Business and Business Environment Report: Unilever Case Study Analysis

This report, prepared for a trainee business analyst role at the North London Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, examines the business and business environment. It explores various organizational types, including public, private, and voluntary sectors, and their legal structures. The report delves into the size and scope of different organizations, analyzing internal and external factors to identify strengths and weaknesses. It also investigates the interrelation of organizational functions, their link to objectives, and the positive and negative impacts of the macro environment on business operations, using Unilever as a specific example. The report concludes with an analysis of the relationships between strengths, weaknesses, and external macro factors, providing a comprehensive overview of business environment dynamics.

Business and Business
Environment

Table of Contents
Business and Business Environment....................................................................................................1
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Explain different types and purposes of organisations; public, private and voluntary sectors
and legal structures..........................................................................................................................3
P2 Explain the size and scope of a range of different types of organisations..................................5
TASK 2................................................................................................................................................6
P3 Explain the relationship between different organisational functions and how they link to
organisational objectives and structure............................................................................................6
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P4: Identify the positive and negative impacts the macro environment has upon business
operations, supported by specific examples....................................................................................8
TASK 4.................................................................................................................................................8
P5 Conduct internal and external analysis of specific organisations in order to identify strengths
and weaknesses................................................................................................................................9
P6 Explain how strengths and weaknesses interrelate with external macro factors........................9
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................10
REFRENCES......................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Organisation is a process which is involved in managing the the functions smoothly. The group of
people acting together encompasses various forms of self-help and collective action. Organisational
structures are concerned with the way in which work is divided and managed among individuals.
Working as a trainee business analyst for North London chamber of Commerce and Enterprise this
report aims at different types and purposes of public, private, voluntary and legal structures of
different organisations, size and scope of different organisation, internal and external factors of
organisation for determining its strength and weaknesses, interrelation with weaknesses in external
macro factors, relationship between different organisational functions and link to organisational
structures and objectives, positive and negative impacts of macro environment upon operations,
supported with specific examples in context with Unilever along with conclusion.
TASK 1
P1 Explain different types and purposes of organisations; public, private and voluntary
sectors and legal structures.
Public-sector refers to publicly controlled, publicly funded and other entities which delivers
the public programmes, goods and services. It is a part of economy which is composed of public
services and enterprise. It includes services such as telecommunication, roads, bridges, public
education, water supply, electricity supply and many other services. There are various types of
public-sector such as:
 International organisations:It is set-up outside the country that means branch of a
organisation is located at different country then parent country is located . It includes
multistate entities or partnerships.
 National organisation: It is located in inside the country either it can be parent company
or subsidiary is located in the same country. It must be an independent state.
 Regional organisation: It is located in the same province or state. The organisations are set
up for development within a state.
 Local organisation: It is located in a city or country and deals at municipal level. A body
which is set up at local or regional level are included in it.
There are various types of organisation in public-sector which are set up
accordingly(Zaman, K., 2018). Unilever a public company which falls under the category of
international organisations as it has its head office at U.K. But there are various branches of the
company in several governments such as Switzerland, Singapore, India and many more countries.

The legal structure of the private companies differs from as size and conditions of the
companies are different. As Unilever is a a international company so there are more legalities which
are mandatory to be followed. Such as registering the company under the companies act formed to
own or conduct business for public. There are various laws under companies act which are followed
by public companies such as Unilever(Agwu, P.E., 2018).
Public sector are set up to control the commanding height of economy and to promote
critical development of the economy. There are various purposes for which public-sector are
incorporated they are:
 Development of backward areas: Public organisations such as Unilever is set-up for the
development and reach to backward areas. As they are public companies and works for
welfare of the public at large. So, it is the purpose to set up public organisations.
 Distribution of income and wealth: In private enterprises such as Unilever the major
determining rate of economic growth and pattern of wealth distribution and income in which
profits from business enterprises are determined.
 Public utilities: Public organisation such as Unilever is not concerned with motive of
making profits. But the purpose of these private organisations is to serve the public at large.
Private sector: It is a part of the company which is run by the private individuals with the
motive of profit-making such as Bestway Group(Gabryelczyk, and et .al., 2018.).In private sector
there is minimum or sometimes no interference of the state in the organisations. There are various
types of private organisations they are:
 Sole proprietorship: It refers to sole trader or proprietorship. In this type of
organisation only single person establish a business with the motive of profit earning.
 Partnerships:It is an arrangement between two or more people which agrees to
share profits and liabilities.
 Small and mid-sized business: Small and mid-sized business are those numbers
fall below certain limits. These are set up solely for the purpose of profit and
development of the individuals working in the organisation.
 Large scale companies and multinationals: These are the organisations which are
set up for motive of earning a large profit at national as well as international level.
There are various types of organisations under private sector. Every sector has its different
legal structures which must be followed. Such as in sole proprietorship it is the easiest type of set up
which has minimum legal formalities as it requires registering at companies office only while on

another hand large scale and medium scale business involves various formalities and have different
legal structure.
Voluntary organisation: The voluntary organisation consists of organisation whose purpose
is to benefit and enrich society by their efforts without making profits and with minimum or no
interference of government. Voluntary organisation includes charities, recreational activities,
advocacy group, community group , advocacy group and social welfare organisation. These are set
up for good of society at large. Voluntary groups such as Save the Children international a voluntary
group is working for welfare of the children by providing them homes, nurseries , schools and
communities who lives upside down(Phelps and et. al., 2017).
Legal structure adopted by voluntary organisation: Organisations such as save the
children international adopts different legal structures depending upon set rules of the constitution
of the state. There are three main legal structures adopted by the voluntary groups that is a
unincorporated association, a trust and a company limited by guarantee.
P2 Explain the size and scope of a range of different types of organisations.
There are various type of organisations which have different sizes and scope accordingly
they are:
Public organisation: It means a non-profit business or organisation which is set up ,
sponsors or support the needs of the public. There are various types of public organisations such as
international, national, regional and local organisation which are set up for the purpose to serve the
public. The size of the organisation differs from area and number of employees working in the
organisation. Such as in Unilever it is a international company having a number of employees and
stores. On the other hand small scale industries includes less then 10 people and in multinationals
the number of employees can be as much as many.
Scope of public organisation: Most of the countries carry out growth in public sector
organisation and it helps in improving the economic conditions of the country. The scope of public
organisation are:
 It helps in development of the country as it is made with the purpose of serving public and
not with motive of profit-making.
 It increases the employment opportunities .
 By systematic use of public organisation resources of the government can be allocates
effectively.
Private organisation: In public sector it is set up and managed by the individuals and there
is less or no interference of government as the motive to set up these organisation is profit motive

only. Size of the public organisation differs according to the number of employees and profit earned
by the company. A organisation named Bestway is a multinational company based in London. It is
the largest wholesaler serving 1.25 million which tends to call it as multinational company. There
are various type of private companies such as sole proprietorship, partnerships, small scale and
large scale. Bestway is large scale company(Ibnugraha and et. al., 2021).
Scope:Any business or organisation is set up with the primary purpose of generating profits. These
are generally private sectors such as Bestway a U.K. Based company which is a wholesaler
company. Scope of private sector organisation is:
 It provides employment in the country as there is less interference or no interference of
government in the affairs of the private organisations
 profits earned by the company are distributed within the employees or shareholders of the
company.
Voluntary organisation: The voluntary organisations is made up of an community groups, socially
focused businesses and housing associations. The size of the voluntary organisation differs on the
type of the set up and there is not any criteria which defines about number of people involved in a
group falls under a specific category. The scope of voluntary group such as Save the children
international is wide such as:
 It plays an important role in shaping and implications of participatory democracy.
 They contribute immensely for various development programmes.
TASK 2
P3 Explain the relationship between different organisational functions and how they link to
organisational objectives and structure.
Under the different business organisations there are various functional departments which
are inter-related to each other they are specified below:
 Operations departments:The operations departments of the organisation is responsible for
smooth and profitable functioning of the Unilever. The objective of operations department is
to maintain quality of the productivity which effects the image of the company. It ensures
keeping the business is running efficiently , ensuring overall quality and timeless in delivery.
These are the measure functions performed by the operations department of an
organisational
 Human resource department: The human resource department of a Unilever plays a
crucial role in developing and coaching managers to do their job in best possible days. It is

the role of HR to assist and advice the management about dealing with difficult situations.
There are various functions which are performed by the HR department which includes
management, development , training, keeping eye on management either it is focused on
their job and hire the right people in the organisation.
 Finance department: The term finance refers to the expenses of the company which are
done for its functioning. The performance and success of any Unilever depends upon
finance department of it(Briggs and et .al., 2018.). There are various roles and
responsibilities of Finance department such as bookkeeping, budgets and forecasting of the
company, managing the cash flow,advising and sourcing longer-term finances. Management
of taxes and also management of company's investment.
 Marketing department: It is the face of the company which coordinates and produces all
the material in which Unilever is dealing. There are many responsibilities of the marketing
department such as track trends and monitor competition, work on brand value,
understanding the needs of the customers,innovate and it helps in improvement of sales
process and customer.
Inter-relation between different department are:
Departments of Unilever is linked with each other as operations department is responsible for
maintaining quality and other operations of the company which is not possible without human
resource department as HR department provides training to employees, management and
development of the organisation. They must work together accordingly for smooth working of the
company. Finance department provides monetary funds to the department which needs the finances
at the time of need and every expenses and funds if required by any department of the company is
provided by finance department. It is an important part of an organisation as it is responsible for the
funds which is the basic need of every organisation. Marketing department is also involved in
smooth and proper functioning of the company as through marketing department company's other
departments come to know about trends and innovation going on in environment and by following
that company can increase its profits and productivity(Lamand et al., 2018.).Every department has
its functions for which they are responsible and every department has obligation to fulfill its
obligations. For the success of an organisation there is key role of every department and if takes its
responsibilities carefully only then Unilever can reach to success.

TASK 3
P4: Identify the positive and negative impacts the macro environment has upon business
operations, supported by specific examples.
Macro economics analysis of Unilever allows the management to understand the external factors on
the operations of the organisation. There are various factors which have positive and negative
influence on their businesses they are mentioned above:
Political:The decision of government to exit European union has positive impact on the Unilever as
it is a public company and a huge business hub. It has many stores nationally as well as
internationally. After this proposal of the government the policies have changed as the companies
like Unilever received free cash flow and other small scale industries have to face the negative
impact in context with political aspect. But Unilever is a huge business so, it has a positive political
impact(Tian and et .al., 2019).
Economical:Stability in the economy is a crucial factor for organisation such as Unilever to grow.
The economic conditions influences the customers to buy quality of goods which is a positive
impact of the stable economy. If economy of a country is not stable then companies like Unilever
has to face the losses which is a negative impact of the economical factor on the business
organisations such as Unilever.
Social:Unilever provides a wide variety of products such as medicines, hygiene products, food
products, breakfast cereals and many more. But there is not any type of innovative products of the
company which is a negative factor of the company. Unilever uses the celebrity endorsement for
attracting the attention of more customers which impacts positively on the minds of customers.
Technological: Unilever has reach out to a wide consumer range. Online shopping is now a trend
and it provides the platform for shopping of the products as well as advertise at social media which
impacts positively. But sometimes bad reviews about the products harms and degrade the image of
the organisation which is a negative factor of technology(Cravo and et .al., 2019).
Legal:There are legislation which are followed by Unilever such as health and safety act,employees
regulations and other regulations are followed as it impacts positively. In , case company like
Unilever fails to follow the laws may impact negatively on the Unilever
Environmental: Now, a days people are aware about environment and uses the eco-friendly
products. Unilever has a number of sustainable practices which is a positive factor of the company.
If it does not consider the environment as a crucial part it can impact negatively.
TASK 4

P5 Conduct internal and external analysis of specific organisations in order to identify
strengths and weaknesses.
Swot analysis is a method which is used by the Unilever to know about the strength and weaknesses
for their company. By performing this swot analysis they are able to make strategies which can
enhance the performance of their enterprise.
Swot analysis of Unilever
Strength Weakness
 Unilever is a market leader as it provides
a wide variety of products. Most of the
trend settler products has come from the
company which makes the Unilever the
market leader
 Unilever has expertise in distribution
channel as it has developed a number of
channels and served at every corner of
various countries which is a big strength
for the company.
 Unilever has an important shortcoming
that is dependence on retailers. It effects
the buyers directly which as a result has
become a weakness of
Unilever(Boojihawon and et .al., 2018.)
 Availability of substitutes is also a
weakness for the Unilever as there are
various substitutes available at low price
Opportunities Threats
 Growing demand for health
consciousness has become a opportunity
for the Unilever as people are more
aware towards the health(Chang and
et .al., 2019).
 Emergence of the demand in developing
economies is also an opportunity for the
Unilever as it can expand and take
advantages by placing right products at
right place.
 Competition in the market has increased
which is a big threat to the Unilever as
other companies provides the quality of
products at low rates
 Increasing popularity of local label
brands has also became a threat for the
Unilever.
P6 Explain how strengths and weaknesses interrelate with external macro factors.
The external factor of Unilever is analysed by which management of the company comes to know
about strength and weaknesses of their organisation. In is helpful in enhancing the decision-making
process of management to overcome the loop holes of the company as well as management. It is

evident that availability of substitutes at low prices and increasing popularity of the local brands
will hamper the company. Now, a days competition in the market is increasing and other companies
is increasing with rapid growth which is a measure weakness of the Unilever. The management of
the company can expand their business by choosing right products for right geographical location
by which business of the company will increase and needs of the people is fulfilled by the efforts of
Unilever(Panda and et .al., 2018). This is more beneficial as it will be more easy for the company to
attract more customers as it has a strong brand image. By expanding the business in developing
countries Unilever has to opportunity of diversification and lack of competition. They can
incorporate and innovate new techniques in order to increase the efficiency and understand the
situations in new market trends.
CONCLUSION
This report helps in understanding the business operations of Unilever. Various strengths and
weaknesses in relation with macro factors are discussed in the report. Various types of organisations
such as private, public and voluntary sectors are discussed in context with various organisations.
Such as a public organisation named Unilever. The report is mainly focused on internal and external
factors and their impact on business organisation. It also includes the functions of various
departments of Unilever and inter-relation between various organisation is also explained. Positive
and negative impacts of the macro environment upon business operations is discussed in context
with Unilever.

REFRENCES
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