Comprehensive Report: Business Environment of Next PLC

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the business environment of Next PLC, a British multinational retailer. The report begins with an introduction to the business environment and then delves into various aspects, including the identification of different types of organizations and their purposes, with a focus on Next PLC, a public limited company. It examines how Next PLC meets the objectives of its shareholders and its responsibilities to stakeholders like customers, employees, suppliers, and the government. The report further explores the nature of the UK economic system and its impact on Next PLC, assessing the effects of fiscal and monetary policies on businesses and evaluating the impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms. The analysis extends to market structure, market forces, and the cultural environment's influence on Next PLC. The report also discusses the significance of international trade, the impact of global factors, and the influence of European Union policies on the UK business organization. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and insights from the analysis.

BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................................................2
TASK 1...........................................................................................................................................................................2
A. Identifying purpose of different types of organisation and their purposes...........................................................2
B. Extent to which Next PLC meet the objectives of their shareholders along with the different responsibilities of
strategies of organisation in order to meet the requirement of stakeholders.............................................................3
TASK 2...........................................................................................................................................................................4
A. Explaining the nature of UK economic system and it effects on Next PLC........................................................4
B. Assessing the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on businesses......................................................................5
C. Evaluating the impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms in UK on the activities of Next
PLC............................................................................................................................................................................5
TASK 3...........................................................................................................................................................................6
A. Impact of market structure on pricing..................................................................................................................6
B. Influence of market forces....................................................................................................................................6
C. Cultural environment of Next PLC shapes the behaviour of organisation...........................................................7
TASK 4...........................................................................................................................................................................7
A. Significance Of International Trade On U.K. Business Organisation..................................................................7
B. Analysing impact of global factors on the UK business organisation .................................................................8
C. Evaluating the impact of European Union policies on UK business organisation...............................................9
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Business environment can be termed as the different factors such as internal or external
which can affect working of company such as employees, customers as well as management. For
achieving success it is essential to know about the environment of business which offers various
types of opportunities. There are certain conditions in environment which impact the operations
of business to a greater extent (Al-Debei and Avison, 2010). Present report is based on Next PLC
which is British multinational and it is engaged in selling clothing, home products as well as
footwear. In this report, the business environment of Next PLC is examined with reference to
different factors including structure of market, main responsibilities of Next PLC etc. Further,
the impact of monetary and fiscal policy on the enterprise of Next PLC has also provided the
significance along with the effect of cultural environment. Moreover, importance of international
trade along with the impact of global factors on Next PLC is also discussed with globalization.
Lastly, the European Union policy and their relation to the Next PLC is also described with
respect to some of the policies (Bertillo and et. al., 2013).
TASK 1
A. Identifying purpose of different types of organisation and their purposes
There are different types of organisation in which some of the businesses are profit
seeking and other is non-profit organisation. Organisations are different because of their culture,
environment and structures (Bøllingtoft, 2012).
Public Limited Company- Next PLC is a public limited company which has started their journey
in the year 1864. It was started as a small retail store and now it has become one of the largest
clothing retailers in UK. It has around more than 700 stores and it is also listed in London Stock
Exchange (Brannon, 2010). Some of the main purposes of Next PLC are to serve high quality of
products and to create a positive difference. Thus, one of the objectives of company is to achieve
high level of growth with respect to market share and to increase in the number of customers.
Charity- Cancer Research UK is an example of charitable organisation which provides services
to the patients suffering from cancer. The main aim of the organisation is to reduce number of
deaths due to cancer and it is also world's largest self-directed cancer research charity. The work
of the research is completely funded by the public (Carpenter, and Sanders, 2006). Further, it
raises their money from donations, events along with the retail and corporate partnerships.

Private Limited company- McDonald Corporation is an American food restaurant chain which
has their own global identity. It is one of the largest food chain that is highly known for the
hamburgers. The main purpose of McDonald is to make efforts for providing appropriate quality
of products and services to their customers (Carroll and Shabana, 2010).
B. Extent to which Next PLC meet the objectives of their shareholders along with the different
responsibilities of strategies of organisation in order to meet the requirement of
stakeholders
An individual or a group who have their stake in the different activities of Next PLC are
considered as stakeholders. There are some of the stakeholders of Next PLC which plays an
important role such as customers, employees along with the government which helps in attaining
the goals and objectives of the business are described below:
Customers- They are considered as key stakeholders of the company to whom Next PLC
offering appropriate quality of products and services of clothing and home products (Commander
and Svejnar, 2011). Further, it has been evaluated that customers have high level of interest in
getting appropriate quality of services. Thus, for satisfy the needs of customers the management
of Next PLC is needed to focus on the pricing strategies for attracting large number of
customers.
Employees- It is also considered as one of the most significant stakeholders who provide
appropriate services to the customers in the stores (Doh, McGuire and Ozaki, 2015). There is one
of the main aim of the employees is to get proper environment of work and appropriate
remuneration which assists them in giving services as per requirement. In order to meet the goals
of organisation it is important to consider the issue related to the salaries of employees for
achieving objectives.
Suppliers- The suppliers are also considered as an important stakeholder for Next PLC who
provides appropriate materials for the carrying out the different activities of the business.
Further, it is essential to have proper interaction with the different types of suppliers for the
production of goods with the specification in order to achieve success (Hamilton and Webster,
2015). They also offer appropriate resources which can be utilise by the organisation for the
production of goods and also assists the organisation to carry out the activities and achieve the
targets.

Government- The government monitoring all of the activities of organisation related to the
corporate social responsibilities which are adopted by the company or not. It is important for
Next PLC to follow all of the rules and regulations which are framed by the government for
smooth running of activities of operations (Markides, 2006).
It has been analysed that there are certain major responsibilities of Next PLC as an
organisation that helps to develop an appropriate plans by making different strategies in order to
accomplishing the goals of shareholders. Further, Next PLC is required to ensure that there is no
discrimination in terms of employees are working at all of the levels of management
(Narangajavana and et. al., 2014). It is required for Next PLC to develop proper practices and
code of conduct along with the working policies. It can be expressed that Next PLC is also
responsible to ensure appropriate products and services which are delivered to the customers
according to the needs and requirement of customers. For meeting the responsibilities, the cited
business entity also have to develop the strategy in order to carry out the research of market in
particular time period. Thus, it helps to analyse the changes in the demands and requirement of
the customers as per the people in market and to carry out the different changes. Other than this,
Next PLC is also required to carry out the ethical code of conduct of marketing strategies so that
it helps in satisfying the requirement of customers (Papatheodorou and Lei, 2006).
TASK 2
A. Explaining the nature of UK economic system and it effects on Next PLC
All of the countries have their own economic system as their main focus is on the
activities which are related to the allocation of resources in the nation along with the proper
arrangement of the services in a specific areas (Paulose and Nair, 2015). The economic system of
UK and it affects on Next PLC is discussed below:
United Kingdom Economic System- In the economy of UK there is mixed economic system
where all of the decisions are considered by the people in market. For example, choice related to
purchase of products is depend on the people. However, there are some of the decisions are taken
by the government which covers the supply related to medicine and road buildings. Further, there
are several decisions are developed by the government of UK in order to provide services as per
the requirement of customers. In case of Next PLC, there are some of the positive impact due to
the economic system of UK as the company can produce goods according to the needs and

demands of customer (Samy, Odemilin and Bampton, 2010). It is considered to be advantageous
for them in order to achieve high level of growth and development. Thus , cited business is
required to comply with all of the rules and regulations which are developed by the government.
B. Assessing the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on businesses
In order to create changes in the economic environment of the country so that there are
two ways adopted by the government. It includes the fiscal and monetary policy and in case of
fiscal policy it refers to a technique which concentrate on assessing the taxation and the different
activities of central government spendings (Solomon, 2014). On the other side, monetary policy
is considered as to maintain the interest rate with the cash supply in the economy by the central
government. This tools affects the farming as well as housing sector. It can be identified that
both of the policies plays an essential role which is discussed below:
Farming- In farming sector, there is positive impact of the monetary policy as there is increase in
the interest rate which assists reserve bank to increase the spending on farm (Solomon, 2014). In
addition to this, there is also maximisation of the subsidy by the government to the farmers
which is helpful for them to harvest the crops in farm. Therefore, it has been analysed that
because of increment in the interest rate so that government have to provide appropriate spending
to the people.
Housing- It is an another field that is housing which is impacted by the fiscal and monetary
policy that is developed by the government. For instance, if there is increase in the rate of taxes
so that there is reduction in the inflation by the government that leads to reduce the spendings
(Tayur, Ganeshan and Magazine, 2012). At the time of recession the UK government decreases
the tax rate and also increases the power of spending in the different infrastructure that enhances
the standard of living. On the other hand, in fiscal policy there are some of the spending which
are made by the government so that there is increase in the rate of growth of economy so the
government cut down the taxes.
C. Evaluating the impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms in UK on the
activities of Next PLC
There is requirement of appropriate competition for the purpose of growth in the
marketplace. For maintaining the competition in market in similar industries there are certain
policies which are created which encourages and enhances the organisation. The competition

policy is introduced by the UK government for the purpose of increase in the level of
competition in market (Trkman, 2010).
Competition Policy 1998- Through competition policy, it ensures the fair competition among the
different organisation in marketplace. With the help of competition policy Next PLC is
competing with other organisation such as Asda, Sainsbury and M&S. Furthermore, Next PLC is
growing towards the new innovation and their own branded products which dominate the market
of UK in future (Ullah and Lai, 2011). Moreover, through the compliance of Regulatory
mechanisms which includes the opportunities of employment, wages to workers and to work in
better manner of the environment which is to be given importance by the Next PLC. Thus, Next
PLC is able to develop an appropriate sustainable image in market along with it to satisfy the
customers as per their needs and requirement.
TASK 3
A. Impact of market structure on pricing
Market structure can be defined as the various characteristic of the market and their major
focus is on those characteristics which can have impact on the pricing and competition. It can be
stated that Next PLC's price and output decisions which are affected by the structure of market
where they carrying out their operations (Weiss, 2014). For instance, if stated business operates
in perfect competition market then there is high level of impact on price and output decisions.
One of the main features of perfect competition is that there are wide ranges of companies along
with buyers. Further, Next PLC is not required to set prices of their goods and services which are
based on pricing strategy which is adopted the competitors. On the other side, if Next PLC
operates their business in monopoly market then they have the opportunity to make their own
price and output decisions (Welford, 2013). The key characteristic of monopoly market is that
there is only one seller so that they can charge the prices according to their requirements. In
context of present scenario of Next PLC which is operating their business in monopolistic market
where they are not dependent on their competitors with respect to pricing and output decisions.
B. Influence of market forces
It can be identified that there is a direct impact of market forces on the practices and
operations of Next PLC. While carrying out different activities, the business is required to
consider different forces of market which includes demand, supply and also have to develop

some strategies for the same (Wild, Wild and Han, 2014). If there is high demand and supply is
low, Next PLC is needed to lower down the activities of marketing and to increase the prices in
order to maintain the demand and supply. However, it can be critically evaluated that at the time
of low demand and high supply, Next PLC is required to carry out appropriate strategies of
marketing for bringing equilibrium among the demand and supply. Marketing will helps for
developing need among the different people in market and attract them in order to purchase the
products and services which are provided by Next PLC. Other than this, there are certain markets
factors such as economic situations, changes in demand of customers along the technological
changes which affect the practices of Next PLC (Xue, Shen and Ren, 2010). For instance,
technological changes encourage the stated business to adopt new technology for survival in
market. Moreover, changes in requirement of customers also motivate business to carry out
modifications in products and services.
C. Cultural environment of Next PLC shapes the behaviour of organisation
It is important to study the environment of the business for the purpose of running
business successfully. There are two factors in business environment such as internal and
external (Al-Debei and Avison, 2010). The cultural environment of the business is not controlled
by their own which can be termed as the production, placing, promotion of the business
enterprise such as Next PLC. There are some of the external factors of cultural environment of
Next PLC such as attitude and customers beliefs which influence the business and the choice of
production of Next PLC. Furthermore, the employees at workplace and their attribute and
cultural demand from the internal factors of cultural environment of Next PLC. If the employees
have strong values which make sure the ethical awareness of the business. If the employees
morally weak so that there are certain possibilities of misuse of resources at Next PLC so that
cultural environment shapes the behaviour of the stated business (Bertillo and et. al., 2013).
TASK 4
A. Significance Of International Trade On U.K. Business Organisation
International trade has gained much popularity from the past several years in many of the
countries. An exchange of goods and services across different countries of the world has given
an opportunity of accessing worldwide products and services to the people. International trade
have emerged out to be very beneficial for UK business organisations.

 It has led to an increase in gross domestic product of the country.
 It has increased the competition among the local traders (Carpenter, and Sanders, 2006).
 Also cost competition among business organisation is maintained.
 It is an opportunity for local traders to offer their services or sell their product across the
world and expand their business. It has also helped to gain global shares of the market.
 An increase in investment has been observed as global companies are investing more and
more in UK which in turn is helping to generate local employment which is eradicating
the problem of unemployment (Doh, McGuire and Ozaki, 2015).
 International trade has ended the limitation of customers for selection of goods and
services within the boundary. Local customers now are offered with a wide range of
variety for any of the goods and services and they have an advantage of choosing the best
option.
 Citizens of UK have got an opportunity and advantage of using and learning new and
advanced technology and skills as they have an access to technologies of different
countries.
International trade with immense benefits have become very common in UK as the realization of
this kind of trade among the government as well as among businessman is propagating fast.
Many of the policies and laws have been evolved by the government in order to provide smooth
functioning to attract global businessman and global customers (Samy, Odemilin and Bampton,
2010). Thus international trade has proved as a vital factor for UK business organisations.
B. Analysing impact of global factors on the UK business organisation
There are certain factors which can affects the functioning of the companies which are
operating in UK or internationally. There are certain main aspects that have affects the business
in UK organisation in various ways are discussed below:
Taxes and tariffs- The UK business organisation are required to pay taxes and tariffs at the time
of entering in other countries for doing trading (Tayur, Ganeshan and Magazine, 2012). There
are certain issues along with the problems which are faced by the UK businesses that is related to
the tariffs and non-tariff which are high.

Exchange notes- The rate of exchange also have effect on the companies of UK which are
operated at global level and if there are certain changes in the exchange rate value which affects
the final revenue.
International competitiveness- All of the companies which wants to operate their business in the
international market because of increase in the scope of competitors (Wild, Wild and Han, 2014).
Thus, it also creates issues for survive for the business as there is high level of competition in
marketplace.
International environment of business- It can be favourable or non-favourable for the different
types of organisation of international business environment. Thus, it is essential to identify the
external environment which can be done with the help of PESTLE analysis (Xue, Shen and Ren,
2010).
C. Evaluating the impact of European Union policies on UK business organisation
In order to attain appropriate results of the policies is a process for the purpose of
monitoring the decisions. This policies are developed by the regulation of European Union in the
organisation of UK. There are certain policies which are taken into consideration by EU which
covers agriculture policies, regional policy along with the taxation. Further, it also have impact
on the functioning of companies of the various countries so that the businesses of UK
considering all of the rules and regulations of EU and they cannot limit the organisation of UK
(Brannon, 2010). For operating in EU so that businesses have to consider all of the different
policies which helps in solving issues at the time of trading. Thus, the organisation need to
analyse some of the factors such as political, technological, environmental and the duties of trade
before trading in European Union.
It is essential to study the changes in the climate at the time of production of goods that is
to be proper for customers which assists to increase the level of profit along with the welfare of
economy. Thus, it provides the development and growth of the economy and also maximise the
level of reputation of the business in UK (Commander and Svejnar, 2011). The effects of EU
policies on the business of UK through the taxation of law through the subsidy and support.
Further, there is exchange of products through the UK business organisations and the countries
in EU without any problems including license of the business so that they can easily export in the
EU market. There are different types of activities are monitor by the national authorities through

which they can implement on the national legislation. Thus, all of the different policies plays an
important role in the activities of business organisation.

CONCLUSION
From the above carried out study it can be concluded that for running business it is
essential to understand the environment of the business while carrying out the activities. The
management of Next PLC as they are able to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats for operating different types of activities of business. From this report, it can be
inferred that it is essential to be aware of the different fiscal and monetary policy for the
operations of business along with the investment which can be done in an appropriate manner.
The stated business is required to concentrate on to develop the values which are related to the
ethics at workplace in order to increase the level of efficiency of organisation. The business also
carry out their activities outside UK and it is required to develop the information related to the
international trade which is to be beneficial for the businesses. It can be summarized that there
are some the factors which can have impact on the UK business organisation which includes the
technological implementation, protectionism. Thus, there are different types of opportunities are
provided to the business which affects the various types of business and it will be beneficialfor
the businesses.