Understanding Business Environment: Course Selection and Goals

This essay discusses the author's journey into understanding the business environment, beginning with the reasons for selecting the course, which were largely driven by a desire to understand the external factors impacting business operations and a personal ambition to establish a start-up. The author reflects on past experiences, including business projects and academic studies, highlighting how this prior knowledge facilitated easier comprehension of course concepts. The essay further elaborates on strategies to ensure course outcomes are met, such as setting learning goals, communicating with peers, and reviewing progress. It also touches upon methods for managing and monitoring studies, including self-assessment and research. The essay concludes by outlining the future applications of the course, with aspirations of becoming a Business Analyst or strategic analyst, and personal goals for utilizing the learning to become a more active and independent learner.

Running Head: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Student’s Name
University Name
Author’s Note

2
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Table of Contents
1. Defining Business........................................................................................................................3
2. Reasons behind course selection.................................................................................................3
3. Past Experience/interest in the area of Study..............................................................................4
4. Impact of past experience on course learning..............................................................................4
5. Ways to ensure that course outcomes are met.............................................................................5
6. Managing and monitoring studies for successful conclusion......................................................5
7. Future Applications of Study.......................................................................................................5
8. Personal Goals for utilizing the learning in this course...............................................................6
Reference List and Bibliography.....................................................................................................7

3
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
1. Defining Business
A business is an organization or at large an economic system where products/services are
exchanged against profit. Every business includes some operations that depends highly on some
form of investment and have an external base of customers who are supposed to consume the
outputs of the organization. This target base of customers will keep consuming these products on
a consistent basis and will accountable for the profit generation of the company. Businesses
might be owned by private authority or by the state also. Example of corporate business can be
Pepsi-Co, Ltd. The main activities in a business that includes manufacturing, marketing, sales
and so on are conducted by facing the challenges that come from the external and internal
business environment.
2. Reasons behind course selection
Before joining this course, I had the conception that business operations are interrelated
with external market factors. For evidence, production is largely dependent on the external
market factors like demand for that specific product. However, I did not have a detailed idea
about the specific factors of business environment that impacts business. I was also not aware of
the issues that start up organizations might face in the way of setting up clientele or establishing
sales channels. In this context, it deserves mention that I have high dreams of establishing my
own start up business in the future. I can say that this is the basic motivation that purged me to
join the course. This course also gives me free access to a large business network that would help
me to establish my base of entrepreneurs and stakeholders for my personal business (Shrestha
2017). The targeted skills that I would learn in this course for the retail industry where I want to
make a start up will also help me to develop a sustainable organization. Business environment is

4
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
such a course that gives me broad conception regarding the environmental aspects like customer
preferences, financial needs of the market and its difference with the financial needs of the
organization, state corporate policy and its impact up on business and lastly communication
channels that helps a business to interact with stakeholders (Hamilton and Webster 2018). All
these factors prompted me to take up this course on business environment.
3. Past Experience/interest in the area of Study
Majority of my past experience comprised of doing practical business projects for
business studies. There I did projects of SWOT and pestle analysis of existing companies. In my
12thmajor course of school, I learnt to do financial and economic analysis of companies also. My
interest in business also led me to indulge in to group discussion with my peers and academic
seniors. This helped me to learn about various theories and frameworks of business environment
analysis. Lastly I should mention that academic grades in business studies were significantly
good, that give me the confidence to select the business environment course.
4. Impact of past experience on course learning
Since I had learned business studies, I had the understanding of certain basic concept
which helped me to progress easily in this course. I had a well developed knowledge about the
factors that are evaluated during assessment of internal strengths and weaknesses of
organisations. That is why after studying about business environment of different industries and
different demographics, I could easily connect them with the strengths and weaknesses of
important companies that I have studied about in the past. My studies in business economics also
helped me a lot to understand the economic factors and the legal policy and regulatory factors
that have significant impact on business firms.

5
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
5. Ways to ensure that course outcomes are met
First, I believe that the learning outcomes that are set against every group and individual
project that we do for this course is sufficient in itself to determine that the required outcomes of
the course are being met. However, I also think that there should be a substantial reference point
to determine the effectiveness of the courses. It requires mention that for all the project
assignment we do for this business assignment course, individual students are having prospective
learning goals. These are set in such a way comma so as to ensure that all the students meet the
criteria of the learning outcome of the group projects. Constant communication with the students
regarding their learning experience is another factor that helps to ensure that the course outcomes
are met by every individual student. Lastly, there is also the availability of a peer progress review
plan whereby students review academic progress of their peers against the standard of their
knowledge.
6. Managing and monitoring studies for successful conclusion
I have significant self assessment goals that help me to monitor my academic progress
properly. I always do previous research on any lecture topic, before my classes. This helps you to
easily connect with them concepts, conveyed in classrooms. I also maintain self evaluation
worksheet in order to track my working progress. I also save my research data collected during
any academic project. Even, I do a lot of reference research work in context to the topics we
learn in classes.
7. Future Applications of Study
There is wide range of future applications of the business environment course that I am
doing. Firstly, this course provides me with highly transferable skills, which will provide me

6
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
with the scope of getting employment across various sectors. However with the practical
knowledge that I have gained with this course, I hope that I will be able to occupy the position of
Business Analyst or strategic analyst in a company of my choice. Lastly, I should mention that
major companies prefer candidates who have good understanding of business environment.
8. Personal Goals for utilizing the learning in this course
My personal goals are as follows:
 Potential and more active participant in the process of learning
 Emerge as an independent learner
 identify the topics which are the areas of strength for me
 Achieve their full potential

7
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Reference List and Bibliography
Grossman, T.A., Mehrotra, V. and Sidaoui, M., 2016. A student-centered approach to the
business school management science course. INFORMS Transactions on Education, 16(2),
pp.42-53.
Hamilton, L. and Webster, P., 2018. The international business environment. Oxford University
Press.
Krivogorsky, V. and Ballam, M.J., 2018. Teaching an international course in the business school:
A new blended approach. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, pp.1-11.
Shrestha, P.N., 2017. Investigating the learning transfer of genre features and conceptual
knowledge from an academic literacy course to business studies: Exploring the potential of
dynamic assessment. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 25, pp.1-17.
Thomas, M.T., 2018. Developing a capstone course on ecological and social sustainability in
business education. Business Horizons, 61(6), pp.949-958.