HND Business: Business Environment Analysis of Greenwood Retail

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the business environment surrounding Greenwood, a retail chain operating in the UK. It begins with an introduction to the concept of the business environment, emphasizing the interplay of internal and external factors, and their impact on a company's growth and decision-making. The report then delves into the different functions within a business organization, illustrating their interrelationships and how they contribute to Greenwood's operational efficiency. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to examining the macro-environment's influence on Greenwood's business operations, utilizing a PESTLE analysis to assess political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors. Furthermore, an internal and external analysis of Greenwood is conducted, employing a SWOT analysis to evaluate the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report concludes by synthesizing the findings, highlighting the interrelation between internal factors and the macro-environment, and their combined effect on Greenwood's success.

Business Environment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 .......................................................................................................................................3
P1 and P2 covered in PPT...........................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P3 Relationship among different functions of an organisations.................................................3
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................5
P4 Positive and negative impact of Macro environment on business operations of Greenwood
.....................................................................................................................................................5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P5 Internal and External analysis of Greenwood........................................................................7
P6 Strengths and weaknesses interrelate with external factors...................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Business environment is combination of both internal as well as external factors which
have direct or indirect influence upon growth and functioning of an enterprise. All these factors
are inter-related and dynamic in nature. Various components of business are labour, capital,
suppliers, clients, etc. and these factors are used to identify threats and opportunities that can
influence growth of a company. It also help in directing company towards its goals and
objectives by combining both internal and external environment (Cascio, 2018). For sustaining in
competitive world, business environment help company to develop strategies that influence
decision-making process. Thus indulging company to rectify its strength and weakness and
construct opportunities that will minimize threats. Greenwoods is a retail chain headquartered in
England, UK, with stores located in more than 80 locations. It has a series of men's apparel and
related accessories. In this report, different types, size and scope of organisation will be
discussed. Further interrelation of various functions of organisation and their structure will be
analysed. Later strengths and weaknesses of Greenwoods will be determined. At last, relation of
internal factors with macro environment in context of business will be discussed. With these
segments, study of business environment which interrelate with organisational functions and its
impact upon company's success will be thoroughly analysed.
TASK 1
P1 and P2 covered in PPT
TASK 2
P3 Relationship among different functions of an organisations
Functions of a business organisation has divided in many departments with common aim
is to achieve company's objectives and increase its productivity (Importance of Business
environment. 2018). These sections has performed many activities in accomplishing a task,
therefore, all are inter connected with each other. The various functions of a typical business
enterprise can be classified as Production, R&D, Purchasing, Marketing and Sales, HRM,
Account and Finance. In order to run the workforce in a proper way, Greenwood Company has
allotted roles and responsibilities of each department according to their working process
(Reynolds and Rohlin, 2014). To manage functions of these sections, this retailer has followed a

supply chain process which helps in running its stores in an appropriate manner. Having an
effective organisational structure, assist employees to provide good customer service which
increase sales, productivity and profitability of this company. Functions of such departments
along with their relationship in an enterprise are giving as below:-
Production: This section undertakes essential activities of manufacturing the products or
services in an effective way. It takes various responsibilities like product planning and
scheduling, control and supervision of production workforce, managing product quality,
inventory control, maintenance of machinery equipments etc. For effective production, this
department depends on-
 R&D section as it provides information of how to design products according to market
requirements.
 Marketing division which focuses on desired goods functionality and its durability.
 Finance sectors which provides enough funds for purchasing new equipments and
resources or raw materials needed for production.
 HRM for introducing qualified persons in staff. Purchasing department for availability of raw materials.
Research & Development: R&D department of a company always focusing with
development of new products or services (Wild, Wild and Han, 2014). This section identifies
trends of market and introduce change management in company if necessary in order to meet
demands of customers on time. Functions of this division is totally depend on
 Marketing department for identifying needs of customers and their preference in an
economical way. Finance division for getting enough budget in order to determine market trends.
Purchasing: The purchasing functions is mainly focuses on acquiring goods and
resources from suppliers for making products of a company. It includes raw materials, labours,
components for manufacturing and equipments used in production and operation of a company.
This department takes responsibilities to buy goods or services by taking a number of factors into
its account like Quantity, Quality, Price and Delivery (Solomon and et. al., 2014). It is related
with other division in following manner-
 Research & Development for identification of cheap suppliers.
 Operational department for introducing purchasing mix strategies.

 Finance department for availability of funds necessary to run its functions in a desired
way.
Marketing: Members in this division analyse customer's need, competitors' strategies to
avail marketplace, product differentiation, arrange sales promotions etc. in order to increase
productivity and profitability of a company. It helps sales department to sell products in a
specific region by increasing number of customers (Whittington, 2014). In managing marketing
mix strategies via Product, Price, Promotion and Place it depends on other department as:-
 Finance sections for getting enough capital to advertise companies products.
 R&D for analysing demands of markets. On administration team for operating all the functions in a legal manner.
HRM: This department holds many responsibilities in order to manage functions of other
divisions like- recruitment and selection, training and development, employee relations,
compensation and compliances etc. Functions of departments of all organisation are totally
dependent on human resource management. It provides sufficient staffs to all divisions who are
much qualified and desired according to function of departments (Smallbone, Welter and
Ateljevic, 2014). Workers are most important assets of company whose contributions help in
achieving business goals and objectives in a desired way. Therefore, HRM of an enterprise
concern with providing benefits to employees for their retentions.
TASK 3
P4 Positive and negative impact of Macro environment on business operations of Greenwood
Generally business environment of an organisation is affected by two main factors via
Micro and Macro. These attributes impacts on performance and functions of business both in
negative and positive manner (Eling and Schaper, 2017). Macro environment is an external one
in which a company operates its business. It includes factors like political, economical, social,
technological, environmental and legal. Therefore, changes in any attributes of these will directly
affect growth and success of a company. Company like Greenwood has operated its business in
retailing sector, therefore, in order to understand the market potential of this firm internally and
externally PESTEL analysis can be described as:
PESTLE Analysis of Greenwood:
Political Factors Economical Factors

 To expand business in another regions,
this company needs to know the entire
system first before taking any step.
Reason behind this is changes in
policies and legislations of regulatory
bodies of different countries.
 Apart from this, the most common
political factors influence business are
financial norms of a country. If political
environment of a particular region is
safe and peaceful then it is easy for a
company to open and run the business
happily otherwise not (Zsambok and
Klein, 2014).
 Economic activities of any nation also
influence business of companies who
are operating there. Recession period
reduces purchasing power of customers
as well as hurt brands of organisation
deeply. In such period, government
puts heavy toll on sales and trading of
retail companies. Due to high custom
duties and level of tariffs in various
countries, price of products of
Greenwood may vary.
 Rise in labour, raw materials and
production cost generates financial
burden on a company.
Social Factors Technological Factors
 Society and its culture are important
factors for business of an enterprise.
Investment in social responsibilities
helps a firm to attract customers as well
as retain them.
 Concerning on basic factors like race,
religion and origin of country's
population, Greenwood has
manufactured its products for all
category of skinny and healthy people.
 Technology is rapidly change in today's
modern world in terms of
communication, import-export and
other aspects of business. Advancement
of techniques helps in managing
inventories and customer service (Kolk,
2016).
 Greenwood uses technologies like
launching apps for feasibility of
customers.
Legal Factors Environmental factors
 Legal factors force an organisation to
compliance its business with
regulations and laws such as Anti-
 Disasters, earthquakes, changes in
weather conditions and other
environmental factors damages not only

discrimination, Consumer, Right to
Equality etc. Therefore, Greenwood is
always concern on bringing ethics and
sustainability in its workforce.
 Making products by focusing on
comfort level and standard of people is
necessary for companies (Chen and et.
al., 2014). Due to legal factors, firms
cannot exceed price of products.
local infrastructure but also closed ports
for trading, creating power irruptions
etc. Thus, it effects business operations
in a large manner.
 Effective CSR and doing ethical
business impacts on business in a
positive manner as it helps in attracting
the customers towards products of a
company.
Positive impact: Change in trends of market which is based on socio-cultural factors have
a positive impact on a company. It increases customer and market segmentation as well as
provide larger opportunities to expand business of an organisation. In fact stable economic
conditions like tax rates, laws and legislations applied on a firm provide an opportunity to grow
business legally with technological advancement which enhances productivity also. Online
services offered by a company helps customers to hassle free shopping without the waiting time
in supermarket queue. This would influence business operations positively (Othman, and
Rahman,2014).
Negative impact: Political and legal factors influence operations and business of a
company negatively. It creates an obstacle for opening new stores on different locations as well
as trading in another countries or state. In order to protect environment, a firm needs to be aware
of how to decompose and reduce wastages of production (Impact of Macro environment on
business operations. 2017). It demands an organisation to update its existing technologies which
increases costs of production.
TASK 4
P5 Internal and External analysis of Greenwood
Internal analysis of strengths and weaknesses of an organisation defines certain
advantages and disadvantages in order to meet the demands of market. In this context strengths
refer to core competencies whereas weaknesses belong to limitations which is faced by company
at the time of implementation of strategies. Similarly, external analysis shows opportunities and

threats existing within an enterprise (Luthans and Doh, 2018). With this assistance, opportunities
provides favourable conditions while threats act as barriers in development and growth of
businesses of companies like Greenwood. Factors which affect business environment are
resources, capabilities, customer's desires, competitive identification and technological
innovation etc. Concerning about market needs whether completed or not on specific period of
time, it is necessary for firms to analyse by using SWOT techniques (Cook, 2017). This method
identifies against whom do a company compete, manufacturers of substitute products, who can
becomes potential competitive entrants as well as what strategies are need to overcome from
these barriers. It evaluate objectives, cost and business structures, driving forces behind sales
trends and distribution system. Hence, this type of analysis helps an enterprise to evaluate key
success factors, competencies and assets required to run business smoothly and successful in a
legal manner.
SWOT Analysis Greenwood
Positive Factors Negative factors
Internal
Factors
Strengths Weaknesses
 Second highest formal garment
chain of menswear in UK.
 Products like a slim-fit range of
suits, shirt, ties and shoes of this
firm are the most trusted brands
in retailing sector (Czakon and
Rogalski, 2014).
 It has sold some high-quality but
slightly defective goods at a low
price.
 Lack of identity at market-place
shows its major weakness.
 Infrastructure has played an
important role in deciding how an
enterprise will evolve and manage
its supply chain. Therefore, due to
poor infrastructure, supply chain
management also suffers.
 Using old techniques and manual
working increases costs and time
both which affects production in a
negative way.
External
Factors
Opportunities Threats
 Internalisation increasing the
global presence which provides
 Availability of land and real-estate
i.e. retail space and high rentals

an opportunity to a firm to open
its stores across the country.
 Greenwood has a chance to
enhance the techniques of
market segmentation by
increasing it number of stores in
other countries and all over the
region. Currently, it has opened
80 stores across UK.
 Making women's wear products
in spite of only menswear can
increase its business.
pressurise profitability of a
company.
 Increasing costs of resources like
labour, wages, raw materials like
cotton etc. affects on budget
(Bagautdinova and et. al., 2014).
 Major threat for an organisation is
its competitors and their strategies
of availing market-place (Al-Saleh
and Mahroum, 2015).
Such type of analysis should not justify only strengths or weaknesses of a company, it
also use to develop effective market strategies for better decision-making. An organisation can
accomplishes this by matching its strengths with opportunities. It would proves beneficial in
increasing sales and profitability at market-place (Wheelen and et. al., 2017). SWOT can also be
integrated into retailer's HRM practices like in recruitment, training and providing compensation
to employees. This process helps a firm to make decisions according to needs of workers,
demand of customers and reducing the potential of threats present in business environment.
P6 Strengths and weaknesses interrelate with external factors
By analysing macro and micro environment, strengths and weakness can be obtained for
any company. These outcomes are compared by managers with macro environment like
economic, political, technological, social, legal and environmental and then strategies and
policies are formed. Greenwoods have been operating in retail business since past long but
spontaneous change in macro factors can drastically affect business process. Interrelationship
between macro factors and company's strength and weakness are as follows: Political factor: These factors include legislations and rules that were considered while
framing business policies. Many challenges are faced by company because of
manipulation in this factor. At time, when Britain was about to leave EU many political

as well as economical uncertainties were created. New operation routes were formed
which caused trouble in framing new structure for department (Lee and et. al., 2015). Economical factor: This factor include changes in economy of country such as inflation
rate, interest rate, etc. With fall in currency financial trouble was faced by company
because many investors threaten to pull out their money from business. This affected
marketing strategy and had negative impact upon pricing. Social factor: Market is dynamic in nature hence it created positive impact which caste
more better opportunities for company to grow in effective manner. Biggest social trend
that clothing retailers are facing are manufacturing of plus size clothing due to increase in
obesity rate. This again had positive impact upon company and made business top grow
in different segment. Technological factor: Introduction of online platform by means of digital technology had
created positive impact on Greenwoods as buyers are aware of every product and can
shop hassle free, anytime (Barazandeh, and et. al., 2015). Environmental factor: People are being environment conscious therefore opting for
clothes that are made out of cotton and recyclable materials. This action creates positive
impact upon minds of customers thus getting attracted towards brand.
 Legal factor: Before opening of new store Greenwoods perform all legal documentation
and strongly maintains permission from local authority. Also, company follows new
Workplace Pensions legislation, under which company has to contribute 3% to its
employee's workplace pension to every eligible worker.
The above mentioned factors give favourable as well as unfavourable impacts upon
business and demand change as per market trend. Thus, proving that strength and weakness are
linked with macro factors.
CONCLUSION
From this unit, it has concluded that business environment constitutes various factors
which influence operations of a company. It helps in identifying strengths as internal elements
and weaknesses as external ones in order to achieve goals and objectives of a company. This
report also evaluated how business of different sectors like public, private and voluntary differs.
Scope, structures and sizes of companies are vary according to their purpose and type of sectors
in which they operate their businesses. In order to increase growth and productivity a company

needs to analyse its internal and external factors by using PESTEL and SWOT techniques. With
this assistance, interrelationship of functions of different departments have also described in this
project along with their importance in a firm.

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