Internal and External Information for Business Planning and Decision Making

This report discusses the internal and external information required for business planning, control process and decision making. It also includes a PESTLE Analysis and Porter's Five Forces Model for analysing key factors for influencing organisation and its ways to support business decision. The report focuses on The Buffet Cafe, a UK-based organisation.

Introduction to business

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2.........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 3.........................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Business is defined as an enterprise which is engaged in professional, industrial as
well as commercial operations. Such activities facilitate business in earning and maximising
profits towards attainment of organisational objectives and goals. There are various
functional areas that create influence on business operations. There are also some of the
factors that exist in business environment and impacting business in either positive or in
negative way (Chen, 2019). Within this report, the business that is taken into consideration is
The Buffet Cafe which will be a UK-based organisation. This report includes determination
of the external as well as internal information that is needed to business for the process of
planning, decision-making along with controlling purposes. There will be a PESTLE
Analysis and Porter's Five Forces framework for analysing key factors which generate
influence on organisation and improve its performance.
MAIN BODY
Determination of internal and external information required by business for planning, control
process and decision making
Internal information is recorded in paper as well as oral format that is maintained by
an organisation or its human resources. Such type of information is significant for the
business to gain the understanding regarding present situation as well as performance of the
organisation. This information can also be used by the manager of The Buffet Cafe for
various purposes that are given as under:
 Planning: Internal knowledge or information is required by the manager of cafe for
planning a wide number of business operations. This is also significant for
administrators to determine that what kind of processes and strategies to be adopted
by them in order to grow the business and achieve its success.
 Decision-making: The another role of internal information is that it helps managers
of the cafe in making business decisions in a well-informed way (Cox, 2019). This
allow them to make the selection among available options giving several benefits to
business.
 Controlling: Managers of cafe will also use internal information for enduring
appropriate control because it permits managers of the cafe for determining the area
that needs more control.

External Information can also be used by managers of The Buffet Cafe and this type
of information is present outside the workplace. This becomes significant for organisation to
take into consideration such kind of information that makes the decisions because it will
permit managers of cafe to take benefits of a circumstance. This is significant for various
business functions and its description is given as below:
 Planning: In order to plan several activities within the business, the managers of The
Buffet Cafe are required to gain the external information (Ganson and Wennmann,
2018). This will allow the business to gain understanding regarding new trends that
are active within the environment. Such changes also influence organisational
planning which permit managers of the business in chasing benefits of situations.
 Decision-making: Managers of The Buffet Cafe are also required to gain external
information of business for making decisions as it will help them in overcoming of
threat or risks present within marketplace.
 Controlling: Based on external information, the business of Cafe can control external
factors of workplace which is very significant for facing the different situation and
also taking benefit of this.
PESTLE Analysis and Porter's Five Forces Model for analysing key factors for influencing
organisation and its ways to support business decision
PESTLE Analysis is a framework that is used to analyse the impact of macro
environmental factors that are influencing performance of an industry. A Pestle analysis is
often used as a wide fact-finding activity and also provide assistance to an organization in
establishing the external factors which could have influence on the decisions of the business
that are framed within the workplace. With the help of understanding the impact of these
external factors can have on an organisation, it becomes handy for the businesses for making
plans in a better way. This kind of framework is a useful addition to the toolkit of an
organisation as it helps in providing a very structured as well as precise analysis of the
exterior environment of the business. Such kind of analysis is used to make a systematic as
well as thorough evaluation of a new business and gives decision makers a better and
effective awareness along with the understanding of the modifications that may occur and
influence that such changes may have on the business. The factors in this kind of analysis
include political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. The
description of Pestle analysis is given as under in context to The Buffet Cafe:

 Political factors: These factors include government regulations, policies and
procedures that create impact on the functioning of the business (Klun and Trkman,
2018). Guidelines of government regarding pandemic situation of COVID-19 such as
social distancing, wearing mask and many others can impact the business of the
respective cafe in an adverse manner.
 Economic factors: Such factors include interest rates, inflation rates, etc. that have an
impact on performance of business. In context to The Buffet Cafe, economic
lockdown within the country due to pandemic can greatly influence operations of cafe
in such a way that it can reduce its business operations.
 Social factors: Population growth, education level, taste and preferences are some
examples of social factors. After pandemic situation of COVID-19, customers become
more health conscious and therefore, it will be beneficial for The Buffet Cafe to
understand customers perceptions of health consciousness and sell healthy food
products that include more green veggies. This will help organisation in capturing a
large number of market share.
 Technological factors: The technological environment within UK is highly upgraded
and developed and this will provide competitive benefits to the cafe if it will use
advanced technologies in producing food (Pikhart, 2018). This will help organisation
in saving both time and cost of the business.
 Legal factors: The legislative system of UK has made certain legislations regarding
employment like Employment Law, Human Rights Law and many more. The
managers of The Buffet Cafe are required to adhere such laws and legislations and
work in an ethical environment. This will enhance the brand value of organisation
within the marketplace and also gives it a competitive edge.
 Environmental factors: These factors include pollution, climate, CSR and many
other factors that impact business performance either in positive or negative way. The
Buffet Cafe consists of contribution for environmental development by keeping
environment clean and pollution free. This will help cafe in chasing a competitive
advantage over competitors within marketplace.
Porter's Five Forces Model is an analytical model that helps an organisation in
analying the level of competitiveness within the industry. This tool was introduced by
Michael E.Porter in the year 1980 and is considered as one of the most effective framework
for analysing structure of industry by determining the factors that create threat for them
(Sioshansi, 2019). such kind of model is considered as a significant tool for gaining the

understanding of the key competitive forces at work within an industry. It can help the
respective cafe in assessing the attractiveness of its industry and some pinpoint areas where
the organisation can adjust the strategy for the purpose of improving the profitability and
efficiency within the business. The model of Porter's Five Forces helps an organisation in
estimating the level of competition within the industry and also showcase the points where
the strengths as well as threats of the business exist. Such kind of model will help the cafe in
analysing the competitive environment of the organisation within the respective industry.
This model also helps in identifying the entities that are holding power and also display the
opportunities for the purpose of the b business expansion. The impact of different forces of
this model is given as follows:
 Competitive rivalry: There are a large number of competitors of The Buffet Cafe
within the food and beverage industry in UK. Some of these competitors include
Origin Coffee Roasters, Laynes Espresso and many others. In order to overcome the
threat of competition and chasing competitive advantage, the managers of The Buffet
Cafe are required to frame effective business and marketing strategies that will
provide assistance to them in capturing a large number of the market share within the
market place.
 Threat of New entrants: The factor of new entrants can also create a threat for the
business of The Buffet Cafe as it will enhance the number of players within the food
industry which can reduce profitability, productivity as well as efficiency of the
organisation. There are less restrictions to take entry into the respective industry so
other firms can easily enter into the market and create a threat for the café (Tipu,
2018). Hence, there is high threat of new entrants for The Buffet Cafe within the food
industry.
 Threat of bargaining power of suppliers: Suppliers are considered as valuable
person for the organisation because they offer raw materials and other essential things
to the business. In context to The Buffet Cafe, there are a large number of suppliers
providing raw material related to food so the respective cafe can easily switch to
another supplier if one will rise the price of supplying its products to the cafe.
Therefore, there is a low threat of bargaining power of suppliers for The Buffet Cafe.
 Threat of bargaining power of buyers: Customers are large in number and are more
concerned about the new taste and unique food products. The Buffet Cafe will offer a
wide variety of food and beverages that will also contain healthy ingredients within
the food which make it more tasty and healthy. The managers of cafe have to maintain

customer loyalty through producing the food as per perceptions of the customers.
Thus, there is a low threat of bargaining power of customers for The Buffet Cafe.
 Threat of substitute products: Substitute products are those products that can be
easily replaceable by a person, group or an organization (Viswanadham, 2018). There
are different substitute products of The Buffet Cafe which are available within the
market place. Hence, there is moderate threat of substitute products for The Buffet
Cafe.
CONCLUSION
From above explanation of the report, it has been concluded that business plays a
significant role in earning as well as maximizing the profits of an individual or an
organization. Within this report, there has been discussion on the external as well as internal
information that is needed by business for operating a wide variety of activities. Along with
it, this report has also been included pestle analysis of a café for analyzing the impact of
macro environmental factors on business functioning. In order to analyse competitiveness
level within the industry, the model of Porter’s Five Forces has been used which helps the
company in making strategic decision and gaining competitive advantage.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Cox, R. W., 2019. Introduction: bringing business back in—the business conflict theory of
international relations. In Business and the state in international relations (pp. 1-7).
Routledge.
Ganson, B. and Wennmann, A., 2018. Business and conflict in fragile states: The case for
pragmatic solutions. Routledge.
Klun, M. and Trkman, P., 2018. Business process management–at the crossroads. Business
Process Management Journal.
Pikhart, M., 2018, August. Technology enhanced learning experience in intercultural
business communication course: a case study. In International Symposium on
Emerging Technologies for Education (pp. 41-45). Springer, Cham.
Sioshansi, F.P. ed., 2019. Consumer, prosumer, prosumager: How service innovations will
disrupt the utility business model. Academic Press.
Tipu, S. A. A., 2018. Business plan competitions in developed and emerging economies:
What do we still need to know?. Journal of entrepreneurship in emerging economies.
Viswanadham, N., 2018. Performance analysis and design of competitive business
models. International Journal of Production Research, 56(1-2), pp.983-999.