Business Environment: Leveraging Networking and Cooperation

This assignment content comprises a collection of academic articles and book chapters related to the business environment, entrepreneurship, strategy, and international business. The topics covered include business incubators, business intelligence, corporate social responsibility, business environments, organizational performance, and more. The authors' perspectives on various aspects such as networking, cooperation, entrepreneurship, and innovation are also included. Overall, this content provides insights into the complexities of the modern business environment.

Business Environment

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1...........................................................................................................................................................................3
1.1..............................................................................................................................................................................3
1.2..............................................................................................................................................................................4
1.3..............................................................................................................................................................................6
TASK 2...........................................................................................................................................................................7
2.1..............................................................................................................................................................................7
2.2..............................................................................................................................................................................8
2.3..............................................................................................................................................................................8
TASK 3...........................................................................................................................................................................9
3.1..............................................................................................................................................................................9
3.2............................................................................................................................................................................10
3.3............................................................................................................................................................................11
TASK 4.........................................................................................................................................................................11
4.1............................................................................................................................................................................11
4.2............................................................................................................................................................................13
4.3............................................................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Business environment refers to different internals and externals factors which have an
impacts on the functions of the organisation. This factors include the employees, customers,
suppliers, 'political and the legal policies. Interaction in the environment of the business as it
provides the opportunities in order to attain the success in the organisation. There are different
conditions in the environment of business as it influences and affects at a high level. With the
time there are certain advancement in the society which increases the tools by the economic,
political as well as the social conditions. Present report is based considering the fact of Primark,
the Associated British Foods is the holding firm of Primark and Primark has been launched in
Ireland trading at Penny's in the year 1969. By the year 2000 there are more than 100 stores in
Ireland and Britain (Klapper, Lewin and Delgado, 2011). Further, this report relates to the
purpose and objectives of various stakeholders of Primark. The report also includes pricing and
decisions related to output which is determined by business . Additionally, it also covers those
manner in which the forces of market provide a shape to the organisation. At last, there is
importance of the international trade to the organisation in UK.
TASK 1
1.1
Primark is a public Limited business and is a subsidiary firm of retail of the Associated
British Foods group which deals with the broad range of products and services. The main motive
of the company is to provide appropriate quality and at a reasonable price. Primark treat all the
customers in a equal manner and offer proper services. It helps in creating a huge customer base
so that they visit the stores again. The stated organisation provides a huge range of products such
as clothing, accessories and other items. The purpose of the business in the different categories
which is described below:
Public Sector- These are those organisation who are and controlled by the regulatory bodies. The
ere is one of the main aim of this companies is to provide services to public. The National
healthcare system in UK as it is gain fund by the public business. It is also considered as one of
the main player of the healthcare system(Craig and Campbell, 2012). For example Primark is a
public firm whose one of the primary motive is to provide suitable product to the right people

and at right place. The purpose of the policy is to provide an equal opportunities as there is a
commitment with the environment and with the potential employees.
Charity- This is considered as the non-profit organisation as it different from the other NPO's
there is one of the major goal is to attain the social well being. For example National Society for
the prevention of Cruelty to the Children as it is a charity body as they perform the functions in
order to prevent the children. The main purpose of them as to take proper care of the children
and prevent them forms the exploitation and the violence.
Cooperative- It is regarded as the kind of business that is controlled by its members. The
members are in close association with the business as producers as well as consumers of its
products and services. They work for the shared goals and assist in attaining the targets of the
members in an effective manner.
Private limited company: Private company is one whose shares are not being offered for the
purpose of sales. Further it carries out operations under legal requirement which are less strict in
comparison with the public limited organization. For instance Wm Morrison is private firm that
has objectives of attaining the profitability because of which it is carrying out its operations. The
primary motive of a private company to maximise its profitability and increasing its market share
1.2
For achieving desired goals and objectives of organisation the stakeholders plays an
essential role as Primark has to fulfil the requirement of the different stakeholder of the
organisation. Stakeholders are the people who have a large stake in the company as they possess
the interest in the performance of the organisation (Commander and Svejnar, 2011). There are
some of the stakeholder of the company as discussed below which assist the company in meeting
in objectives :
Customers- The organisation provides the appropriate products at the reasonable prices at the
right place as their main objectives are to offer proper value without any compromise in the
quality and innovation. In order to achieve the targets it is essential to know the requirement of
the customers. They are considered as the major stakeholder of the company who have the ability
to affect the functioning of organisation. They are key of the firm as without them the firm would
not be able to attain its target.

Suppliers- These are the stakeholders who supply good and services which are necessary to
complete different activities that are related to the Primark. It is essential to have a very close
integration with the various suppliers in order to produce the specified goods for achieving the
success (Shigang, 2010). The company major sourced from the Europe and Asia. They offer
material which is being used by firm in production of the goods. It assists business in carrying
out its target with greater effectiveness.
Employees- There is more than 57000 employees of the business and as the main focus of the
Primark is towards their employees. In order to build career of the personnel at all the levels with
the help of management development programmes. There are some of the ideas and team spirit
which is provided in all the areas of the organisation. For prevailing the employees there are
some of the opportunities which are promoted as it is advertised by the company.
Government: The government keep a track on whether the company is fulfilling its CSR
responsibilities or not. In this regard it is significant for the business to fulfil its responsibilities
towards the government in order to satisfy them.
Foreign workers: They are regarded as important stakeholders of the business. It is important for
the company to offer them with proper working conditions so that their needs can be satisfied. It
is significant that responsibility in relation with such is complied with so that they would work
with full zeal and enthusiasm.
Managers: It can be stated the objective of managers is that they want adequate opportunities
for growth and development. Furthermore, they also want that views and opinions should be
taken into consideration in process such as decision making and strategy formulation. The
selected organizations has adopted for democratic style of leadership in order to meet its
objective towards stakeholders such as manager.
Legal system: The objective of legal system is that all the practises and laws related to
employment are adopted by company in the best possible manner. Here, a team of personnel’s
has been developed by the selected business enterprise in order to ensure that all the legislations
and laws related to employment are satisfied in the best possible manner.
Local authority environment: The objective of local authority is that all the company should
adopt practises which do not create any kind of carrying out their activities and objectives. The

selected company has adopted for sustainable business practises in order to meet the objective of
local authority environment.
Council: The council at local government want that Primark follow practises which supports in
growth and development of people living in local areas. In order to meet the above mentioned
objectives, Primark carries out effective CSR practises so that growth and development can be
carried out of society.
1.3
CSR is a technique that support the sustainable development through delivers the
environmental, social and economic benefits to the different stakeholders (Hamilton and
Webster, 2015). It is a wide concept in which there are certain topics are considered by them
such as the human rights, effect of environment and the various conditions of the working. There
are some of the responsibilities which are done by Primark for their stakeholders as described
below:
Interest of Stakeholders- It is important for Primark in order to determine the interest of
stakeholder towards the organisation and this is the main responsibility of them. There is some of
the stakeholder who has huge interest in the firm and for example there is personnel demand for
the higher earnings and the satisfaction to the customers as well as the taxes to the government.
The organisation also provides the financial and non-financial benefits to its different employees
to promote them to share interests towards the organisation.
Health and Safety Legislation- Primark required making an appropriate assessment of the risk
and the customers and the people who can influence by the business operations. There is also
requirement of the proper safety to the employees and the management of the organisation which
is done with the help of proper planning, controlling the activities and the monitor the
arrangement. They have also a main responsibility towards the health of an individual who
works within Primark and if there are some of the issues occurred there is proper advice has been
provided (De Jonge, 2011).
Legal responsibilities- There are some of the responsibilities of Primark which is related to the
government as they have to pay taxes on appropriate time. Each rules and regulation imposed by
the government shall be obeyed by the organisation and with these they need to take care of all
there employees and customers .

Being an organization, it is the key responsibility of organization such as Primark to
make sure that no form of discrimination is carried out between employees working at any level
of management. In order to meet the above mentioned responsibility, Primark has developed
appropriate code of conduct and working policies. It can be stated that Primark is also
responsible for developing reasonable products and services that will deliver to the customers as
per their need and demand. In order to meet this responsibility, the selected business enterprise
has adopted the strategy of carrying out market research at regular intervals. This helps in
analyzing the changing need and demand of people in the market and carries out changes in the
same. Apart from this, Primark is responsible for carrying out fair and ethical marketing
practises. This responsibility is satisfied by using practises of ethical marketing.
TASK 2
2.1
There are various economic system that are executed by diverse countries relating to
demand. These are helpful for the organisation to allocate the resouces in the best manner.
Following are the detail analysis of economic system of various countries:
Cuba's economic policy- An economy which is possess by Cuba is socialist economy as it is
applied on the Cubans as they offer education for free. They also offer free healthcare services
and the universal employment. The purpose of such of the economic system and it is needed to
make the proper performance of the different functions according to the decisions of the
regulatory authorities (Teece, 2010).
UK economic system- There is mix economic system in UK as the decisions are taken by the
market. The people make purchase of the products as per the desire. However, there are some of
the decisions taken by the government which involves the supply of the medicines and to build
the roads. In context of parity of purchasing power UK it is considered as the ninth biggest
economy. Hence, the given business must comply with every rules and regulations passed by the
government as well as regulatory authority.
China's economic policy- As per China economy all the decision are related to the production
are taken by the regulation board. Therefore every organisation have to follow and changes as
per the different changes made by the government. The government further make the decisions
regarding the production as what to be produced and the decisions related to price of the various

products which is to be sold in market (Wild, Wild and Han, 2014). In this context government
make the plans for the economy in all the sectors. They also make allocation of resources as per
the plan.
Where is the remaining part
2.2
To bring alteration in the economy of the country the adoption in two ways by the
government. This involves fiscal along with monetary policy and previous policy is done whose
purpose is to make the changes in the pattern of spending as the modifications in the expenses,
taxes and public debt. There is influence of two policies with respect to the farming and the
housing sector which is described below:
Housing sector- If the fiscal policy is imposed by the regulatory authority the government have
to reduce the burden of taxes. To enhance the business of this industry the money saved will be
invested in the other for making the similar sectors. These situations go in other direction as if
rate of tax is increased. The central bank will adopt money policy so that they can take control of
the supply of the money (Solomon, 2014).
Farming sector- The sector of farming has the less money as they can invest in their business
and as per the fiscal policy the government as they increases the rate of tax. They can ensure the
balance by enhancing the burden that promote them towards the higher taxes from the different
customers. There is decrease in the tax rates at the time of central bank impose the money policy
which is expansionary in the nature.
Monetary policy
2.3
To maintain clean competition in the market in the same industries there are some of the
policies are made for this purpose. With the competition as it encourage and enhance and make
them efficient. There is introduction of the policies of UK government for the reason of the
increase in the competitive level. The policies along with the influence of Primark is as follows:
Competition Policy 1998- In order to offer the policies related to the framework and the
restrictions that can be imposed on the dominant practices of the firm in market so that the act
has been developed. With the help of this policy there is fair competition and to aware about the

problems in the functioning as the government make the investigation (Tayur, Ganeshan and
Magazine, 2012).
Training and skills policy- This policy has been launched by the government of UK in order to
provide and enhance the skills and knowledge of the employees in the business. This helps to
make innovation in the various products and to assist the employees work efficiently.
Enterprise Act 2002- This act is established to provide restriction to various companies so that
business can be carried in healthy competitive environment. This act also help given
organisation to prepare its documents and accounts in a orderly manner.
Industrial policy- This policy is infused by the UK government to develop and grow the
manufacturing and other sectors of the country . It gives various opportunities to the sector to
grow in the market(Carroll, A.B. and Shabana, 2010).
Role of sector regulators- There are some of the competitive policies such as Ofgem as they
make the investigation to properly regulate the policies. These policies assist to control the price
of the product in the market for providing quality services to different clients.
TASK 3
3.1
There are various variety of structure of the market which provide the precise example of
ideal competitiveness, exclusive sale of good and service, oligopoly and duopoly. As per the
market structures they can decide the pricing and output . The decisions considering the pricing
and the output are as follows :
Ideal Competitiveness market- There are different players in this type of market as they are
dealing with the same products. Each business has very low market share and there is restrictions
on the entry and exist in the market. For example Primark is considered as the perfect
competition and there are other companies which also provide the same product so that there is
high level of competition (Brannon, 2010). The decision of the pricing is taken by Primark
considering the demand of products.
Monopoly marketplace- There is only one single player in the market instead of various sellers
as compared to the perfect competition. There is earning of the high profits as the single seller as

they can charge the prices as per their choice. The price is decided as per them so that the
customers have no choice as they have to buy the product at any cost.
Oligopoly market- It is a marketplace where there are only few player in the market and in this
marketplace only few firms dominate the market.
Where is the paragraph
Duopoly market- In this market there are two firms which exists in the market and they have all
the market share of their business Al-Debei and Avison, 2010).
3.2
Following are the various forces in the market that affect development of the decisions.
There are major forces which make the response f the Primark which is described below:
Source:
Demand and Supply- Demand refers to the principal of economy which states that the amount
of good and service a consumer is willing to purchase at a specified price and in the given time
having all the others things remaining constant. The concept of demand works such that if the
price of any goods and service is increased this demand of such good and service will
automatically fall down and if the price any goods and service is decreased the demand of such
product will increase. The organisation will increase its production when there is rise in demand
and organisation will decrease its production when there is fall in demand. Demand of products
may be affected by consumer taste and preference, technological changes, Govt. policies etc.
(Bøllingtoft, 2012). Demand plays an important role in making decision of any organisations.
For example: If the demand of a product is increases with 20% then there will be automatically
changes in prices of the products i.e. the price of the products will also be increases with 20%
also. If the demand of the product is decreases with 5% than the price of such products will also
decreases with 5% also.
Additionally, supply refers to the concept that indicates the total amount if goods and
services that are currently present in the market to the consumer who are willing to purchase that

goods and service at the specified price and time. The given organisation plans accordingly so
that the supply of its goods and services will meet up the demand of the marketplace. For
example: In condition in supply in organisation, if the supply of a particular products is increases
with 20% then the demand of such particular product is also increases with 20% and if the
supply of product is decreases with 10%, then its demand will also decreases with 10% also.
Insight information of various consumers: Primark carries proper research for the purpose to
know the perception of the customers and as they can take the proper actions according to the
study of the behaviour.
3.3
Primark is an organisation which deals in clothing sector and is based in Ireland which is
an open marketplace for international and national consumer . They have operation in France,
Italy, UK, Spain and Ireland in USA also. The turnover of the company is 5.4 billion till 2015.
Primark provides a broad range of products to all the group of people as per the demand of the
customers (Wheelen and Hunger, 2011). There are some of the factors by which the business and
the cultural environment can impact on the behaviour of the Primark which are described below:
Cultural factors- There is one of the main motive of the Primark is to pay attention on the
customers as they wait in order to understand the behaviour which is essential for the company
for attaining objectives.
Environment factors- The people getting conscious about the products which are environmental
friendly and the recycling of the packaging as there are some of the organisation provides the
organic cotton and other environment related products. In context of Primark they are lacking in
providing the same to their customers.
Economic factors- There is decline in the as the Primark is facing the financial failure so that it
puts pressure on the status of London as it is financial hub of Europe. It leads the people to take
back their investments which are made in the company so that they can get out of the risk
(Vitale, Giglierano and Pfoertsch, 2010).
Social factors- The problem is faced by the Primark because of the obesity and increase in
population in UK. There are lots of people found in UK who are facing problem and issues

related to obesity as they are avoiding going to stores such as Primark as there is lack of the plus
sizes.
TASK 4
4.1
International trade can be defined as the concept where goods and services which is
produced in one country can be easily exchanged through international borders. The process of
exchanging goods and services is carried out by buying and selling between more than one
country the purpose of which is to develop the economy of that country. Through the
globalization, the international trade can be carried out as they can get rare type of goods and
services produced in that part of the country. As compared to the domestic trade, international
trade is more expensive because tariff and legal taxes are charged. These also include labour and
capital cost which is high and some companies cannot able to afford such cost so they can import
and export outside the domestic market.(Nandakumar, Ghobadian and O'Regan, 2010).
International trade is beneficial as well as profitable so that there is no possibility in order to
produce the goods in the domestic territory. Following are the different kinds of benefits of
international trade in relation to Primark : Economy-With the help of international trade in the business in UK there is increase in
the gross domestic product and revenue generation. This will help to increase the profit
level and they cab enter into new foreign market so that they can earn high revenue and
they will be able to sustain in the market for the long period of time . Cost of production- The businesses incurring less production cost because of the
increase in the volume of production with the help of international trade. With the help
of liberal international trade policy Primark can import raw material at very low price
and it can again resale in the market.. There is requirement of huge cos for the small
scale businesses so that there are less finished goods. There are lots of opportunities for
the employees as they go out the other countries which provide scope for learning (Zeng,
Li and Duan, 2012).
 Expansion of Market horizon- Primark produce its product for the purpose of domestic
market which is decreasing its potentials. With the help of liberal international trade
policy Primark can easily export its goods and services in the foreign marketplace and

earn revenues. Hence, it will benefit the company in gaining the appropriate reputation in
the foreign marketplace of the organisation.
Therefore, Primark can easily trading in the different countries so that their revenue is
remain high and scale of economy is proper. As if the UK adopts the option in order to leave EU
or say Brexit, it will affect the relation of trade between the EU and UK. The country can sell the
products and services as they have proper relations with EU. There are high prices of the goods
and services of the Brexit and there is also the removal of tax due to the affect.
4.2
Many factors affect the organisation which are currently operating in the domestic and
international market . Following are the many types of concerns which affect the UK
organisation which are currently operating in international market:
Exchange rates- The exchange rate can have impact on the organisation of the UK as they are
operated at the global level. If there are some changes in the exchange rate value it will make a
impact on final revneue. (Turban, Sharda and Delen, 2011).
Taxes and tariffs- There is a levy of taxes and tariffs when any organisation is entering in the
international marketplace for trading purpose. In case of Brexit, the issues and problems faced by
the UK which is related to the tariffs and non-tariff as it becomes higher.
International competitiveness- As any company has to operate their business in the international
market due to the increase in the competitor’s scope. Thus, it creates problem in order to survive
for the company because of the high level of competition in the market.
International environment of business- Each international market has different business
environment it can be favourable or non-favourable as per different organisation. It is very
crucial to analyse the international market so PESTLE model can be used to analyse the
international market
Protectionism- It helps the policy of the economy for the trading between two countries by the
methods of imported the goods and different regulations of government that are formed for the
fair competition between the different countries (Meiners, Ringleb and Edwards, 2014).

4.3
To achieve the outcomes policy is the procedure to monitor the outcomes. The policies
are formed by the European Union for the firms operating in UK . Few policies are taken by the
EU that includes the territorial policies, agriculture polity, taxation and the inflation policy.
These all have the direct impact on the activities of the business of the different countries as the
business of the UK have to consider all the rules and regulation of the European Union and they
cannot limit the organisation of UK (Klapper, Lewin and Delgado, 2011). In order to operate in
EU they have to consider all the policies so that they cannot face any issues at the time of
trading. Thus, the organisation have to identify the different factors such as political,
environmental, technological, social and the trade duties before the trading in the European
Union.
Climate changes plays a crucial role for any organisation because it helps in producing
the product which are appropriate for the customers and it leads to the increase in profits and
welfare of the economy. This provides the growth and development of the economy and increase
in the reputation of businesses of UK. The impact of EU policies on business of UK by spending
and the taxation law by the support and subsidy. There is exchange of products by the UK
businesses and the countries of EU without any issues such as license of the firm as they can
easily export in the market of European Union (Craig and Campbell, 2012). Various business
activities are monitored by national authorities so that they can implement on legislation formed
by the nation. Hence , many different policies plays a vital role in the business because they have
varied identity.
CONCLUSION
Hence, we can conclude from the above report that to run the business in an appropriate
manner it is essential to have proper understanding about the environment of the business. The
management of Primark is able to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats of
the business. This report concluded that it is important to be aware about the monetary and fiscal
policies so that the operation of business and the different investment can be done in a proper
manner. The organisation has to focus on the development values related to the ethics at
workplace for increasing the efficiency of the business. The company also carries out its business

outside UK such as Asia as it has develop knowledge for the international trade for operating the
business at global level. There are some of benefits of international trade which includes the
production cost, broadens horizons and the market. The report also concludes that international
competitiveness and the laws of government and there are factors which can influence the
operations of the business. It is also inferred that the factors that are effecting on the business of
UK it involves the protectionism, technological implementation and WTO. The various
opportunities of the market can affect the organisation as there are different kinds of businesses
in the marketplace.

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