Business Environment Analysis: Innovation, CSR, Spirent PLC

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the business environment surrounding Spirent Communication PLC, a UK-based multinational telecommunications company. It begins by defining the business environment and exploring the impact of different types of innovation and technology on economic progress, particularly within business organizations. The report then delves into how innovation and technology have specifically impacted Spirent's operations, sales, and profits, highlighting the use of technologies like AI, IoT, and cloud computing. Furthermore, the report emphasizes the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for Spirent, examining corporate governance in the UK and the benefits of CSR initiatives. Finally, it applies Archie Carroll's Pyramid of CSR to Spirent, analyzing its economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and implications of the analysis.

Business environment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Understanding of different types of innovation and technology and how they have impacted
the economic progress of the country, with particular emphasis on business organisations. .....3
Ways in which innovation and technology have impacted the operations, sales and the profits
of Spirent communication plc. ...................................................................................................4
Importance of corporate social responsibility..............................................................................5
Archie Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Business environment consist of the aggregate of all the the factors which are internal or
external to the business and impact the working of the it. The business environment is dynamic
in nature and is also complex. Spirent communication plc is a UK based multinational
telecommunications and it is also listed on London stock exchange. It was founded in 1936 by
Jack Bowthorpe. It is a leading global provider of automated testing solutions for networks,
cybersecurity and positioning. In the further report understanding of innovation, an d the role of
technological change in economic progress will be demonstrated and ways will be determined in
which innovation has impacted the operations, sales and profits of Spirent communication plc.
Also evaluation of the importance of corporate social responsibility will be done and Archie's
Carroll's CSR model will be applied to Spirent communication plc.
MAIN BODY
Understanding of different types of innovation and technology and how they have impacted the
economic progress of the country, with particular emphasis on business organisations.
Innovation is adding or creating or carrying out new combination of new products or
services. It is defines as introducing something new with the aim to improve efficiency and
effectiveness. Increasing the productivity and getting competitive advantage is the main
component of innovation (Mostaghel, 2016). Technology is the use of knowledge, skills and
taking action to solve practical problem. Spirent communication plc is the way the organization
applies scientific knowledge for practical purposes. All the tools and techniques which are used
to solve the real life problems and make life easier.
Contribution of innovation and technology to economic growth of UK.
Innovation increases productivity and contribute in the economic growth. Innovations
helps in reducing the cost, enhancing the quality of products and services and also increases
variety of products and services ans also methods of production. Technology has also contributed
in economic growth as it helps in producing the products more efficiently and therefore the cost
can be reduced and can improve the standard of living. Innovation and technology is contributing
in overcoming the global challenges like climate changes which are causing adverse impact on
the environment (Aydin. and Parker, 2018). There are many areas in which the technology and
innovation have contributed to enhance the overall economic growth of UK. As

telecommunication acts as a gift of modern science (Johnson. and Koyama, 2017). The
innovation and technology in UK contributes in economic growth as they are focusing on
providing 5G networks which will provide benefit of speed in term of availability of superfast
broadband and this will contribute in more advanced telecommunication infrastructure. This
industry contributes to around 4-5% in GDP of UK and also plays an important role in growth of
the economy.
Different ways in which business organisations use new technologies in their operations
Predictive analytics enables the telecommunication business organization to leverage their data,
advanced machine learning ability and sophisticated algorithms to predict the future results.
Through artificial intelligence the telecommunication companies will be able to determine the
changes in the demand level of customers (Briken, Chillas. and Krzywdzinski, 2017).
Internet of things is also new technology which telecommunication organization uses in their
operations to connect with their customers and deliver collection of various products and
services which brings in additional value to their existing networks. Service utilization has been
improved by cloud computing in the telecommunication companies. Through this the
organization can add more products and services in their list. When it comes to cyber crime
telecommunication industry is highly exposed to the risk. Therefore cybersecurity is the most
important and new technology introduced which can be used in their operations to protect their
internal data.
Ways in which innovation and technology have impacted the operations, sales and the profits of
Spirent communication plc.
Spirent communication plc is a British multinational telecommunications testing
company which was founded in 1936. It provides electronic solutions for the technology industry
and also specializes in testing system in the field of telecommunication. Their innovation
portfolio consist of 5G, SD-WAN, Cloud, Autonomous Vehicles and beyond that too. The
company has more than 15000 customers spread across globe (Nambisan, Wright. and Feldman,
2019). They personally work with their clients to understand their needs and try to deliver
solutions that can cover customer's entire technology life cycle.
New technologies
There are various types of new technologies and the ways they are used in Spirent
communication plc are discussed below:

Artificial intelligence – Artificial intelligence is used by Spirent communication plc in
enhancing the viewer experience for streaming videos. As an average adult spends most of the
time watching videos and on the internet (Aghion, Jones. and Jones, 2017). It examines the
reasons behind the need of evaluating and assuring video quality of entire streaming video
ecosystem.
Internet of things – To adopt this new technology of internet of things Spirent communication
plc entered into a partnership with Oasis Smart SIM. Before entering into the partnership and
launching new product both the organization undertook various research and development and it
acts as a game changer in connecting the products and devices. Internet of things are used in
Spirent communication plc in improving telecommunication soft-wares and infrastructure.
robotic process automation
Cloud computing – The new technology of cloud computing of Spirent is virtual and enables
the customers and clients to architect the modern software-defines data centres which are deliver
next generation apps and services and also which are ready to use. The main aim of cloud
computing is storing the data and also used in in-house operations. This technology helps in
reducing the cost on hardware and software for the Spirent and also enables scalability of the
infrastructure. It also enhances the data centre efficiency for carriers. Cloud computing can be
used by Spirent communication plc in getting competitive advantage and also in generating new
revenues. The company uses cloud computing in adapting to the market and also enhancing the
connectivity of ecosystem which provides key inputs for innovation (Yamamoto, 2020).
There have been a great impact of these technologies on the company's sales and profits in the
sense that their revenue rose from 476 USD million to 504 USD million. All these technology
such as artificial intelligence, internet of things and cloud computing has contributed in the
enhancement of their operations, sales and profits.
Importance of corporate social responsibility
Corporate governance:
It refers to all those rules, regulations, or laws which company follows or which helps the
company in the operation, running and controlling its business operations. Corporate governance
helps the company to establish the balance between its various stakeholders including the
management, shareholders, employees, customers, government and many others.

Corporate social responsibility:
It refers to the responsibilities which company have towards the society. Since, every
company works to sell its products to its customers or uses the resources which is again a part of
society, so it is the responsibility of every company to do something in return for society would
be considered as corporate social responsibility ( Advantage, 2020).
Corporate governance in UK:
Financial Reporting Council always ensures that the code of corporate governance is
always and strictly followed by UK companies. The corporate governance of UK consist of
various rules, regulations or laws which ensures that companies should work in the framework of
those laws and it also creates accountability to management who have decision power. Following
of code of corporate governance is the responsibility of the board of directors of the company are
who are appointed by the shareholders. The main aim of corporate governance of UK is to
ensure economic stability so that the companies of UK can attract and develop trust among
investors and people which will also leads to the achievement of company's objective (Bhagat
and Bolton, 2019). Also, by following and abiding the code of corporate governance, helps the
companies in creating its own standard image in the market.
Importance of CSR for Spirent communication plc
The way Spirent conducts its business and also they focus on altering their policies to ensure that
they follow CSR activities. The company try to prevent and control the pollution and also make
efforts to minimize the adverse impact on environment.
CSR helps in building positive reputation of Spirent as these activities will show that the
company is more committed to help others and society.
Undertaking CSR activities will help the company to reduce the costs and helps them save more.
The company while doing CSR will use environmental friendly materials and also they will try
to reduce the packaging material.
This will also gives the company a competitive advantage as this will make the company stand
out from the other competitors. Taking this step will make the company one step ahead from the
competitors.
It also enhances the engagement with the employees as employees will get involved in the
activities apart from the work and which will also helps them in improving their skills.

Conducting CSR will lead to increase in sales as customer will become more positive about the
company and will build confidence in them about the company.
Archie Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR
Archie Carroll has developed a pyramid of corporate social responsibilities where the focus has
been placed on why an organisation should include CSR as a part of their regular business
activities. The pyramid has four components, that is, economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic
which describes four areas of responsibilities. Also, it has been expected from every organization
to fulfil the shortcomings of the communities and society as a whole. The pyramid is based on
the basic aspect of earning profit but many times it has been argued that ethics and legal aspects
should be on the top priority. In this report the various components of Carroll pyramid of CSR
are discussed in the context of Spirent Communication Plc.
Components of Archie Carroll' s pyramid of CSR are:
Economic Responsibilities: The first and the foremost responsibility of every organisation is of
generating enough profit for the purpose of long term survival and welfare the society from the
same. Spirent Communication Plc must perform well for the benefit of various stakeholders
associated with the business. Spirent must overcome the factors external and internal to it and
creating obstacle in achieving growth and development. Whatever the case may be, either It is
the competition in the marketplace or promoting business, the major responsibility of Spirent is
to make the best strategies and decisions for generating profits (Carroll and Brown, 2018).
Legal Responsibilities: This component focuses on the responsibility of Spirent on various legal
aspects which says that the company must be abide by the rules, regulations and various laws
made for the industry they are operating. The laws related to the employment, safety, security
and health of the society and its employees must be adhered to by Spirent. Various laws made for
the particular industry and its compliance is necessary for the company. The competition always
there in every industries and market but the competition should not be taken as granted, and
legal responsibilities should not be compromised at all.
Ethical Responsibilities: The ethical responsibility is quite related to the legal one but this
responsibilities also stress on the fact that the Spirent must operate and work in the true and fair
manner whether the law has compelled for that or not. Every decision and act must be favourable
for the company and society as a whole, which means nothing should harm the morals and ethics

of the society. Ethics refers to the moral values which is not required by the law but is expected
by the society that Spirent must take care of it. The society expects the true and fair behaviour on
the part of Spirent in accomplishing its goals and objectives (Carroll, 2016).
Philanthropic responsibilities: The philanthropic responsibility stresses on Spirent's
contribution towards various social welfare activities and educational programme designed for
the betterment of the society. This responsibility says that the company works in the society and
earn from there only so it is obligatory for Spirent to give something back to the society by
initiating welfare activities for social growth and developments.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that innovation is adding new value to something and technology is
using the skills and science to solve the practical problems. Innovation and technology leads to
increased productivity of the processes which means with the same level of input more output
can be derived and more products and services can be produced. This helps in improving the
overall standard of living in the economy. There are various types of new technologies such as
artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, internet of things and many more. There are
many ways in which business organization use these technologies in their operations. Spirent
communication plc is a global provider of automated testing and assurance solutions which is
UK based telecommunication testing company and there are new technologies like artificial
intelligence, internet of things and cloud computing and has many ways in which they are used
in Spirent which enhanced their productivity and also there have been a rise in revenues of
Spirent cause of these new technologies. Corporate governance are the combinations of rules,
regulations, or laws through which the business is operated and these are the internal and
external factors that affect the interest of customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Corporate
social responsibility are the social service which are done by the company in favour of the
environment. There are various importance of CSR to Spirent such as building positive
reputation, increasing the sales, saving costs and also helps in getting competitive advantage for
the company.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Advantage, C., 2020. Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR and Socially Responsible Investing
Strategies in Transitioning and Emerging Economies, p.65.
Aghion, P., Jones, B.F. and Jones, C.I., 2017. Artificial intelligence and economic growth (No.
w23928). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Aydin, A. and Parker, R.P., 2018. Innovation and technology diffusion in competitive supply
chains. European journal of operational research.265(3). pp.1102-1114.
Bhagat, S. and Bolton, B., 2019. Corporate governance and firm performance: The
sequel. Journal of Corporate Finance.58. pp.142-168.
Briken, K., Chillas, S. and Krzywdzinski, M., 2017. The new digital workplace: How new
technologies revolutionise work. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Carroll, A. B. and Brown, J. A., 2018. Corporate social responsibility: A review of current
concepts, research, and issues. In Corporate social responsibility. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Carroll, A. B., 2016. Carroll’s pyramid of CSR: taking another look. International journal of
corporate social responsibility. 1(1), pp.1-8.
Johnson, N.D. and Koyama, M., 2017. States and economic growth: Capacity and
constraints. Explorations in Economic History.64. pp.1-20.
Mostaghel, R., 2016. Innovation and technology for the elderly: Systematic literature
review. Journal of Business Research.69(11). pp.4896-4900.
Nambisan, S., Wright, M. and Feldman, M., 2019. The digital transformation of innovation and
entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes. Research Policy.48(8).
p.103773.
Yamamoto, T., 2020. Recent Advancement of Technologies and the Transition to New Concepts
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Online
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