EBWO3001 Portfolio: Business Startup and Market Analysis (Spring 2018)

This portfolio, completed for the EBWO3001 course in Spring 2018, analyzes a potential retail business startup in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. It begins by outlining the advantages and disadvantages of owning a business and the utility of PESTEL analysis in planning. The portfolio then assesses the impact of globalization, including increased competition and access to new technologies. It identifies the target customer base and strategies for attracting customers, such as differentiation and cost leadership. Finally, it explores the role of ethics in business, with examples of ethical practices and how they can be applied to the proposed business, focusing on employee treatment and customer management. The portfolio integrates research from various sources to support its claims.

Spring 2018 Portfolio
Effectiveness in the Business World
(EBWO3001)
Student Name:
Student Number:
Lecturer Name:
As a requirement for the completion of this portfolio, you should first decide
on a type of business you have or would potentially like to start up in the
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 1
Assessed Learning Outcomes:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of the organisation and the
environment in which it operates, including determining the competitive
advantage for an organisation.
2. Identify and analyse organisational operations, responsibilities
3. Discuss the needs of the consumer and people who work in a business.
4. Recognise a range of issues related to business and how they interlink.

future (e.g. restaurant, shop, service etc.). Your answers to the tasks below
will relate to this business.
Tasks Contents (350-400 words per task) Page
Learning
outcomes
Task 1 a. Briefly describe the nature of business you
have or might like to have in the future.
b. What are the advantages and disadvantages of
owning your own business?
c. In what ways could PESTEL be useful in
planning your start-up business?
3 LO1/4
Task 2 a. In what ways can ‘globalisation’ have an
impact on your business? Discuss two
examples.
b. What suitable technology would your business
use and how would it improve the operations
of the business?
4 LO1/2
Task 3 a. Briefly identify who your ‘customer’ is likely to
be. Why is it important for a business to
understand its customers?
b. Describe TWO ways in which you might attract
more customers to your business.
5 LO1/3
Task 4 a. What is the role of ethics in business?
b. With examples from other businesses, describe
how your business can treat its staff ethically.
6 LO3/4
References 7
Total word limit: 1500 words (+/- 10%)
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 2

This portfolio is a working document that MUST be completed over the 10-week course.
By the end of the 10-week course, you should have completed 4 tasks. You will also be
required to work on your portfolio during your weekly tutorial sessions.
ASSESSMENT – PORTFOLIO
Week Task 1 Learning
Outcomes
Week
2-3
a. Briefly describe the nature of business you have or might
like to have in the future.
b. What are the advantages and disadvantages of owning
your own business?
c. In what ways could PESTEL be useful in planning your
start-up business?
LO1/4
Your answer should go in the box below.
a. I would like to enter in the retailing business in the fast moving consumer goods
sector. I have chosen this sector due to the reason that retailing in the fast
moving consumer goods is one of the most potential markets in the recent time.
Variety and diversity in the consumer goods are increasing with time and thus it
will be an opportunity for me to target diverse people from retailing consumer
goods (Eustace and Martins 2014). On the other hand, consumer good retailing is
having huge market penetration due to the presence of necessity items. Thus, it
will beneficial for me to have the huge market opportunity in the United
Kingdom.
b. However, it should also be noted that having own business will have its own
advantages and disadvantages. Some of the key advantages of having own
business are, no chance or probability of listening to others. In having own
business, there will be no boss or seniors. Another advantage is catering to the
market according to own criterion (Ward 2016). This refers to the fact that having
own business will enable to do business or promote business approach according
to own terms rather than depending on others. Some of the disadvantages are
having the risk of huge financial loss. Venturing in business will involve huge
capital for investment. Thus there always will be the risk of losing them. Another
disadvantage of having own business is the requirement of maintaining different
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 3

and diverse areas. Therefore, it will be difficult to look after different aspects at
once.
c. PESTEL is one of the most effective tools to be used in preparing for the startup
business. Using the PESTLE analysis will help in determining the different business
sectors that can influence the approach and flow of the business operation. One
of the key factors is the political environment. This is important in the current
time because global economy is facing the issues with political challenges. Social
environment is also important because consumer goods sector can be greatly
influenced by the social trends (Ho 2014). Therefore, it can be concluded that
using the PESTLE analysis will help to determine and estimate the business
environment where the startup business is going to operate. The more effective
will be the determination of the PESTLE environment, the more effective will be
the identification of the strategies by the business organizations for their further
business operation.
Week Task 2 Learning
Outcomes
Week
4-5
a. In what ways can ‘globalisation’ have an impact on your
business? Discuss two examples.
b. What suitable technology would your business use and how
would it improve the operations of the business?
LO1/2
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 4

Your answer should go in the box below.
a. Globalization is having the greatest influence for the contemporary business
organizations in the recent time. With having the majority of the liberalized
economies in the world, the impact of the globalization is also more. One of the
major impacts on the business is the increase in the rate of competition in the
local market of the United Kingdom. Retail sector is already congested with
number of competitors. Thus, with the initiation of the globalization, more global
firms will enter in the local market of the United Kingdom. Thus, the competition
in the domestic market will further get increased. It will have negative impact on
the profitability of the startup business (Ying, Chang and Lee 2014). For instance,
retail sector of the consumer goods in the United Kingdom is already having
brands such as TESCO and Sainsbury. On the other hand, with the initiation of the
globalization, brands such as Woolworths and Walmart will get in enter in the
domestic market. Therefore, the intensity of the competition will be higher.
Apart from the negative impact of the globalization, startup business will also
have positive impact as well. This is due to the reason that with the help of the
initiation of the globalization, more updated and newer technologies will get
entered in the domestic market. Thus, it will be beneficial for the startup
business if they can get the access to the latest technologies. Their business
operation will get enhanced with the help of the latest technologies. For
instance, globalization will help in having the access to the cheaper and effective
ERP software from the developing countries. This will enable the startup business
to design their business operation effectively and efficiently.
b. Startup business will use the Enterprise resource planning technologies in their
business operation. This will be the most applicable for the retail business due to
the reason that effectiveness of the retail business depends on the stock
management to a large extent. Hence, with the initiation of the enterprise
resource planning technologies, the stock can be managed effectively. These will
be no such issue of non availability of stock (Burkland and Zachariassen 2014). It
will also help in improving the organizational effectiveness by maintaining the
seamless flow of the inbound and outbound logistics. With the help of the
enterprise resource planning, stock can maintained according to the market
demand and there will be less probability of wastage or shortage of materials.
Thus, the business operation will get more effective and efficient with this.
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 5

Week Task 3 Word
Count
Learning
Outcomes
Week
6-7
a. Briefly identify who your ‘customer’ is likely to
be. Why is it important for a business to
understand its customers?
b. Describe TWO ways in which you might attract
more customers to your business.
5 LO1/3
Your answer should go in the box below.
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 6

A. The customers for the start up business consumer goods retailing are diverse and
large. This is due to the reason that consumer goods sector is highly penetrated
in the market. Still, customers with having the need of the daily consumer goods
are the target customers. In terms of the income level, customers across different
income level will be targeted (Ascarza et al. 2017). This will be possible because
consumer goods generally have higher product assortments to cater to different
customers from different income groups. In addition, customers from both the
genders will be the target customers. Determination or understanding the
customers is important for the business organizations because in the current
business scenario, products are being marketed rather than they are sold. Thus,
effective understanding of the customers will help the business to have the idea
about what the target customers are really wanting. Accordingly, the products
can be offered. Offering products after effective understanding of the customers
will help the business to meet the customer requirement properly and thus
generation of the revenue will be more.
B. There are many ways to attract customers. One way is to initiate differentiation
strategy in the business operation. Initiation of the differentiation strategy will
help to create distinctive image in the market. In the consumer sector market,
the competition is higher and thus having the distinctive image in the market is
important will help to attract the customers effectively (Zehir, Can and Karaboga
2015). The more distinctive will be the business operation, the more will be its
attractiveness in the market. Another strategy that can be initiated in order to
attract customers is the cost leadership strategy. Consumer sector is a sector,
which is immensely competitive and having the presence of huge number of
competitors. Thus, initiation of the cost leadership will enable the business to
offer the products in minimal price in the market. This will attract more
customers over their competitors (Kaliappen and Hilman 2013). Having the cost
leadership strategy will help in increasing the sales volume in the market.
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 7

Week Task 4 Learning
Outcomes
Week
8-9
a. What is the role of ethics in business?
b. With examples from other businesses, describe how your
business can treat its staff ethically.
LO3/4
Your answer should go in the box below.
a. Ethics is one of the most effective factors to be considered by the business
organizations. Ethics determines the approach of the business operation and
the values followed by the organizations. Thus, the impression of the
organization along with their effectiveness of managing the internal and
external stakeholders is being determined by the ethics of the organization.
The major role of ethics is to determine the morality of the business
approaches (Michaelson et al. 2014). This can be referred as a tool in
enhancing the market impression and brand value of the organization or
brand. The more ethics will be followed by the organization, the more morality
will be there in their business operation. Thus, customers will have more
favorable impression in the market. In the case of the consumer goods retailing
sector, ethics also plays the role of determining the customer management.
Following ethics in the customer management will help to have satisfied
customers in place. Ethics is also having the role of determining the long term
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 8

business potentiality of the organization. This is due to the reason that,
following the ethical principles will enable the business organization to have
more positive word of mouth in the market, which will increase their long term
viability.
b. Aptiv is one of major business organizations in the United Kingdom, which is
the frontrunner in having ethical principles in managing the employees. They
are having extensive and effective policies of employee management. The
employees are being given proper work life balance in order to keep them
motivated in their workplace (Goodwin and Graebe 2017). Moreover, diversity
in the workforce is being maintained ethically and employees from different
communities are being given equal representation and opportunities. In the
case of the startup business, employees will also be given equal opportunities.
This will ultimately help in effectively catering the customers from social and
cultural backgrounds. Employees will also be provided favorable work life
balance in order to enhance their organizational citizenship. Ethics will also be
followed in providing compensation to the employees. Properly compensating
the employees will enhance their level of motivation, which will reflect in the
quality of the customer service.
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 9

References:
Ascarza, E., Ebbes, P., Netzer, O. and Danielson, M., 2017. Beyond the Target Customer:
Social Effects of Customer Relationship Management Campaigns. Journal of Marketing
Research, 54(3), pp.347-363. Ascarza, E., Ebbes, P., Netzer, O. and Danielson, M., 2017.
Beyond the Target Customer: Social Effects of Customer Relationship Management
Campaigns. Journal of Marketing Research, 54(3), pp.347-363.
Bürkland, S. and Zachariassen, F., 2014. Developing an ERP technology: Handling
incompleteness of the system. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 30(4), pp.409-
426.
Eustace, A. and Martins, N., 2014. The role of leadership in shaping organisational
climate: An example from the fast moving consumer goods industry. SA Journal of
Industrial Psychology, 40(1), pp.01-14.
Goodwin, G.C. and Graebe, S.F., 2017. Work-Life Balance. In A Doctorate and
Beyond (pp. 179-185). Springer, Cham.
Ho, J.K.K., 2014. Formulation of a systemic PEST analysis for strategic
analysis. European academic research, 2(5), pp.6478-6492.
Kaliappen, N. and Hilman, H., 2013. Enhancing organizational performance through
strategic alignment of cost leadership strategy and competitor orientation. Middle-
East Journal of Scientific Research, 18(10), pp.1411-1416.
Michaelson, C., Pratt, M.G., Grant, A.M. and Dunn, C.P., 2014. Meaningful work:
Connecting business ethics and organization studies. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(1),
pp.77-90.
Ward, J., 2016. Keeping the family business healthy: How to plan for continuing
growth, profitability, and family leadership. Springer.
Ying, Y.H., Chang, K. and Lee, C.H., 2014. The impact of globalization on economic
growth. Romanian Journal of Economic Forecasting, 17(2), pp.25-34.
Zehir, C., Can, E. and Karaboga, T., 2015. Linking entrepreneurial orientation to firm
performance: the role of differentiation strategy and innovation
performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 210, pp.358-367.
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 10

End of Portfolio
EBWO3001 | Effectiveness in Business World 11