Business Strategy & Planning: Analyzing Macro & Internal Environment

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of business strategies, focusing on the impact and influence of the macro environment on organizations, using frameworks like PESTLE and Ansoff Model. It evaluates the internal environment and capabilities of an organization using the McKinsey 7S model, assessing strengths and weaknesses. The report also discusses Porter's Five Forces model to evaluate competitive forces and devise strategies to improve competitive edge and market position. Furthermore, it interprets and devises strategic planning for a given organization, aiming to produce a strategic management plan with tangible and tactical strategic priorities and objectives. The analysis is contextualized with examples from AstraZeneca, a multinational pharmaceutical company, to illustrate the application of these strategic tools and concepts in a real-world business scenario.

BUSINESS
STRATEGIES

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK...............................................................................................................................................1
P1- Applying appropriate frameworks analyse the impact and influence of macro environment
on given organisation and strategies............................................................................................1
M1- Critically analyse the macro environment to determine and inform the strategic
management decisions.................................................................................................................4
P2 Analyse the internal environment and capabilities of a given organisation using appropriate
frameworks..................................................................................................................................5
M2 Critically evaluate the internal environment to assess strengths and weaknesses of an
organisation's internal capability.................................................................................................6
P3Apply Porter's five forces model to evaluate the competitive forces of a given market sector
for an organisation.......................................................................................................................6
M3 Devise the appropriate strategies to improve the competitive edge and market position
based on outcomes.......................................................................................................................6
P4 Applying range of theories,concepts and models ,interpret and devise strategic planning for
given organisation........................................................................................................................6
M4 Produce a strategic management plan that has tangible and tactical strategic priorities and
objectives.....................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Business strategies are a mixture of many things like; plans and its implementation to
achieved the desired goals of the company. Each and every business require some plans and
preparation to perform the business activities, its not possible for any business company to run
the business without making any strategy for it. In the term strategies it covers many things in
which Business Company gave their time to discuss or make some plan to deal with it such as;
market competition, business environment, customer preference, company's situation and its
strength & weaknesses. In the purview of AstraZenca which is the British – Swedish
multinational company deals in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. The company's
headquarter is in Cambridge, England. The company has portfolio of products for harmful
diseases like; oncology, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, infection, neuroscience, respiratory and
inflammation etc. The company was founded in 1999 by the amalgamation of Swedish Astra and
the British Zeneca group, after merging it becomes the world's largest pharmaceutical company
and made several corporate areas. This report will revolve around the various business strategies
including analysis of macro environment which affects the business operations and the strengths
of the company (Bıçakcıoğlu-Peynirci, and Tanyeri, 2020). This report will also deals with the
internal environment of the selected company i.e. AstraZenca. The research part of the company
in this report will be done by the help of Porter's five forces models and the business strategic
tools which got used by the company also get discuss. Apart from these certain theories and
principles will get discuss in the point of view of business strategies.
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TASK
P1- Applying appropriate frameworks analyse the impact and influence of macro environment
on given organisation and strategies
There are two types of factors which influence the business operations i.e. internal factors
and the external factors. Macro environmental factors comes under the external category which
affects the business from outside and influences its decision making, plans, strategies and all
these influences put an effect on the growth of the company. In macro environment there are
various factors present which affect the business from their fluctuations they are; gross domestic
product, fiscal policy, monetary policy, inflation rate, employment index and the customer
preferences etc. The most common method to determine the external factor which affects the
working of the business companies and slow down their growth is the PESTEL analysis, it
determine all the external factors which might get affected the business operations. There is
another method which is considered as model known as Ansoff model, this model would assist
the AstraZenca in processing the product and give new ideas and thoughts about the business
market.
PESTLE ANALYSIS
 POLITICAL FACTORS
These factors are those in which there is a participation of government authorities in the business
economy (Blässe, 2021). It plays the crucial role in the sector of businesses; they have the power
to make laws and to regulate it. There are certain activities of government by which the
businesses got affected like; implementing the tax policy it puts the great impact on businesses,
tariffs, some laws such as; labour law, employment law, contract law etc. these laws also
affected the working of the business company, if any changes or addition will done in these
elements the all the business organisation have to adopt in their company's and run the business
according to the new rules. In context to AstraZenca, their profitability would totally depend on
these factors. The company use their six sense to examine these factors and alter their
functioning according to these political or external factors.
 ECONOMIC FACTORS
These factors are also in control of the government, all the business companies have their aim to
maintain their economy and try to enhance it every year. But elements of these factors such as;
interest rate, policies, rules & regulations and other governmental activities influence the
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business operations. Among all these elements interest rate is one of the biggest factor which
puts the greatest impact on business, due to the interest rate businesses economy got disturbed. In
context to AstraZenca, where the rate of medicines get change rapidly and it depends on the
import & export from other countries.
 SOCIAL FACTORS
These factors has a great impact on business, business is done for the society and all
business organisation's perform those activities which gives benefits to the society to gain
some reputation. The company’s products, strategies, plans are all depends on the society
preference; changes in society will affect the business. In context to AstraZenca, their
work is whole for the public interest to provide medicines and vaccination in public.
They have to get update every time like in a situation of Covid 19 they play the crucial
role and uses that situation to develop themselves.
 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
This is the most important factors nowadays which affect almost all the new entrance or even the
oldest companies. If any new technology introduces in the market for production and
development then it creates the loudness in a business market. It is the factor which changes and
get improve day by day and changes in this factor influence the companies to bring some ne
innovating machines to make their efficiently (Dalwai, and Salehi, 2021). In context to
AstraZenca, which deals in pharmaceutical requies the latest technologies in their operations?
This factor has a great impact on the company it helps the company to do better work and give
chances to improve their performance.
 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
These are the factors which are related to environment, company’s nowadays giving more
importance to environment and also it is necessary. The company like AstraZenca which deals in
pharmaceutical, the production of medicines requires various gases and elements which are
hazardous for the environment. Company has to use such strategies which produce the medicine
and vaccines without spreading hazardous gases and without pollute the environment.
 LEGAL FACTORS
All the business companies have to take care of the laws which put impact on their businesses.
There are various slaws such as; employment law, contract law, company law etc. These laws
provide the guidelines to the entire business organisation to run legally and to fulfil all the legal
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requirements. In context to AstraZenca, they have to deal with specific laws such drugs laws and
pharmaceutical laws. To get the success in business and without coming in the eyes of law they
have to perform their business operations according to laws.
ANSOFF MODEL
 Market Insight- it is the most less risky strategy which can be use by the company in a
business. Through these strategies company can sell their existing products efficiently in
the market. In context to AstraZenca applying this strategy helps the company to
enhancing their efforts in selling the pharmaceutical products; it helps the company to
beat their competitors.
 Market Development- This strategy assists the company in selling their existing
products in a new market. This strategy helps the company to expand their business and
to make some new customers in a new market. In context to AstraZenca, in products
which they are dealing are the daily requirements of the people. It is less risky and has
many benefits like expanding the business outside the existing market.
 Product Development- This strategy gives the confidence in the company to introduce
new products in a existing market. This strategy is little bit risky but if it works the, it will
give a high jump of success to the company (Hristov, and Appolloni, 2022). The same
thing happened to AstraZenca at the time of Covid they introduce the new vaccine in a
existing market and this incident build some different and positive image of the company.
 Diversification- This strategy of business is very risky because it’s really difficult to
move on some other business from existing business. Undoubtedly in succeed of this
strategy it will highly expand the business. In relation to AstraZenca, they already used
that strategy by entering into biotechnology industry. This strategy will provide the high
command on existing business and also able to run the new business effectively.
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M1- Critically analyse the macro environment to determine and inform the strategic
management decisions
The external factors are restricted by uncertainties; they have a nature to change
according to time. Therefore it is necessary to regularly review these factors. The AstraZenca did
the same thing to meet with the market needs they regularly reviewed the macro environment by
applying in their business operations to safe their resources and fund. Every business company
would set up to expand the business and become successful in the business market. It will only
get achievable while exploring new innovating ideas and apply strategy to perform the business
operations efficiently. Risk is also the important factor which has to be taken by the company to
get success and the most important thing is to manage that risk, if its not managed properly then,
it would create adverse affect on business.
P2 Analyse the internal environment and capabilities of a given organisation using
appropriate frameworks
The internal environment are those which are present inside the business organisation it
includes; decision making, culture of the organisation, management of the organisation etc. To
study the internal factors of the business there is MCKINSEY model which helps the company to
implement the new strategies and to examine that areas of business which would get diminished
in future. The basic principle of this model is to analyse the organisational structure which assist
the company in improving business efficiency (Jindal, Chintagunta, and Dhar, 2020).
MCKINSEY MODEL
 Strategy- It is a thought of the business which helps the business to be remain in the
competitive market. AstraZenca uses such strategy which runs for the long term and
whose benefit will get enjoy for the long time.
 Structure- It refers to many departments in a company; there are different department for
different functions like Human Resource, marketing, accounting etc. AstraZenca also
have many departments and it’s really necessary to maintain all the departments because
the company success is depend on working efficiently of all the departments.
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 System- It refers to the daily functions of the organisation such as; decision making and
assigning the work to the employee's. AstraZenca perform these daily task on a regular
and with accuracy, these shorts steps will take the company ay highest level.
 Style- It represent various leadership styles and decision making process, it plays the
important role in the operations of business. AstraZenca uses different leadership styles
and they have different department of the directors who make the decisions and choose
the leadership styles according to the business operations.
 Staff- It includes the employee's and the other working staff of the company, these are
the most important factors of the business organisations. AstraZenca gives importance to
their employee's, motivates them by providing bonus and relief at work. They also place
the correct person who is entitled to do the business activities accurately.
 Skills- It refers to the knowledge and talent in the organisation, business operations
would only get done efficiently when the workers have the perfect knowledge about the
process and have the skills to perform the task differently from others. AstraZenca
provided the training to their employees for better learning.
 Shared Values- It is another valuable activity inside the organisation which makes the
culture of the organisation healthy while interaction with other employee's.
M2 Critically evaluate the internal environment to assess strengths and weaknesses of an
organisation's internal capability.
In the internal environment there are various elements presents which affect the business
organisations and for that it is necessary to have such kind of strengths in the company
and where they affects the company is the weakness of the company. Resources are the
main elements which put a bad impact if they didn’t use efficiently. To AstraZaneca it is
essential to use their raw materials very preciously and carefully, and with the help of
SWOT analysis try to examine the strength and weakness of the company.
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P3Apply Porter's five forces model to evaluate the competitive forces of a given market sector
for an organisation.
It is really important to examine the competition in the market and for that there are
Porter’s five model presents, its tool which analyse the market conditions and also examine
the different strategies to apply in order to achieve desired goals. In context to AstraZeneca
Porter’s five model works in this way;
 Danger of new entrants- In this time even the small scale companies gives
competition to the company like AstraZeneca. To prevent their position in the
market and to beat the new entrants the company adopts different strategies and
tactics and in the operations using latest innovation and machinery which the new
entrants can’t afford (Kim, and Kim, 2018).
 Bargaining power of buyers- In the line of medicines and vaccination where there
are so many competitors of the same product, it is very important to bring some
new thing and quality in the product. AstraZeneca is doing the same thing and that
will be the reason their customer’s will never break their trust.
 Bargaining power of suppliers- The Company like AstraZeneca which is the
largest pharmaceutical company in the whole United Kingdom has direct contacts
with many suppliers which helps the company at that time when the suppliers
charge high price for the raw materials.
 Threat of substitute’s products and services- there are so many competitors in
the market for the same products. To get relief from this environment company has
to bring some uniqueness in their product which makes the difference in product
and attract the customers with that premium quality.
 Competition- There are so many other companies which are dealing in
pharmaceutical products and in small scale or in large scale. But the AstraZeneca
become the largest company in this field of biotechnology and pharmaceutical.
They become the suppliers of the medicine which are very expensive and rare.
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M3 Devise the appropriate strategies to improve the competitive edge and market position
based on outcomes.
An organisation is used appropriate business strategies that help them to develop competitive
spirit against the other organisation. These strategies add value in the success of an organisation
and help them to establish brand value in the market. It is important to focus on customer need
and demand, use of updated technology, create healthy environment for employees etc. are some
of the factors that contributes in the growth and expansion of an organisation. However,
AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that identified the medical need of the patient
and offers them health related services to cure and treat them (Kitsios, and Kamariotou, 2019).
P4 Applying range of theories, concepts and models ,interpret and devise strategic planning
for given organisation
There is range of theories and methods that helps in developing strategic plans to gain
competitive advantage in the market. The strategic plans can be established through multiple
ways that helps them to attract the large base of consumers and are discussed below in detail
below:
 Cost leadership- This is most important factor that helps the organisation to increase the
sale of the product by providing various scheme such as offer, sale, discount on the
product etc. The cost of the product must be reasonable and affordable for the potential
consumers. The cost effective technique is also helpful for the optimum utilisation of
resources to avoid its wastage. In context to AstraZeneca, the company is providing the
medicine and drugs at effective cost and focus primarily on the health of the patient. Differentiation- It refers to unique and different way of developing product and services
for the consumer so that they can identify their product from their quality and design. In
context to AstraZeneca, it is world's leading pharmaceutical industry and its medical
devices are transported through multiple channels in various countries (Liu, Zou, and
Chen, 2022).
 Focus- The main objective of every organisation is to primarily focus on the business
model and plans so that goal of the organisation can be easily achieved. They are required
to focus on the consumers need and preferences to meet their demand in the market and
reach the large share of consumer in the international market.
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Strategic planning
It is the method through which authority frames long terms and short mission and vision of the
organisation to ascertain the dynamic business environment. The strategic planning helps the
company to anticipate the future uncertainness that may cause serious threat to the functioning of
an organisation. In context to AstraZeneca, they have framed their effective business plans to
shared their knowledge with their stakeholders and encouraged their efforts towards the
maximisation of profit in the long run.
The strategic management plan is discussed below in detail:
Organisation structure- The business structure is formed to regulate and govern the business
activities to meet the desired results. The information of an organisation flows from one sources
to another in order to improve interaction among them so that their employees remain satisfied at
workplace. In context to AstraZeneca, different authority is responsible to develop that structure
to motivate and encourage their clients.
Vision-It refers to long term objective and goal that are set by the organisation to direct and
guide the employees accordingly. In relation to AstraZeneca, they set their own vision and
objective to compete with the other organisation by integrating with other units of the business.
Mission- Every organisation is formed with some objective to meet the real intention of the
mission. It supports the stakeholders in allocating the resources that are relevant for effective
functioning of an organisation. In context to AstraZeneca, they mainly focus on the market
demand and product to increase the large base of consumers in the market. Marketing mix- it is one of the marketing tools that helps the business to cover large
base of consumers in the market and attract the consumers to earn higher profit in the
market. It helps them to strategise the business goal and expand the business in the global
market.
Product- The company first analyse the consumer need and market demand to understand their
taste and perception in order to produce accordingly (Magerakis, and Habib, 2021).
Place- it is another important factor that helps the company, AstraZeneca to provide the product
through distribution channel in different places to satisfy their need.
Promotion- It refers to the promotion technique and methods that aware the consumers about the
product and attracts them to buy their products and services. It can be promoted through multiple
channels such as social media, newspaper etc.
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Price- it is another significant factor that must be reasonable and affordable to general public so
that they can easily buy the product and avail services in the market. Consumers are the ultimate
king of the market and satisfying their need is the paramount objective of every organisation.
M4 Produce a strategic management plan that has tangible and tactical strategic priorities and
objectives
The strategic management plan allows the organisation to set their plans and policies to survive
in the competitive market for a long run. There are various business methods and tactics that
enables them to identifies the consumers need and demand and provide them effective services
so that contribute in their success and expansion of business. In context to AstraZeneca, HR is
responsible for establishing strategic plans to develop high quality product and satisfy the
employees by providing them various incentives schemes within an organisation (Salim, Ab
Rahman, and Abd Wahab, 2019).
Tactical plan
 The company’s ultimate objective is to strategies their plans to deal with the dynamic
business environment.
 They are designing effective employment policies to retain them at workplace for a long
time to avoid high employment turnover.
 They are focusing on hiring and selection of employees to pool new talent in the
company who have advanced skills and knowledge in their specific area.
 Company also planning to allocate the resources to make optimum utilisation of their
resources.
CONCLUSION
From this above report, it has been concluded that the business strategy is one of the effective
mechanism that direct the organisation towards the goal and objective to run in the competitive
market. It helps to determine consumer' demand and expectation in the market so that the
companion can product the product accordingly. The internal and external factor has greater
impact on the growth and expansion of business as it helps them to predict the future
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