Contemporary Developments in Business and Management

Explore the impact of external influences on organizations and the significance of corporate social responsibility and sustainability using Royal Mail as a case study. Understand how businesses adapt to macro environmental factors and integrate CSR practices for long-term success.

Contemporary Developments in Business and Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................5
External influences and their importance in organisation...........................................................5
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................12
Corporate social responsibility and Sustainability....................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
References......................................................................................................................................18
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Executive Summary
In the present time, all enterprises give core attention to their business environment and its
factors because without considering them no company can reach to their desired position and
also cannot attain their predetermined goals and objectives. To survive in the competitive market
place business enterprise has to fulfill each and every need of their target customers. For better
success and growth, the company should consider each and every component of business
environment so that it can make long-term strategies and policies. In this report, huge description
has been given on internal and external environment of Royal Mail which is UK based company
and provides courier and postal services worldwide.
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Introduction
Organisational development is that business concept which helps the company in enhancing its
current efficiency and effectiveness. In the present time, all companies are facing various
problematic issues because of changing competitive environment. Continuous modifications in
environmental factors can influence negative as well as positive impact on the organisation and
its daily activities. Apart from this, for analysing the strategic position of business enterprise it is
highly important for managers to determine all those elements which influence organisational
policies and its decision-making process. There two parts of business environment which are an
internal and external environment. Organisations can control internal factors of the environment
but cannot control or manage external factors. In simple words, the business enterprise can
influence on micro environmental factors but not macro environmental factors. This project
report is focused on Courier company namely Royal Mail which is located in United Kingdom.
In this report, various macro environmental factors have been described which can influence
impact on organisational development. Along with this importance of all, each and every
external factor has been evaluated. Moreover, the relation between corporate social
responsibilities and Royal mail has been determined. At last, Impact of CSR activities on
organisational policies and decision-making process has been analysed.
(Source: Socialbakers, 2017).
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TASK 1
External influences and their importance in organisation
The business environment is that concept which can influence negative and positive impact on
the corporation and its future development. Some most important internal factors are human
resources, physical assets, management system, organisational culture, structure etc. whereas
some most important external factors are political, social, and technological and so on. For
achieving competitive advantage and organisational goals, the company should never
underestimate these above-mentioned components. Furthermore, The Royal Mail is courier and
postal service provider organisation which is situated in UK, it was launched in 1516. It has its
subsidiary company namely Royal Mail Group Limited, which runs the royal mail, letters, and
parcels across the world. Basically, it is a public limited company which operates as government
department (Marvel& Bonfils, 2013).
Moreover, The Royal mail gives high importance to its macro environmental factors because it
cannot control them. It makes its business policies and strategic decisions on the basis of internal
and external environmental factors. By determining the internal environment of business, the
company can accomplish its desired goals and objectives in an appropriate manner. For
achieving desired results organisation should focus more its capabilities, resources,
organisational culture, and core competencies. On the other side, the external environment
includes some elements like globalisation, political & legal aspects, economic, social,
technological, and environmental factors. Macro environmental components are considered as
more important as compared to micro factors because they cannot be controlled by business
entities (Attfield, 2015).
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(Source: Dawsan, 2017).
Development is considered as most important part of all companies because of surviving in the
competitive marketplace they have to develop their business position as well as products on a
continuous level. So, the organisation should make those successful decisions which can help it
in competing with its market competitors. Corporations can make effective decisions only by
considering internal and external environmental factors because they can harm long as well as
short terms decisions of the company and also can influence huge negative impact on
organisational profitability and productivity. The Royal Mail Limited is highly influenced by
business environment and operates its activities on the basis of macro environmental factors.
This organisation provides its products and services in all over the world and it is more open to
the macro environment so the impact of environmental factors is very important for it. The
below-mentioned discussion will explain the all areas of the macro environment which can
influence impact on organisational activities and practices.
Globalisation: This aspect shows the continuous growth of interdependence and transactions of
nations. Also, it is considered a concept of integration in which individual interacts with other
people of other country or region. In simple words, globalisation is the process of interacting
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with people, countries, and states by taking help of growth of the international flow of culture,
money, and ideas. This concept influence positive as well as negative impact on organisational
functions of The Royal Mail (Jamieson & Hardy, 2014). In the present time, many courier
companies have been established in United Kingdom and other countries which deliver their
courier and postal services in all over the world. Now people send couriers and parcels via
flights, trains, and buses which are continuously affecting the growth of Royal Mail. In simple
words, globalisation has increased the option for courier and postal services which provides
advantages as well as disadvantages to companies. The mentioned organisation is delivering its
services worldwide from past decades which help it achieving competitive advantage. In the
present time, this company is buying shares of various international courier companies so that it
can cover large market share and also can get rid of negative consequences of globalisation.
Moreover, by expanding its business Royal Mail had covered large market share and also its
customer base is bigger than other rivalry firms. At the same time, globalisation has to lead this
company to the huge competition of international courier companies which operate their business
in international market. Hence, it can be said that these external environmental factors influence
huge negative as well as positive impact on business operations. For example, changes in
political and economic factors can affect business operations of Royal Mail in a specific nation
(Gavrilescu, et. al., 2015). So, it is visible that growth of globalisation influences huge impact on
local companies as well as international organisations. Apart from this, there is another
discussion which can be considered as PESTLE analysis which will help in determining the
impact of external influences on business operations of The Royal Mail Limited.
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(Source: Bhasin, 2017)
The political environment: Most of the business enterprises are influenced by the political
system of their country or any government change. For an example, legal authorities of a
particular country in which The Royal Mail runs its business activities and practices might
restrict the number of Couriers or postal. Most of the organisations face a financial loss because
of the political instability of their country. In the present time, political systems of UK are
focusing more on flights so that foreign people can easily receive their parcels or Couriers which
are influencing huge negative impact on Courier companies like The Royal Mail. But the still
flexible organisational structure and culture of Royal Mail helps it in surviving in such dynamic
business environment (Beatty, et. al., 2018). According to official data, it has determined that
intervention of legal authorities on Courier industry has increased the rules and regulations on
the transportation of Courier companies, security and etc. along with this, government had
increased the taxes on international Couriers or parcels which are continuously increasing the
operational and other costs of The Royal Mail. This is influencing huge negative impact on profit
margins of the organisation. So, it is highly important for a business enterprise to conduct a
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market research on the legal policies and political instabilities so that it can be prepared for
future business situations or difficulties.
The legal environment: This external factor provides a legal framework to companies so that
they will operate their business activities and practices inappropriate manner. All companies
survive in a globalised economy in which they are bound by some legal rules and regulations of
government. In the present time, UK government has enacted a new law which states that
Courier Company will pay compensation to its customers in case of delay of Courier or any
mistake. This law influences huge negative impact on the organisational cost of The Royal Mail.
Any delay in Courier services due to weather conditions will be unfair for Courier companies
because they cannot bear such cost of paying compensation (Swidan & Yerushalmy, 2014). So,
it is highly important for Royal Mail to prepare itself for such modifications in laws so that it will
not meet with any difficulty in future. If Royal Mail delivers its services in the European Union
then it should comply with all competition laws of EU. Different countries introduce their own
rules and regulations which should be considered by multinational companies while operating
their business activities in other regions or nations. So, it highly important for The Royal Mail to
adapt and exercise all the laws and legal requirements while operating its business activities and
practices in international markets.
The technological environment: Continuous development in digital technologies is influencing
huge impact on organisational activities and practices. The biggest invention of digitalisation is
e-business which helps the company in increasing their financial profit. It is highly important for
Courier companies to make their official site so that people can easily interact with them and also
can track their parcels and Couriers anytime. In the present time, almost all organisations are
taking help of digital technologies so that they can operate their business activities and services
in most effective as well as systematic manner. The Royal Mail and its services are accessible on
its official website. Now, global customers can track and send their parcels in all over the world
by taking help of company's official site (Chua, 2013). For better growth, it is very much
important for a business enterprise to adopt new and latest technologies so that it can fulfill
customer needs inappropriate manner. At the same time, the organisation should ensure that its
website is not too complex because it can create inconvenience for its customers. Also, it should
make its website more attractive so that it can compete with its rival's official online sites.
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Furthermore, the organisation can also take help of extranet through which it can make a
connection with its stakeholders and also can communicate with them online. This can helps the
company in reducing paperwork and also will help in keeping records with high confidentiality.
According to official data, it has analysed that The Royal Mail has faced huge business loss in
2008 because it was too much depended on its IT systems. So, it is highly important for this
organisation to ensure backup systems so that it can recover its damaged or lost information
inappropriate manner. In the present time, The Royal Mail has established various recovery
solutions such as system controls which help it in operating its business activities without any
disturbances (Bansal & DesJardine, 2014).
The socio-cultural environment: Social environment includes attitude and behaviour of society
whereas, cultural environment focus on norms and values which is followed by societies. The
Royal Mail is a multinational organisation and it operates its business operations to meet with
socio-cultural values of people. Changes in customer need and wants influence great impact on
organisational activities and practices. For example, some people like to choose those Courier
companies which deliver their parcels at very low prices. This affects pricing policies of The
Royal Mail. Apart from this, a customer of this era likes to choose that Courier organisation
which sends their parcels as soon as possible. Services of Royal mail are very slow which
influence negative impact on their profitability. To overcome this problem, a business enterprise
should build an upward and downward communication system so that it can easily understand
the changing behaviour of customers.
The ecological environment: When considering the ecological environment, the organisation
has to take into account all the living as well as non-living aspects. In simple words, this business
environment gives core attention to natural things such as plants, air, animals etc. and their
relevance with organisations and societies (Gao & Bansal, 2013). Courier companies take help of
trees for their production process so, it is highly important for them to utilize natural resources in
an effective manner otherwise they cannot use them for their future needs. In other words, the
environment is continuously damaging by negative actions of human beings which is resulting in
global warming. To remove these major problem, a business enterprise should contribute their
efforts to the environment protected. For this, they should perform their business activities and
practices pollution free and also they should recycle their scraps instead of dumping them in the
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environment. Moreover, The Royal Mail contributes a lot to environmental protection; in fact,
they implemented some environment-related policies within their workplace. In the present
scenario, The Royal Mail is taking part in various environmental management programs which
focus on noise pollution and reduce the wastage of natural resources. This highlights that this
company has a huge contribution to environmental protection and also it ensures that its business
activities would not influence negative impact on the environment.
The competitive environment: It includes types of competition markets, competitive analysis,
market structures and influence of competition on business enterprise. All these elements largely
depend upon the characteristics of the business industry. The competitive environment is
considered most significant external factors which can affect organisational profitability,
productivity and business performance within the marketplace (Crane & Matten, 2016). The
biggest problem in this business era is that companies of the same sector always compete with
each other to get a large customer base. The Royal Mail is also facing this problem because of its
strong competitor firms which deliver Courier and parcels as fast as they can which helps them
in increasing their customer line. Some Courier organisations achieve competitive advantage by
providing their services at very low prices and some companies' takes help of government for
becoming the biggest market competitor. In the present time, The Royal Mail is making all those
efforts by which it can diversify its customer base. Also, it is planning for the global market
position by making connects with other Courier companies. This helps the organisation in
overcoming all the problematic issues of the competitive environment.
The financial environment: This external factor involves impact if exchange rate fluctuations,
fundraising and new investments. The Royal Mail is one of the most popular Courier companies
which provide its service in the United Kingdom and across the world. This organisation has to
deal with the customer from different nations who use different currencies. So, there is a huge
influence of exchange rate fluctuations on Courierorganisation. Due to globalisation, Royal Mail
has access to various opportunities of finance within the global markets (Tai & Chuang, 2014).
There are various legal committees which regularly check the financial position of all companies
so that they will not generate profit out of their limits. In the present time, financial environment
is considered as a most important competitive point which can help the organisation in making
its business position strong in the marketplace. So, it is highly important for a business enterprise
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to consider all the financial risks and take required actions to overcome them. Also, companies
should make specific policies related to payments of different currencies (Suliman, et. al., 2016).
Hence, these are some most important external factors which influence huge negative and
positive impact on organisational growth and also play a vital role in The Royal Mail. As it is
Courier Company it should keep confidentiality within its work so that its customer would not
lose their trust in the company. Also, the organisation should consider all the macro
environmental factors so that it will not face any future business challenges. By evaluating
above-mentioned points, it can be said that The Royal Mail has maintained its business position
inappropriate manner and also it cooperate with all external influences so that it can improve and
manage its business performance in an effective manner.
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TASK 2
Corporate social responsibility and Sustainability
Corporate social responsibility is that form of organisation self-regulation which is highly
integrated with the business model. Also, it works as a self-regulatory mechanism which ensures
that company is complying with all legal and regulatory frameworks. Apart from this, it assists
business enterprise in managing all ethical standards, international or national customs. On the
other side, sustainability is that comprehensive approach to the management system which helps
the business enterprise in focusing on long-term economic, environment and social value. In
other words, it is that business response which is becoming a huge challenge for both private and
public companies (Carroll, 2015).
Sustainability
Sustainability is considered as most important part of the organisation because it is sort of impact
which a company exerts on its surrounding and business environment. By increasing
organisational sustainability, the enterprise can create its skilled positioning in social and
environmental challenges. Sustainability shows that all business companies are surrounded by
their stakeholders so, it is highly important for firms to build positive relations with them.
Stakeholders play a crucial role in business sustainability because they help in managing risks
and also provide future development opportunities to the company so that it can survive in the
competitive marketplace. The Royal Mail give core attention to business sustainability because it
is highly related to organisational growth and los helps the company in creating long-term worth
based on business innovation (Flammer, 2013). An organisation which comes under Courier
industry gives high importance to their sustainability because it influences huge impact on
business policies and decision-making process. The Royal Mail is highly influenced by
sustainability because sustainable approach influences various positive impacts on the company
which follows under:
 The biggest advantage of the sustainable approach is that it helps the organisation in
identifying those areas which can create company's long-term value.
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 While working on business sustainability, organisation manages its available resources in
a most effective manner which results in a reduction of operational cost.
 The sustainable approach helps the business enterprise in managing economic,
environmental and social risks which can influence negative impact on The Royal Mail.
 Also, it allows the company to build positive and healthy relations with its key
stakeholders.
 By focusing more on sustainability, a business enterprise can build trust and loyalty
within customer's mind (Beatty, et. al., 2018).
Hence, it can be said that sustainability is that business response which helps The Royal Mail in
transforming its potential risks, threats, and uncertainties into organisational development
opportunities. Moreover, sustainability influences great impact on the decision-making process
of the business enterprise. While adopting the sustainable approach, the organisation has to
reconsider their financial, marketing, HR and production decisions so that they will utilize their
available capital and human resources in most effective as well as in a systematic manner. On the
basis of sustainable decisions, The Royal Mail has to change its current policies and modify them
as per the new organisational decision which is in context of sustainability. The Royal Mail is
Courier Company which provides postal services in all over the world. For using sustainable
approach it should utilize its available resources in an optimum manner so that it can use them in
future as well. For increasing organisational sustainability, the company should focus on some
areas which are discussed below:
 To make sure that products and services of the company are made under social,
environmental conditions.
 Business enterprise should produce environment-friendly products or services.
 Also, the company should make a corporate commitment to climate change.
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibilities are also known as CSR activities which are business initiatives
towards social and environmental well-being (Swidan & Yerushalmy, 2014). It involves those
practices which are required by environmental protection groups. This concept is also called as
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corporate citizenship which includes short-term costs which do not provide huge financial profit
to the company but still it build and promote positive environmental and social changes within
the workplace. There are various big corporations which take help of CSR activities for
promoting and advertising their business. In the present time, almost all organisations perform
corporate social responsibilities because it helps them in building positive image within the mind
of customers.
(Source: CSR activities, 2018)
CSR activities involve business sustainability, ethical code of conduct, recycling process, proper
utilization of resources and so on. Basically, corporate social responsibilities encourage the
company to work and behave ethically and also motivate to contribute to the economic
development of country so, that its workforce and their families can improve their standard of
living. In the present time, people like to work in only those companies which do not harm the
environment and also have a positive corporate image within the marketplace. So, it is highly
important for business enterprises to contribute their efforts to the betterment of society not the
detriment of society (Bansal & DesJardine, 2014). CSR activities help in resolving some
problematic issues like unfair activities of the employer, improper treatment of employees,
environmental damage, and dangerous production process and so on. The Royal Mail performs
various CSR activities because it influences various positive impacts which are discussed below:
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 It helps the organisation in strengthening its brand image.
 Also, it helps in covering media attention.
 Corporate social responsibilities help the company in boosting employee engagement.
 By performing CSR activities, The Royal Mail can attract and retain business investors
for the long time period.
Apart from this, while performing corporate social responsibilities business enterprise has to
change its policies so that all organisational functions can be operated in the context of social and
environmental well-being. Moreover, business managers of the Royal Mail make business
decisions only after considering the environmental and social aspects to ensure that their
organisational operations are not damaging business environment from any angle (Suliman, et.
al., 2016).
Although, CSR activities increase operation cost of the company but also it helps in improving
business efficiency and effectiveness within the marketplace. The effectiveness of Royal Mail's
CSR activities responses can be determined by below-mentioned points:
 Positive image: There are various negative activities which are operated by a business
enterprise such as ignoring environmental regulations. This can affect organisational goodwill
and also can influence negative impact on the relationship with business stakeholders.
 Employee recruitment: This is considered as a most important process of all business
enterprise because without hiring high skilled employees a company cannot operate its daily
business activities inappropriate manner. If Royal Mail will perform corporate social
responsibilities then it can help it in recruitment process because most of the individuals like to
get placed in that organisation which is committed to social and environmental aspects (Tai &
Chuang, 2014).
 Customer retention: Company who takes part in social activities or perform all its social
responsibilities can easily retain its customers for the long time period. In simple words, the
customer does not purchase goods and services from that organisation which have a bad
reputation in the marketplace. By performing CSR activities, Royal Mail can show its
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commitment to the community which can help it in attracting and retaining a huge number of
customers.
 Access to funding: For launching a new business or expanding the current business, the
company requires huge amount of capital which it gets from investors. In simple words,
investors like to invest in that organisation which has a positive brand image and high goodwill
within the marketplace. The Royal Mail can attract various investors by performing ethical and
social standards or activities.
 Stable cash flow: There are various penalties and fines which are assessed by legal
authorities for non-compliance. If the company does not follow legal rules and regulations then it
can influence negative impact on business cash position (Chua, 2013).
Hence, these are some points which show the effectiveness of corporate social responsibilities in
the response to The Royal Mail. There are recommended areas for improvement, which can help
the organisation in improving CSR activity and these, follow as under:
 Community development: By making good relationship with the community, The
Royal Mail can improve its CSR activity. For this, it can build connections with charitable trusts
and help centers.
 Sustainable purchasing: The Royal Mail should make responsible and sustainable
purchasing decisions. For substance, it should hire that person who will deliver postal and
Couriers with high security.
 Employee relations: By making positive public and employee relations organisation can
improve its social responsibility.
Conclusion
By summering above mentioned management report it has been analysed that success and failure
of all companies depend upon their business environment and their internal and external factors.
Business enterprise should give core attention to its external factors because they cannot be
controlled by the company and have to be followed by all corporations. This project report is
focused on Royal Mail which is one of the most popular courier companies of United Kingdom
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and provides it’s postal as well as courier services in all over the world. It has developed its
organisational position by giving core attention to macro environmental factors. it makes
changes in its decision making process and policies only after considering political, economic,
social, technological, legal and environmental factors. Also, this company focuses more on
corporate social responsibilities because it helps in improving organisational image and business
position within the marketplace. By performing CSR activities organisation can attract a huge
number of people and also can achieve competitive advantage. If a company wants to perform
corporate social responsibilities then it should make its organismal policies in the context of CSR
activities.
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