to study while making plans and strategies. As this has power to
affect the functionality and profitability of an organisation ( Cegarra-Navarro, Soto-
Acosta and Wensley, 2016). BARCLAYS Bank PLC provide their products and
services in economical sector, therefore, it is very important for them to study the
political conditions of country. This will help them in making their future strategies
which will are according to change in political factors. For example, government of
UK make change in taxation policy related to investment made by people. This
factor can lead the organisation to make changes in their strategies and plans, so
that they do not face any type of loss.
2. Economical : Economical factor of a country is very important factor, that decides
the performance of businesses in that environment. If the economic condition of
country is healthy then, the business in that country will always get improved. But, if
economic conditions are not healthy, then it is very difficult for any business to
achieve any profit. Due to the large number of banks in market, BARCLAYS is
facing huge competition in market. Barclays was rapidly losing market share to
mainland European banks and Bank of Scotland. The existing financial condition
also played a major role in affecting the business of banks. In 2008, Barclays' profit
fell by 14% while variable remuneration fell by 48%. At all level Barclays employees
lost in 2bn of personal wealth in 2007 and 2008. Therefore, economic uncertainties
impact negatively on business and consumer confidence so the key marketing task
is to attempt and to realize the relationships between movements in the economy
and changes in the market (Barclays PEST Analysis and Strategy, 2019).
3. Social : In bank enterprise, social factors plays major role. The banks are the one
who win the hearts of their customers to maintain their reputation. In April 2000
Barclays closed its 171 branches, many of them were in rural areas. Because of
that Barclays had suffered from a succession of bad publicity. In the similar way, In
February, 2010 increasing overdraft charges on two million of its account holders
created a bit concern for Barclays bank customers. However Barclays said eight
million customers with standard current accounts would not be a hit by higher
changes, and banks has not changed the rates paid by its credit card customers in
UK. However customers reacted angrily against Barclays bank.

4. Technological : An organisation can use technologies which can help them in
increasing their productivity and also improve their consistency. Technology is a
factor that changes and upgrades in very few time, and for installing new system a
huge cost is required. Therefore, it is not possible for any one to make changes in
technologies on regular time period. Only for this, BARCLAYS Bank PLC have to
study the changes in technologies that will take place in certain time period. This will
help in knowing the technology where they can invest their fund, so that their
requirements get fulfil and also the technology do not get absolute in very few time.
For this, they can adopt technology of solar system, which will provide electricity
and power to the respective premisses. This also help them in reducing their
maintenance cost regarding electricity.
5. Environmental : In modern era of business, environment is very important factor,
which organisations have to keep in mind while making their plans and strategies.
They have to design these plans and strategies in way so that environment do not
get harmed and also if possible then they can use some natural sources.
BARCLAYS Bank PLC is a banking organisation, they generally do not have any
plans that can effect environment or that can use any resources which are naturally
provided. But for this, they can use technologies which are environment friendly and
also can use natural resources for working. For example, adopting solar system will
also help them in saving environment, as production of electricity is not a natural
process, natural resources are required for producing electricity. This will also help
them in starting an initiative for saving environment and their resources.
6. Legal : Legal factors are those which can directly effect the functionality, profitability
and economic condition of a company. It is very much needed for an organisation to
study the legal structure of country where they are proving their services. This will
help in knowing the legislations of country by which policies and rules of
organisation get designed accordingly. BARCLAYS Bank PLC use to make regular
study of these rules and legislation so that their reputation not come in highlights
due to any issue related to it. For example, BARCLAYS Bank PLC have to follow
the employment act of the nation (United Kingdom labour law, 2018), by which they
can idea what is compulsory for them to add in their policies, so that they do not get
trapped in any type of legal issue. Not following acts can cause them by fixing
organisation in some legal issues.
Along with external factor, BARCLAYS Bank PLC is needed to access their internal

environment so that they can check the current status of organisation, which will help them
in gaining their aims and objectives. For this, SWOT analysis can be used by analyst,
which is as follow :-
1. Strength : BARCLAYS Bank PLC is one the biggest and oldest organisation in the
world of banking sector of Europe. The main strength of them in Europe is their big
name and clean goodwill, customer get interested in their policies and services due
to their goodwill only. Along with this, they have high number of outlets and ATM's in
Europe, which help them in providing themselves at every place ( Roberts, 2015).
Where as, they are always innovative and use to provide products which are new to
market, like, world's first ATM, world first credit card and now for 21st century, One-
pulse card, which have combined benefits of different cards.
2. Weaknesses : BARCLAYS Bank PLC has faced issues related to their ethics, when
they provided funds to people in Zimbabwe which are connected to Zanu PF. This
all put some questions to their reputation and also reduce the number of investor for
bank. The main weakness of organisation is, they use to pay a large part of their
income to their board of directors, which reduce the fund for development of
organisation.
3. Opportunities : BARCLAYS Bank PLC use to provide their services in around 40
countries of world, but they also have opportunities to invest in growing countries
and also have opportunities in making their position stronger in regions where they
are not so strong i.e. Asia. They also can increase the knowledge regarding the
benefits of finance in their daily life style, which will help them in increasing the
number of young customers ( Storey, 2016). This also help in increasing the number
of loyal customers, which can help in long term sustainability.
4. Threat : The main threat for an organisation of banking sector is instability in
economic conditions. BARCLAYS Bank PLC is an organisation which provide their
financial services to different part world, and they have to study different economic
conditions of several countries. This lead to inconsistency in profitability and
functionality. Along with this, in the year of 200, due to weak performance and lack
in leadership lead BARCLAYS Bank PLC faced closure of several outlets from all
over the world. This all lead to put questions on their reputation and future, along
with this they faced huge problem in Asian regions, as they are very much weak in
Asian regions.

CONCLUSION
Form the above report, it has been concluded that, Business environment is all
about internal and external forces that affect functioning of an organisation including
consumers, management demand and employees. In similar way BARCLAYS Bank PLC is
one the biggest and oldest bank of Europe, which provide their services at different
corners of world. It is very essential for their board of directors to make good relation with
their stakeholder, so that they can perform well in the organisation. The effects of external
environment are evaluate in the above report which directly affect the working and
functionality of organisation. Importance and evaluation of PESTEL analysis is also has
been explained in the report, so that BARCLAYS can make their future plans and
strategies according to the outcomes. At last the report is end up by the SWOT analysis of
the chosen organisation in order to identify their strength and weaknesses to achieve
future goals and objectives.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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implementation on business process outcomes: A replication of a United States
study in a Sub-Saharan African Nation.
Barclay, B. J. and et. al., WMS Gaming Inc, 2014. Controlling and rewarding gaming
socialization. U.S. Patent 8,671,019.
Barclay, C., 2014. Using frugal innovations to support cybercrime legislations in small
developing states: introducing the cyber-legislation development and
implementation process model (CyberLeg-DPM). Information Technology for
Development. 20(2). pp.165-195.
Berdan, B. E., 2016. Physician leadership in a changing healthcare environment. Frontiers
of health services management. 32(3). pp.27-32.
Cegarra-Navarro, J. G., Soto-Acosta, P. and Wensley, A. K., 2016. Structured knowledge
processes and firm performance: The role of organizational agility. Journal of
Business Research. 69(5). pp.1544-1549.
Hamilton, L. and Webster, P., 2018. The international business environment. Oxford
University Press.
Miller, R. L. and Jentz, G. A., 2017. Business law today: The essentials. Cengage learning.
Navarro-García, A., Arenas-Gaitán, J. and Rondán-Cataluña, F. J., 2014. External
environment and the moderating role of export market orientation. Journal of
Business Research. 67(5). pp.740-745.
Roberts, R., 2015. Finance for small and entrepreneurial business.
Storey, D. J., 2016. Understanding the small business sector.
Online
Management structure of BARCLAYS Bank PLC. 2019. [Online]. Available through
: <https://home.barclays/who-we-are/structure-and-leadership/leadership/>.
Barclays PEST Analysis and Strategy. 2019. [Online]. Available through :
<https://www.ukessays.com/essays/banking/barclays.php/>.