SIM337 Contemporary Developments in Business: Duratex Report

This report provides an executive summary and in-depth analysis of Duratex UK Rubber & Plastics Ltd., focusing on contemporary developments in business and management. The report begins with an introduction to Duratex and the importance of external factors in business operations. It then utilizes a PESTLE analysis to examine the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors impacting the company. Furthermore, the report delves into the relevance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability for Duratex, evaluating the company's response to these critical aspects. The analysis includes an assessment of the effectiveness of CSR policies and identifies areas for improvement, concluding with a summary of key findings and recommendations. The report references relevant academic literature and provides an overview of Duratex's operations.

SIM337 CONTEMPORARY
DEVELOPMENTS IN
BUSINESS AND
MANAGEMENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Contemporary development in relation to the aspects of business and management
plays crucial role in gaining competitive advantages in the market place. By adopting
sound business and policies related to both the corporate social responsibility as well as
sustainability norms, Duratex has been able to capture market share along with
increased customer base. The report focuses on the analyses of different external
factors and its impact on the business working and operations. For this use of PESTLE
analysis has been made. Further analysis of the relevance of corporate social
responsibility and sustainability has been done to analyse the connection of CSR and
the activities of company. Also, it has discussed the response of the company over the
corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................4
2.0 TASK 1- brief overview of main external forces..........................................................4
2.1 Political factors....................................................................................................4
2.2 Economic or financial factors..............................................................................5
2.3 Social factor.........................................................................................................6
2.4 Technological factor............................................................................................6
2.5 Legal factor..........................................................................................................7
2.6 Environmental factor...........................................................................................7
3.0 TASK 2.........................................................................................................................8
3.1 Analysis...............................................................................................................8
3.2 Critical evaluation..............................................................................................10
3.3 Areas of improvement.......................................................................................12
4.0 CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................13
REFERENCES................................................................................................................14
APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................16
Company overview..................................................................................................16

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Contemporary development in business and management is considered as one
of the most important fundamental business aspects which helps in conducting
business operations in smooth as well as effective manner. For gaining competitive
edge in the market place, it is required on the part of companies to formulate sound
business plans and strategies in line with business aims and objectives. By assessing
the current market trends and opportunities, every business firm can seek advantages
from it by capturing as well as implementing it in its own business operations.
The present report is based on Duratex UK Rubber & Plastics Ltd. which is one
of leading manufacturer and distributor firm engaged in the business related to a wide
range of rubber and plastic products both for the commercial as well as industrial
applications in UK. In this report, emphasis will be made on determining of all the
primary external which influences the working of organization along with importance of
each factor in relation to the business firm. Also, description about the Corporate social
responsibility and sustainability aspect of Duratex UK Rubber & Plastics Ltd. will be
provided. Furthermore, evaluation will be made about effectiveness of CSR policies
implemented by the company.
2.0 TASK 1- brief overview of main external forces
The business exists in the environment which is dynamic and ever changing.
Therefore, there are many changes taking place within the environment which affects
the business. These factors are generally external in nature that is not within the internal
environment of the company. This is the reason behind the fact that why these external
factors are not in control of the business and hence they always impact the working of
the business either in positive or in negative way. Therefore, for meeting with these
changes in effective way it is very essential for Duratex to properly analyse the external
factors. For this, company uses the tool of PESTLE analysis (Schuetz, Mair and Schrefl,
2018).
2.1 Political factors
The political environment consists of different institutions like government of the
country and the related institutes. Different laws and legislations passed by government
and implementation and enforcement of these laws and regulations. The political

system followed by UK is democratic it means that it includes characteristics like
election of representative, freedom of expression, independent civil service and many
other features. This situation of freedom helps the company in taking some decisions on
their own and there is not much interference of government. Currently there is increase
in the tax rate on the rubber products in UK. Now Duratex needs to pay more taxes as it
deals in manufacturing of the rubber products. This will have a negative impact in the
business working as now the company has to pay more money in form of more taxes.
The political factors are important for the company because of the reason that
the political factors guide and controls the working of the business. Therefore, it is
important for Duratex to study the political factors because changes in political factors
affects the business to a great extent. Political factors help the company in analysing
the regulations of the political parties present, to understand the taxation policies and
other related things.
2.2 Economic or financial factors
The economic factors mean the factors comprising the economic condition of any
country. This is the major external factor which affect the working of the business. This
is due to the reason that business is operated in the market and the market is guided by
the economic factors such as inflation, different interest rates, foreign exchange rates
and many other similar factors. The business of Duratex is much influenced by the
changes in the economic factors (Song, Sun and Jin, 2017). At present, there is
inflationary situation in UK. This causes a problem to Duratex because of the reason
that inflation is a situation of increase in the general price level. When there is situation
of inflation then the consumer not purchases much products and this decreases the
sales for Duratex. Similarly, there is decrease in the interest rates which is an
opportunity for the company. It is because of the reason that now the company can get
more of the loan and had to pay less interest on that borrowed money.
Economic environment is important for Duratex because of the reason that the
company exist in the environment which keeps on changing and major changes are in
the economic sector. it is necessary for company to analyse the changes taking place in
economic sector like inflation, deflation, increase or decrease in borrowing rates, forex

rates and many other. All these factors affect the business majorly and this is the major
reason for studying of the economic factors.
2.3 Social factor
The factor includes the demographic characteristics, customs, culture, values,
beliefs, thinking, behaviour, attitude and many other different factors relating to the
society are included. These are the factors which are out of control of the business. This
is because of the reason that Duratex cannot control the thinking or the behaviour of the
consumers. This factor effects the working of the business by way of changes in the
population size, income distribution, age distribution, lifestyle, cultural difference and
many other different factors. The consumers of UK prefer only substances and articles
made of wood then they will not like the products of Duratex because it deals in
materials made of rubber and plastic. Similarly, the company deals in a place that is UK
where the attitude of consumers for plastic is against the environment and because of
this the consumers not favour the products of company. It is because of the reason that
the consumers will not change the attitude even though the products of company do not
harm the environment.
Analysis of the social factor is very important because of the reason that if
company not analyses the culture and the taste and preference if the consumers then it
will not be able to make the goods and services in accordance with the needs of the
consumers.
2.4 Technological factor
This is the most changing and innovating factor which affects the working and
operations of the company to a great extent (Nurmi and Niemelä, 2018). This factor
includes innovation in the technology which may impact the business in either
favourable manner or unfavourable way. The equipment’s of the company like hydraulic
press system, thermal solutions, mechanical dryers have become obsolete. This
impacts the company in a negative way because now the operating efficiency of the
company is decreased. Another technology for the company is doing online marketing
(Anton, 2015). This is one of the latest techniques which can be used by Duratex for
promoting its goods and services online with help of different social media websites.

Another technology which Duratex can adopt is the use of e- business that is doing
business online that is buying and selling the goods and services over the internet.
Studying and analysing the technological sector is of utmost importance for
Duratex because of the reason that there are frequent changes taking place in the
technological sector and this affects the company. It is because of the reason that if
company not updates its technology then it will not operate effectively.
2.5 Legal factor
This is the most important factor which affect the business and its working. This
is majorly because of the reason that every county has its own specific and distinct laws
and regulations. These laws guide the business and the ways in which it can operate its
business functioning. The legal environment is affected by many different factors like
choice of production techniques, labelling and packaging of the products, financial
disclosures and reporting and many other related factors (Strzelczyk and Chłąd, 2017).
The company is planning to expand in Australia and there are all different laws
applicable for the manufacturing of rubber and plastic products. Therefore, now it will be
difficult for company to understand the different laws as in UK the laws are different.
It is very important for Duratex to understand the legal factors impacting the
business. This is because of the reason that if the company does not comply with all the
legal requirement then it will lose its goodwill and market share.
2.6 Environmental factor
It is an important factor which is more prevalent for the company to follow. This is
because of the reason that in this globalized business environment the more importance
is given to the environmentally friendly products. Therefore, Duratex also needs to take
into consideration the environmental guidance. There are limits set for the range of
permitted air pollution in UK. Therefore, the company needs to adhere to these limits
and must set its
production within the expected criteria’s.
It is important for Duratex to study the environmental factors because the
company operates in environment, takes all the raw materials from the environment
only. Therefore, it is the duty of the company to pay back the environment in form of
environmentally friendly products (Espinoza and et.al., 2019).

3.0 TASK 2
The selected theme for the report is Corporate Social Responsibility and
Sustainability. The selection of this topic is because of the reason that this is the current
topic going on in the business environment. Therefore, every company needs to work
on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Sustainability of the business and its
working. The corporate social responsibility refers to self-regulating model wherein the
company tries to focus on development of the society and the business working in an
ethical and correct manner (Unit, 2015).
On the other hand, sustainability refers to as the ability of company to use all the
limited and scarce resources in such a way that they are optimally used and are saved
for future consumption as well. This is the main reason for choosing this topic because it
is very essential for the company to manage the work and also to take care of the
society and environment as well.
3.1 Analysis
Relevance of corporate social responsibility and sustainability for Duratex
In the current business world, according to the views of Grayson and Hodges,
(2017) corporate social responsibility has become a standard practice which every
company has to follow whether it is told to the company or not. But by default, the
company has to provide services for the corporate social responsibility requirement and
the sustainability of the company working and resources. The corporate social
responsibility is very relevant for Duratex to follow because of the reason that the
company focuses in the protection of environment as it deals in plastic and rubber
products which may harm the environment if not taken care. This is due of the reason
that the effluents from the manufacturing of the goods and services are emitted within
the environment which harms the environment and the nearby areas. Therefore, it is
relevant for the company to follow the principle of corporate social responsibility and
sustainability.
One of the most important relevance for Duratex to maintain corporate social
responsibility is because of the major reason that if the company engages its activities
in favour of CSR and development of society then it will attract more of the consumers

towards the goods and services provided by the company (Crane, Matten and Spence,
eds., 2019). This is majorly because of the reason that of the company adheres with the
socially responsible policies then this will attract and influence more of the consumers
towards purchasing of the company’s product.
Another relevance for the company is that if it connects its activities with CSR
and sustainability then the consumers are also ready to pay premium prices. This is
because of the reason that Duratex uses a part of the profits for the company towards
the upliftment of the social causes like eradication of poverty, addition to education of
poor children (Slack, Corlett and Morris, 2015).
One more relevance of using corporate social responsibility practices for Duratex
in its activities is that it helps the company in retaining the existing employees of the
company and also to attract other top talent of the area. The reason behind this is that if
the company is socially responsible then the employees of the company have positive
feeling for the company and also the company works in a sustainable way and
leverages the resources up to their maximum capacity. Therefore, this attracts more of
the employees to come to the company as it takes care of the environment and the
society to a great extent.
Another relevance for Duratex in maintaining its business activities in accordance
with corporate social responsibility and sustainability of the company is that at the global
level this indulgence in the corporate social responsibility and sustainable practices
helps the company to stand out from the competition. This is majorly because of the
reason that at the global level there is intense competition and to make a choice in
selection of the company the consumers generally differentiates on the basis of their
involvement in the development and upliftment of the social level of the country and the
nearby environment of the company (Wang and et.al., 2016).
Influence on policies and decision making for Duratex because of corporate
social responsibility and sustainability
Corporate social responsibility is related with self-regulating model which every
business organisation should make use of for undertaking their business activities in
environmentally friendly manner. All such activities should be accountable for the
benefits of the society in which it is undertaking its business operations including its

shareholders, public, government etc. Sustainability is strategy which helps in meeting
the needs of present without making any compromise with the requirements of future
generation.
Duratex has been operating at the global level by considering all the
sustainability aspects and norms as essential for the welfare of society at large. While
adopting policies related to corporate social responsibility, every business organisation
has to spend a part of its profit every year in providing benefits to the society in various
different form (Schrempf - Stirling, Palazzo and Phillips, 2016).
With the help of strong as well as effective CSR policy, it helps the company in
increasing its sales level as well as customer base thereby resulting in increasing the
level of profit margin as well. Duratex by adopting sound sustainability norms along with
ethical business standards has been able to retain its current employees for long term
period. It also helps the company in gaining positive publicity & reputation which in turn
provides Duratex competitive edge and profit. It thus made the decision - making
process much easier for the management of the company as no more emphasis is
required to be made once the company is having control over the market place.
3.2 Critical evaluation
In the views of Crane, Matten and Spence, eds., (2019) the response of
company relating to the corporate social responsibility principles and the sustainability
of the resources of the company is very positive and they support the CSR practices.
This is because of the reason that corporate social responsibility is a very growing
phenomenon in the globalized world. Duratex also follows the principles and practices
relating to corporate social responsibility and respond to them positively. But in contrast
Lins, Servaes and Tamayo, (2017) states the major reason for company supporting the
CSR and sustainability the various benefits which the company gains. These benefits
are like increased shareholder value, increase in revenue, consumer attraction,
increase in goodwill and many other different benefits.
Duratex follows many different policies and practices for maintaining corporate
social responsibility and sustainability. The company measures its success on the basis
of five environmental factors that is water, effluents, energy, emission and residues.
Under this the company focuses that the effluents and the waste are not emitted in the

water. This is because of the reason that water also include animals and because of
these wastes the life of those water animals is also affected. Therefore, company
focuses on eliminating these wastes to be transferred in water.
Also, Kang, Germann and Grewal (2016) articulates the for managing the
corporate social responsibility policies the company has made a governance structure
which will make sure that whether these corporate social responsibility policies are
being implemented by the employees in the expected way or not (Duratex Corporate
Structure. 2017). This structure performs some of the measures like auditing and risk
management that is they continuously checks and examines that whether the company
is paying attention to the corporate social responsibility and sustainability or not. And if
the company is not paying any attention for the environment and sustainability then this
governance structure takes corrective actions against the company.
But Harjoto, Laksmana and Lee, (2015) states that another work of this
committee is to ensure that all the working of Duratex is sustainable in its working that is
the resources are optimally used and are also secured for the use in the future. For this
the company makes sure that every resource used within the production is used up to
its maximum efficiency. This is because of the reason that the resources are very
scarce in environment and the company needs to optimally use these resources.
However, in accordance with the thinking of Jamali, Karam and Blowfield, (2017)
for fulfilling the requirements of corporate social responsibility, the company follows
some of the principles relating to the sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
The first principle is relating to the human rights. It states that the company must
support and respect the protection of the rights of the employees. On the other hand,
Wang, Dou and Jia, (2016) states that this is because of the reason that the company
operates in a globalized world and there are people coming from different background.
Therefore, there must not be any discrimination relating to the cultural background of
the of different people.
Another principle followed by Duratex is in respect of environment which states
that the business must use take initiatives to promote good and healthy environment
and to encourage the development and consumption of environmentally friendly
technologies and materials. This is a must to fulfil principle for company because it

deals in rubber and plastics and their waste can harm the environment. Also, these
technologies help the employees in producing the products with more efficiency and
productivity.
3.3 Areas of improvement
The corporate social responsibility is a growing and popularising in this modern
and globalized world. Therefore, it is very important for every company to follow and
adhere with all the principles of corporate social responsibility and sustainability
(Albuquerque, Koskinen and Zhang, 2018). The company needs to have some
improvement in its business so that the focus sustainability and corporate social
responsibility can be more improvised.
The company can use the approach of corporate social responsibility that is
stakeholder approach (Ali, Frynas and Mahmood, 2017). This is because of the reason
that this approach helps in taking care of all the stakeholders of the business and not
just only the society and environment. The company have many different types of
stakeholder like employees, suppliers, consumers, shareholders, government, local
community, environment and all the other people related to the company in either direct
or indirect way.
Using the approach of stakeholder is recommended for the company as this
approach takes into consideration all the needs of all the stakeholders present in the
company. This approach is more suitable for the success of the company in respect of
corporate social responsibility and sustainability because of all these stakeholders will
be satisfied then automatically the objective of corporate social responsibility will be
accomplished without much working (Brown, Goll and Rasheed, 2017). This is majorly
because of the reason that these all comprises the whole of the business environment
as all these stakeholders comprises the whole environment and surroundings of the
business.
The more focus is laid on the fulfilment of the needs of all the stakeholder
because of the reason that these stakeholders provide their knowledge, talents, skills
and engagement to help Duratex in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the
company. This approach states that the responsibility of the company is not only for the
environment but also for all the other stakeholder which are interested in the working of