MOD003353 - Business Environment: Innovation, Governance, Ethics

This report examines the critical roles of innovation and corporate governance in organizational development, focusing on Aston Martin as a case study. It begins by defining innovation and its impact on economic processes, illustrating how technological advancements enhance efficiency and specialization. The report then explores Aston Martin's operational innovations, sales strategies, and profit generation, highlighting the direct correlation between innovation and business performance. Furthermore, it delves into corporate governance, detailing the responsibilities of the board of directors towards stakeholders, including policy governance, meeting arrangements, CEO selection, resource management, and effective communication. Finally, it applies Archie Carroll's four-part model of corporate social responsibility to Aston Martin, emphasizing the company's commitment to balancing resource utilization with societal contributions. The report concludes by underscoring the importance of continuous investment in research and development to sustain long-term profitability and ethical business practices.

Business Environment

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
Demonstration of understanding of innovation, role of technological changes in the economic
process....................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the company and examples of innovation impacting the operations, sales and
profit of company...................................................................................................................4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................6
Corporate governance, including the responsibilities of board of directors towards the
stakeholders............................................................................................................................6
The four areas which develop corporate social responsibility identified by Archie Carroll..7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

Introduction
Innovation and corporate governance are two important factors which are considered to be
necessary for development of an organisation. In the changing environment it is required by
organisation to make sure that they bringing innovations which can fulfil the dynamic needs of
customers. Along with the needs of customer and organisation is also responsible for fulfilling
the needs of society as a whole which is done through the help of corporate social responsibility.
Aston Martin is considered for the following report. It is an organisation which produces sports
car. The organisation was set up in 1913 (Kwon and Cho, 2020). The following report discusses
about different innovations of the company and its effects on different operations of the business.
Along with it the corporate governance and importance of stakeholders in an organisation is
discussed with the model force corporate social responsibility for Aston Martin.
Task 1
Demonstration of understanding of innovation, role of technological changes in the economic
process
Innovation: Innovation can be defined as a process in which creation of different products
or services, business ideas I want payment in order to improve the present services and products
of the company and create a dynamic product which can satisfy all the needs and requirements of
the potential customers of the company. Innovation can be said to be key for success for every
business organisation as it helps in impacting economic condition of the organisation and
attracting large number of consumers towards the innovative product or services which is
innovated by the company and also helps in reducing the marginal utility of the product or
service.
The role of technological changes in economic progress
It can be said that changes in an organisation as technology helps in building unit of
knowledge which can be related to various sources that link the process of producing services
and goods effectively and innovation. Updating the technological aspect of a business will help
in economic growth and development of various opportunities for a business which can help
business in adopting new functions. Some of the major factor which relate to technology to
economic progress are mentioned below:

Efficiency: Changing of technology in an organisation is directly related to increase the locations
of business outputs we are the rate of innovativeness will increase and allow large quantity of
product to be produced by the organisation leading towards economic of scale of benefits.
Bring specialization: With the adoption of new technologies in organisational development of
various methods which will help the organisation in achieving all its goals and object tips which
are related to specialisation in the economy can be used effectively. It will also help in
specialisation of human resource in an organisation and contribute towards bringing efficiency
and specialisation in all the different functions of the business (Krishna, 2020).
Overview of the company and examples of innovation impacting the operations, sales and profit
of company
Overview of Aston Martin
Aston Martin stores and in order to complete the following report. It is an independent producer
of different luxury sports car which was established in Britain. Aston Martin was founded by
Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford in 1913. The company basically operates in three different
locations and the main business of company is producing grand tour and sports car. It is an
innovative organisation which is bringing in new innovation continuously in order to expand its
business and also fulfil all the needs and requirements of the customers. Division of company is
to strengthen the engine as well as the body design of the car in order to get different and holistic
designs to fulfil the requirements of customers.
Impact of innovation in different areas of Aston Martin
Innovation can be directly associated with increase in productivity and performance of an
organisation including all the different departments of an organisation to achieve all the goals
and objectives of an organisation in appropriate manner. It is necessary that innovation affects all
the different departments of an organisation including operations, sales as well as profit which is
mentioned below:
Operations: There are a number of different functions which are important of all by individuals
in an organisation in order to move the organisation towards completion of all its objectives and
goals. When taking Aston Martin into context organisation performs a number of different
functions which helps it in achieving all the business objectives and also enhancing the goodwill
and reputation of the organisation in the marketplace (Vaidya, Prasad and Rao, 2020). Innovation
can directly impact the operations as with the help of use of innovation the functions of a

business can be enhanced. It also helps in promoting the various specialization of organisation
and bringing productivity in the organisation related to all the different functions. Examples can
be considered from Aston Martin for its human resource department where in order to acquire
human resource they use an innovative process called as talent research. This helps the
organisation to make sure that they are hiring all the employees who are highly skilled and
qualified to perform various operations in the organisation and achieve all the required objectives
of the business. There are also different policies for training and development of employs used
by Aston Martin in order to make sure that they are enhancing the skills of their human resource
which will help in increasing their productivity and achieving all the results in the given time
period. This work of human resource of the company also helps them to make sure that they are
developing cars and body designs in such a way which is fruitful and can provide satisfaction to
their customers. With the help of innovation and development in Aston Martin company have
also developed a number of sports car which are fulfilled with all the safety features which can
help to save the lives of drivers and the customers at the time of an unpleasant incident or
accident (Rezaee, 2020).
Sales: Innovation is an effective tool which is helping the business organisation to impacted
sales and also increase revenues for the business. There are a number of different tools and
techniques of innovation which are used by the organisation in order to enhance the method of
sales in the business. When taking Aston Martin into context it is seen that it is a global
organisation which performs all the functions at international level. The company is investing
high amounts on research and development projects in order to make sure that they are bringing
innovation which can facilitate all its customers by enhanced products and increase its sales.
Innovation is directly impacting the sales as well as satisfaction level of customer in the
organisation. An example can be taken for Aston Martin is continuously increasing its market
share of the organisation in sports car by 20% when comparing to its competitors. This is a direct
result of bringing in new innovations in the company.
Profit: Profit of the organisation is directly related to the innovation in the organisation. When
considering Aston Martin there are a number of different formations which helps in increasing
the profit ratio for the organisation. Use of innovative ways to build the products as well as
innovative products and services are also a way in which Aston Martin can increase their profit
margins and demand more from their customers fulfilling all their needs and requirements. The

profitability ratio of the company has been increasing from last few years which is a result of
innovation in the company. Aston Martin is one of the leading companies in car racing brands
which is direct result of innovation by the company which helps it in increasing its profit
margins.
With the help of the above discussion it can be considered that innovation have direct impact
on different functions of an organisation. In Aston Martin innovation has a great role which have
direct impact on all its operations, revenues and sales as well as profit margin. It is necessary for
Aston Martin to invest in research and development which will bring in profits for the company
in long run.
Task 2
Corporate governance, including the responsibilities of board of directors towards the
stakeholders
Corporate governance: Corporate governance can be said to be combination of various rules and
laws in an organisation which helps in formulating the basis for business operations. It is related
to external as well as internal factors which are impacting the interest of different stakeholders in
the market such as government, suppliers, employees, shareholders and so on.
There are different kind of roles and responsibilities which have to be fulfilled by the
directors of an organisation in order to fulfil their role towards stakeholders. Below mentioned
this does discussion regarding Aston Martin:
Govern the organisation with both policies and objectives: The first and foremost responsibility
of the board of directors of company towards its stakeholders is to make sure that they are
regulating organisation using all the policies and procedures which are agreed upon first. This
also helps the stakeholders and identification of different functions in the business and make sure
that they are saving all the interest of stakeholders by fulfilling their performance towards the
organisation (Bajaj and Akhilesh, 2020).
Arrangement of meetings: Another responsibility of board of directors to arrange for meetings
towards different stakeholders regularly in the organisation. The agenda of this meeting is
development and growth of the organisation as well as the current business of the organisation.
The stakeholders are involved in decision making of the organisation and running all the
functions smoothly in the organisation.

Selection of appropriate CEO: Is also necessary for board of directors to make sure that they are
selecting an appropriate chief executive officer for the organisation which will help in achieving
all the goals and objectives of the organisation properly. This will also help to save the interest of
various stakeholders in the organisation for Aston Martin.
Management of resources: It is necessary for the board of directors to make sure that they are
handling all the resources which is provided by different stakeholders effectively. It is necessary
that the resources which are available to the organisation are effectively used in order to save the
interest of stakeholders and maintain them in the organisation for a longer period of time.
Communicating information: It is necessary by board of directors of an organisation to make
sure that they are continuously communicating with all the stakeholders of the organisation. This
will help in saving the interest of the stakeholders towards the organisation. When taking Aston
Martin into consideration it is necessary that the organisation is properly following a Feedback
structure which helps them to relate to their stakeholders and also communicate all the important
information about the organisation to them (Petrov and Mikhaylov, 2020).
The four areas which develop corporate social responsibility identified by Archie Carroll
Corporate social responsibility refers to a part of business which is related to all the
liabilities of an organisation towards the society in order to pay them back for using the resources
of the society. It is also social obligation which is required to be fulfilled by an organisation to
make sure that they are maintaining a proper balance between give-and-take towards the society.
When taking Aston Martin into consideration the organisation is following corporate social
responsibilities in order to make sure that they are maintaining the balance between various
resources which the firm is using towards the environment and output which the firm is
developing for them.
In order to understand the corporate social responsibility of Aston Martin a model developed by
Carol is used which have four different components. Below described is that model in
association with Aston Martin:
Economic: This is the first component in the model which can be related to the economic
relationship of an organisation towards the society which will help the organisation in generating
major profits and also increasing its revenues. It is necessary that the products and services
which they are selling in the organisation are helping to develop the society and also contributing
towards the welfare of society (Sharma, 2020). It is necessary that the organisation comes over

different external and internal factors which can impact the growth as well as development of the
organisation and proper strategies are used by organisation in order to maintain good economic
condition and fulfil its social responsibility. When taking Aston Martin into consideration the
organisation is continuously bringing in innovation and a number of different tools and
techniques for marketing and promotion of the products and services of company in order to
develop market dynamics. It also helps the company to make sure that they are fulfilling their
corporate social responsibility by meeting all the customers’ requirements.
Legal: This is the second component of the model which refers to words the legal
responsibilities of an organisation towards society. There are a number of legal requirements
such as pollution law, organisational behaviour, wages and payments act which define various
legal obligations of company towards society. Aston Martin make sure that they are fulfilling all
these laws and effectively working towards the growth of organisation along with society.
Ethical: The third component includes the ethical responsibility of organisation towards the
society. It is directly related to the fact that it is necessary by organisation to make sure that all
the operations are fulfilling the requirement of customers as well as society. Aston Martin make
sure that they are following all the ethical values and beliefs of the people working in the
organisation and creating a positive atmosphere in the organisation in order to provide better
environment to the human resource of the company.
Philanthropy: Philanthropic component is the fourth component in this model. It is necessary
that the organisation is set as a good corporate citizen in the market. It is required by organisation
to make sure that they are providing inputs and improving the quality of life of all the employees
for the organisation including the society. When taking Aston Martin into consideration the
company is fulfilling its philanthropic component of corporate social responsibility by making
sure that they organise different community programmes including educational programmes for
individuals of the society (Oxford Analytica, 2020). In this way the company is contributing
towards increasing the living standard of people in the society.
The model of social responsibility by Archie Carol helps in understanding how does Aston
Martin identify various factors related to the corporate social responsibility. This model also
helps develop various activities related to CSR which will help the organisation in fulfilling their
responsibility towards the society.

Conclusion
With the help of the above report it can be evaluated that it is necessary for an organisation to
bring in innovation as well as follow the corporate social responsibilities. These are two major
pillars with the help of which an organisation can survive in the market fulfilling all the
requirements towards the customer as well as society. In order to stay for long period of time it is
required by organisation to bring in innovation regularly and also perform CSR activities in order
to build its reputation in the market.

References
Books and Journals
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of informal learning in career development. Journal of Career Development, 47(3),
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Krishna, M.G., 2020. Business Environment & Environmental Accounting. Studies in Indian
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Vaidya, D.R., Prasad, D.K. and Rao, M., 2020. Mental and Emotional Competencies of Leader’s
Dealing with Disruptive Business Environment-A Conceptual
Review. International Journal of Management, 11(5).
Rezaee, Z., 2020. Contemporary Issues in Business: Corporate Sustainability, Corporate
Governance, Organizational Ethics and Forensic Accounting. NOLEGEIN-Journal
of Business Ethics, Ethos & CSR, pp.6-9.
Bajaj, M. and Akhilesh, K.B., 2020. How Energy and Utility Companies Are Leveraging
Industrial IoT in a Highly Competitive Business Environment?. In Smart
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Petrov, N.A. and Mikhaylov, A.M., 2020, May. Features of State Regulation of Small Business
Financing in the Russian Federation. In International Scientific and Practical
Conference (pp. 183-190). Springer, Cham.
Sharma, S., 2020. Formulation of Fiscal Policy in a Country and Its Implications for Business
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Oxford Analytica, Virus brings US business temporary environment waiver. Emerald Expert
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