Business Environment: Waitrose and Aspen Court Care Home Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the business environment, focusing on two organizations: Waitrose, a UK-based grocery retailer, and Aspen Court Care Home, a non-profit health and social care provider. The report is divided into two parts. Part 1 describes the purposes, types, scopes, and sizes of both organizations, analyzing their business objectives, organizational structures, and functions. It also examines the interrelationship of organizational relationships and structures. Part 2 delves into the macro-environmental factors impacting Waitrose, including a PESTLE analysis, and identifies its internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report concludes with a reflective analysis and justification of Waitrose's decision-making processes, providing valuable insights into their operations and strategies within the UK business landscape.

BUSINESS AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Part 1..........................................................................................................................................3
(a)[Refer to PPT].......................................................................................................................3
Describing the purposes and the main differences between types, scopes and sizes (P1, P2)...3
Describing and analysing the relationship between their business objectives and their
according structures, products and sizes (M1)...........................................................................4
(b)...............................................................................................................................................4
Organisational functions and its relationship of Waitrose with their business objectives (P3). 4
Impact of web of interrelationship of organisational relationships on the organisational
structure......................................................................................................................................5
(c)[Refer to PPT]........................................................................................................................6
Analysing the differences between the business structures of Aspen Court Care Home and
Waitrose.....................................................................................................................................6
Interconnection between the different organisational functions................................................6
Part 2..........................................................................................................................................8
(a)...............................................................................................................................................8
Section 1: Identifying the positive and negative impacts of the macro environment on the
operations of the business (P4)..................................................................................................8
Section 2: Internal and external analysis to determine the core strengths and weaknesses of
Waitrose (P5)...........................................................................................................................10
Section 3: Explaining the relationship between the strengths and weaknesses to the external
macro factors (P6.....................................................................................................................11
Section 4: Justifying the decision-making process of Waitrose through PESTEL and SWOT
(M3, M4)..................................................................................................................................12
(b) Reflective Report................................................................................................................12
Conclusion................................................................................................................................14
References................................................................................................................................15

Introduction
In the modern context of the business environment, it has been seen that the overall business
environment is dependent on the strategies that have been developed by the organisations that
are involved in the business world. It is evident from the present scenario that the business
statistics prevail in the business environment in the UK, according to the recent strategies that
have been developed by the different organisations. In this study, the different strategies and
the working of the two companies including Waitrose and Aspen Court Care Home have
been mentioned. The second section of the report describes the overall macro and the micro
environmental analysis of the Waitrose, including its PESTEL analysis and the internal
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that are evident in the company. Therefore,
this report describes the mode of the operations that are based on the analysis if the external
and the internal aspects of the Waitrose.
Part 1
(a)[Refer to PPT]
Describing the purposes and the main differences between types, scopes and sizes (P1,
P2)
The two of the chosen organisations are Waitrose and the Aspen Court Care Home.
The purpose of the organisations:
Waitrose is one of the leading grocery retailers in the UK.
Aspen Court Care Home is one of the non-profit Health and Social Care organisations that
currently deal with the provision of health and social care services to the people affected by
Dementia and learning disabilities.
Name Types Size Scopes
Waitrose Privately owned
profit
organisation
A largest
employee-
owned retailer in
the UK. Over
350 location
stores in the
UK.
The scopes are to maintain an
environment in which the
services and the products that are
offered by the company are at the
peak of the business markets in
the UK. At the same time, it
focuses on their expansion in
other countries nearby as well.
Aspen Court
Care Home
Privately owned
non-profit
organisation
One of the
leading Health
and Social Care
Their scopes are to improve their
rating and reach the top of the list
in the name of the organisations

organisations in
London.
that provide health and social
care services to the people of the
UK.
Table 1: Comparison between organisations
(Source: O’Higgins, 2015, p.161)
Describing and analysing the relationship between their business objectives and their
according structures, products and sizes (M1)
Name Business
Objectives
Structures Products and Sizes
Waitrose To meet the
health and the
food safety
standards, and
increase their
annual levels of
sale
The managing director
directs the overall
management functions
and the human resource
management of the
company make the
strategies for the
development of the plans
for the organisation.
It offers the range of
grocery, wine, whisky
and the commercial and
cosmetic products to the
people of the UK.
Aspen Court
Care Home
To provide a
comprehensive
and complete care
to the individuals
in the UK, that
need the care
services
The NHS of the UK
directs the overall
processes and the rules
and the legislations that
abide by in the
organisation
Health and the complete
assisted care for the
individuals suffering
from Dementia,
Alzheimer’s Disease
and the people with
learning disabilities.
Table 2: Differences between Waitrose and the Aspen Court Care Home
(Source: Touboulic and Walker, 2015, p.41)
(b)
Organisational functions and its relationship of Waitrose with their business objectives
(P3)
The major objectives of the Waitrose include the development of the strategies for the
increase in their organisational objectives and functions. The different business objectives of
the companies are designed by the management of the organisation and according to the

frameworks that exist within the company. In this context, it may be analysed that the
Waitrose is invested with their sole responsibility of providing their products and services to
the general people of the UK. Accordingly, it may be stated that the different sectors of the
Waitrose are devised according to the market factors and the business environments that
prevail in their area of their operations (Yawar and Seuring, 2015, p.21).
The major objective of the company is to provide the products and services of superior
quality, to the general people of the country. In order to achieve these objectives, the
company prepares the documentation and the framework to meet the objectives. The
employees play an important role in this aspect as they are considered as one of the major
stakeholders of the company. The employees of the Waitrose have been trained with the
specialised skills and operations handling manuals that allow them to prepare the products of
superior quality. Moreover, the company prepares the structure for the availability of the
superior fruits and other foods through their farmers in Africa. Therefore, in this context, the
use of the orgasmic chemicals and the environmentally friendly packaging are preferred by
the company, in order to allow them to have a superior hold of the company performances
(Shibin et al. 2016, p.181). As a result of all these procedures and processes, the different
company aims and objectives are fulfilled in order to provide the products that offer a
superior value for their products and services, in the UK.
Additional factors include the lack of the advertising methods that are preferred by the
company. In this context, it may be analysed that the company is invested with the principle
of a provision of superior products without any further discounts. The Waitrose believes that
the products that are offered by them are to be made available to the general people without
the need for the additional discounts that are generally provided by the other companies in the
UK.
Impact of web of interrelationship of organisational relationships on the organisational
structure
Employee relationships are very important in the context of the business organisations,
especially in the context of the Waitrose, that provide a superior quality of products and
services to the general people of the UK. In this context, the relationship between the
employees is important, as the different employees have different cultural and religious
perspectives (Lewis et al. 2016, p.1061). Therefore, the employees are required to have the
desired and the specialised skills to enforce their working environment to be suitable in the
context of the Waitrose. The differences in the cultures and the religion, allow them to have
diversity in their working parameters. Finally, it may allow the company to orient their

products according to the desires of the customers that belong to a wide variety of religion
and cultures.
The relationships between the employees and the supervisors or the line managers are
important in the context of the business processes of the Waitrose. In this context, it has been
analysed that the relationships between the line managers and the employees are important to
be considered in the context of the Waitrose (Lehtinen, 2017, p.150). It has been observed
that the assessment of the skills and the welfare of the employees are maintained by the line
managers and are reported to the Human Resource Management of the company.
Accordingly, it may be analysed that a positive relationship between the
(c)[Refer to PPT]
Analysing the differences between the business structures of Aspen Court Care Home
and Waitrose
The Waitrose is basically, a worker cooperative organisation, however, the modes of
centralisation of authority and power is also observed in certain situations. It is headed by the
board of directors that are in turn assisted by the secretary of the company. The general
manager and the corporate strategist enforce the strategies for the company after the careful
conference with the Human Resource Management. The Research and Development and the
financial wing of the organisation are involved in the further research and the economic
stability and functions of the company (Kasemsap, 2014, p.200).
The Aspen Court Care Home is involved with the structure that is headed by the HNS Trust
of the UK and the combined authority’s empowerment of the national health bodies. The
rules and regulations are made by these organisations are conveyed to the Aspen Court Care
Home. Further, these are then enforced by the organisation. Finally, the different aspects of
the organisation are maintained by then Human Resource Management and the employees
that provide the care services to the service users (Potgieter and Coetzee, 2013, p.8).
Interconnection between the different organisational functions
The different organisational functions of the different organisations are interconnected. This
means that the different roles and the responsibilities of the organisational structures are
related to the internal divisions of the organisation.
In the context of the Waitrose, the organisational structures are divided into a number of
divisions including the Human Resource Management and the other managerial divisions of
the organisation. The line managers are responsible for the management of the employees of
the company. They, in turn, are responsible for the reporting of the annual proceedings of the
employees to the Human Resource Managers of the company (Stein et al. 2013, p.860).

Therefore, the major functions of the Waitrose are to ensure that the people of the UK receive
the superior quality of foods.
In the context of the Aspen Court Care Home, the Heath and the Social Care organisation
rules and the responsibilities are made possible to be enforced by a number of processes. The
first regulations are made by the NHS of England that formulates and maintain the social
safety and the health standards in the health and social care homes of the UK, including the
Aspen Court Care Home (Mainela and Ulkuniemi, 2013, p.107). The major functions of the
Aspen Court are to ensure that the people of the UK are not compromised from the superior
quality of health and social care treatment.

Part 2
(a)
Section 1: Identifying the positive and negative impacts of the macro environment on
the operations of the business (P4)
The macro environmental factors include the factors that prevail in the business environment
of the company. These include the external factors including the GDP, monetary and the
fiscal policies, the trading policies and the legal, political, environmental, socio-cultural,
technological and economic factors. The PESTLE analysis has been determined:
Political The political frameworks include the different aspects including the
positioning of the markets and the demographic of the area in which the
market of the respective company have established. Moreover, the political
influence has been seen to be very minimal in the context of the UK and
therefore Waitrose has been seen to be successful implementing their
business policies and regulations in the markets of the UK without the need
for harassment and additional jurisdictions to protect their security (Liu,
2013, p.2841).
Economic The economic concerns in the UK have been massively urgent especially
after the Brexit elections and the consequent exit of the UK from the
European Union. Highway with the stable financial conditions of the
Waitrose, allow them to have a dominant economic value in the markets of
the UK. Therefore in this context, the financial and economic status of the
UK has been seen to improve since its fall after the Brexit elections.
Moreover, the rise in the annual GDP of the UK favours Waitrose to have
dominant business markets in the business environment of the UK (Filser
et al. 2013, p.272).
Socio-Cultural The socio-cultural environment of UK famous the influx of the individuals
from a wide variety of cultures and religion. Therefore according to the
present situation, the Waitrose provides its products that have been oriented
towards meeting the demands of these diverse cultured people. Moreover,
the superior quality product demands of these people are satisfied by the
exquisite quality of products that have been provided by the Waitrose since
its Origin in the UK (Lyles et al. 2016, p.14).

Technological The UK is supported by the strong implementation of Technologies that
have been evolved in the UK over the recent years. Therefore the different
companies including the Waitrose had its Advanced Technological
manifestations within their working module and in their retail stores.
These technological manifestations include the 24-hour surveillance
cameras, the electronic billing machines and the superior design company
website that is available to the general customers over the Internet.
Therefore, it may be the accident that the technological involvements have
been massive in the context of the business arrangements of the UK
(Faour-Klingbeil et al. 2015, p.171).
Legal The legal frameworks include the strict adherence to the rules and
regulations that have been developed at the local and the national
levels. Different companies in the UK utilise and implements these
developed rules and regulations to enforce a suitable working environment.
Similarly in the context of the Waitrose the company has been evident to
support and to implement all the developed National rules and regulations
in their workplace and in their business environments. Another legal
Framework including the taxation and the jurisdictions has been very
flexibly implemented by the company to enforce a stable and a disciplined
working environment for themselves in the markets of the UK (Kandjani et
al. 2013, p.3862).
Environmental The environmental concerns are important in the context of the UK as the
business environment of the different companies in the UK support the
actions that protect the environment. In the context of the UK, the white
rose has been seen to implement these flexible environmental protection
objectives by and a number of methods. These include the configuration of
the packaging material and the use of no colours that are generally used by
the other companies to enlighten their Packaging of the products that are
offered by them. Moreover, the involvement of the Waitrose in the
charitable occasions and donations provide them with a useful advantage in
the business environment of the UK in the recent years (Martínez-Carreras
et al. 2015, p.430).

Table : PESTLE Analysis of Waitrose
Section 2: Internal and external analysis to determine the core strengths and
weaknesses of Waitrose (P5)
The internal and the external strengths and the weaknesses of the companies, allow them to
analyse their opportunities and threats to improve the strategies and the business conditions
for the company. The SWOT analysis for Waitrose has been made:
Strengths Weaknesses
 Superior Quality of the products
 Customer friendly environment
 Huge number of outlets in the UK
 Lack of desired advertisements
 Lack of high graphic and colourful
packaging
Opportunities Threats
 Huge investment capital for the
company
 Supply of grocery and wine to the
Queen’s palace
 Involvement in charitable functions
 Lack of additional discounts
 Lack of endorsements and celebrity
advertisements
 White packaging instead of the
colourful packaging by the other rival
companies
Table : SWOT Analysis of Waitrose
(Source: Kasemsap, 2015, p.151)
From the above summarization, a number of additional information may be produced. This
includes the strengths of the Waitrose, in terms of a number of parameters including the
quality of products. It has been observed that the products that have been produced by the
company are of superior quality as compared to the other grocery retails in the UK.
Moreover, the customer-friendly environment and the huge outlets in the UK, allow them to
focus their business presence and dominance, in a single country and area.
These strengths of the company, offer them with a number of opportunities. These include the
huge capital for the company. After the Brexit elections and the consequent exit of the UK,
from the European Union, the economic conditions have been low; however, soon the huge
capital has been evident gradually (Sousa et al. 2015, p.400). Moreover, the involvement of
the company in the charitable functions and their warrant to supply grocery and wine to the
queen’s castle allow them to achieve a significant opportunity to have a significant lead in
their business environments.
The weaknesses include the lack of the extensive advertisements and the clear white
packaging. This induces significant weaknesses and threats for the company. The threats

include the lack of discounts as compared to the other companies including the Tesco and the
Sainsbury’s. Therefore, this poses a significant risk for the Waitrose. Moreover, the lack of
the stable mode of advertisements allows the company to have a significant drawback in the
business environment of the UK, as compared to the other companies in the UK (Boehm and
Thomas, 2013, p.246).
Section 3: Explaining the relationship between the strengths and weaknesses to the
external macro factors (P6)
Parameters Relationships
Strengths The macro environmental factors have been analysed to be directly
related to the overall strengths of the company. It has been seen that the
environmental factors of the UK, drives the way for the Waitrose to
implement their way of business orientation, towards the use of the
chemicals that are environmentally friendly, and this has led to the
attraction of a large number of customers in the UK. Moreover, the
superiority in their quality allowed them to have their regular supply of
their grocery and their retails in the queen's palace in the UK.
Weaknesses The lack of the advertisements and the additional discounts has been one
of the major weaknesses of the company. These have been faced by the
company because of the way to adopting a strategy for the business
processes that are unique from the rest of the other retailers in the
markets of the UK. Moreover, in the context of having an
environmentally friendly packaging, Waitrose adopted the formal white
packaging to protect the environment from the synthetic chemical and
colour in the product wrappers. However, this has resulted in the loss of
attraction for4 a large number of customers towards the Waitrose
products.
Table : Relationship between strengths and weaknesses and the external macro factors
on Waitrose
(Source: Carraher and Paridon, 2015, p.94)
Section 4: Justifying the decision-making process of Waitrose through PESTEL and
SWOT (M3, M4)
The PESTEL and the SWOT analysis have a number of formal advantages for the business
companies, especially in the context of the business environments of the UK. It has been seen

that the analysis of the strengths of the company, provides the ability to the analyser of the
company, to direct and establish its working modules and objectives in such a way that may
be easier for the company to achieve. At the same time, the analysis of the PESTEL allowed
the analyst to implement the plan, according to the environmental factors that prevail in the
UK. This analysis may improve the decision-making process for the company, as the
different internal and the external factors that are evident in the company are intensively
analysed and studied by the management authorities of the Waitrose (Carsrud and Cucculelli,
2014, p.190). Moreover, the PESTLE and the SWOT analysis may provide the additional
platform for the Waitrose or the other companies, to make their desired strategies to minimise
their weakness, so that their levels of threats in the business environments of the UK are
gradually minimised.
Moreover, if these external and the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company and the
management are known, the market risks that may be associated with the Waitrose may be
minimised and consequently the newer tactics at the threshold of the company may be
prepared for the best results of the Waitrose (Sujova et al. 2014, p.280). Therefore, it may be
established that the overall decision-making process of the company are oriented in such a
way that it suits the basic development of the company, in terms of the increase in the number
of customers and the consequent increase in the annual sales of the company in a particular
period of time.
(b) Reflective Report
Reflections from the macro environmental factors
The political factors allow the company to have their desired orientation of the business
according to the environments that prevail in the UK. On account of this analysis, it has been
evident that the annual GDP of the UK have risen to higher standards as was not experienced
since the Brexit vote and its disintegration from the European Union. Therefore, the higher
annual rates of GDP indicate that the overall systems of the company and their directives of
business operations are aimed to improve along with the improvements in the GDP of the
UK. Therefore, the political situation is directed towards the maintenance of the business
strategic efficiency in the context the UK.
The legal factors analysis proved that the maintenance of the rules and the regulations in the
UK has been strict and that the local authorities play a vital role to ensure that the business
organisations in the UK strictly enforce these rules and the regulations and at the same time
maintain the safety of the place. Therefore, this may allow the Waitrose to have a well-

established forefront to analyse the directives of their management authorities at the strict
surveillance of the local government bodies prevailing in the UK.
The economic factors indicated that the business environments in the UK are well established
in the modern context after the gradual fall that was evident after the Brexit elections.
Therefore, soon, the market economy has been found to be highly improved in the context of
the economic stability and that the different market sources of income have been generated.
Therefore, in these circumstances, the Waitrose would find a suitable working environment to
manifest their business principles in the business environment of the UK. Therefore, it may
be ascertained that the economic factors are aimed in the UK in such a way, that the Waitrose
may be benefited in their business processes.
The socio-economic factor analysis indicated that the influx of the individuals for the
different countries led to a versatile environment in the UK. This has been possible because
the people in the UK and the migrants had different cultures, different perspectives, different
psychologies and at the same time, different demands for the different classes and quality of
the foods. Moreover, it has been seen that the richer individuals in the UK preferred the
availability of the products of a superior quality even at their expense of higher prices. This
best suited the aims and the objectives of the Waitrose, as their products were of superior
quality and at the same time, had a number of high profile customers that may allow the
Waitrose to establish a stable business market in the UK.
The environmental factors indicate that the demand for the environmental protection in the
UK has been very high and a number of companies in the UK are aimed at the protection of
the environment and at the same time, implement a variety of advanced technological
manifestations in their work environments. This may allow the Waitrose to have a stable
market in the UK, and their mode of operations have improved and are mostly oriented
towards the use of the environmentally friendly products and at the same time, the use of the
advanced technologies is also favoured by the Waitrose. Therefore, these factors jointly may
allow the Waitrose to be one of the most dominant retailing organisations in the UK.
Moreover, the strong influence of a number of factors including the advantage for the warrant
for the supply of food to them the royal society of the UK allows them to have a competitive
advantage in the field of the business marketing of the retail sector in the UK. Additionally, it
has been evident that on account of the increase in the quality of the products without the
discounts grabbed the attention of the richer class of the UK population. Therefore, they
became loyal to the products and the services that are duly offered by the company in the
context of the UK.

Conclusion
From the above studies, it may be concluded that the overall system of the business
operations is based on the strategies that are adopted by the different companies including the
Waitrose and the Aspen Court Care Home. It has been formulated and observed that the
strategies that have been developed by these companies are based, according to their desired
and developed objectives and at the same time, it allows the company to measure their
diversities in the business environment in which they are exposed to. Finally, it has been
observed that the decision-making potential for Waitrose is based on the environments to
which they are exposed in the modern context of the business environment. Therefore, it may
be analysed that the strategies and the business decisions are made according to the situations
in the markets of the UK.

References
Boehm, M. and Thomas, O., (2013). Looking beyond the rim of one's teacup: a
multidisciplinary literature review of Product-Service Systems in Information Systems,
Business Management, and Engineering & Design. Journal of Cleaner Production, 51,
pp.245-260.
Carraher, S.M. and Paridon, T.J., (2015). Entrepreneurship journal rankings across the
discipline. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 19(2), pp.89-98.
Carsrud, A. and Cucculelli, M., (2014). Family firms, entrepreneurship, and economic
development. Journal of Small Business Management, 52(2), pp.189-191.
Faour-Klingbeil, D., Kuri, V. and Todd, E., (2015). Investigating a link of two different types
of food business management to the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of food
handlers in Beirut, Lebanon. Food Control, 55, pp.166-175.
Filser, M., Kraus, S. and Märk, S., (2013). Psychological aspects of succession in family
business management. Management Research Review, 36(3), pp.256-277.
Kandjani, H., Bernus, P. and Nielsen, S., (2013). Enterprise architecture cybernetics and the
edge of chaos: Sustaining enterprises as complex systems in complex business environments.
In System Sciences (HICSS), (2013) 46th Hawaii International Conference on, pp. 3858-
3867.
Kasemsap, K., (2014). The role of social networking in global business environments. Impact
of emerging digital technologies on leadership in global business, pp.183-201.
Kasemsap, K., (2015). The role of customer relationship management in the global business
environments. Trends and innovations in marketing information systems, pp.130-156.
Lehtinen, U., (2017). Sustainable Supply Chain Management in Agri‐food Chains: A
Competitive Factor for Food Exporters. Sustainability Challenges in the Agrofood Sector,
p.150.
Lewis, K.A., Tzilivakis, J., Warner, D.J. and Green, A., (2016). An international database for
pesticide risk assessments and management. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An
International Journal, 22(4), pp.1050-1064.
Liu, Y., (2013). Sustainable competitive advantage in turbulent business
environments. International Journal of Production Research, 51(10), pp.2821-2841.
Lyles, M.A., (2016). Leveraging Organizational Learning and Alliances in Complex and
Changing Business Environments. In Global Entrepreneurship: Past, Present & Future, pp.
5-17.

Mainela, T. and Ulkuniemi, P., (2013). Personal interaction and customer relationship
management in project business. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 28(2), pp.103-
110.
Martínez-Carreras, M.A., García Jimenez, F.J. and Gómez Skarmeta, A.F., (2015). Building
integrated business environments: analysing open-source ESB. Enterprise Information
Systems, 9(4), pp.401-435.
O’Higgins, E., (2015). ‘Is the Co-operative Model a Realistic Alternative to Traditional Joint
Stock Companies?. Ethical Innovation in Business and the Economy, G. Enderle and PE
Murphy, eds. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp.161-83.
Potgieter, I. and Coetzee, M., (2013). Employability attributes and personality preferences of
postgraduate business management students. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 39(1),
pp.01-10.
Shibin, K.T., Gunasekaran, A., Papadopoulos, T., Dubey, R., Singh, M. and Wamba, S.F.,
(2016). Enablers and barriers of flexible green supply chain management: A total interpretive
structural modeling approach. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 17(2),
pp.171-188.
Sousa, A., Barroso, J., Paredes, H., Fernandes, H. and Filipe, V., (2015). Context-aware,
Accessibility and Dynamic Adaptation of Mobile Interfaces in Business
Environments. Procedia Computer Science, 67, pp.397-402.
Stein, A.D., Smith, M.F. and Lancioni, R.A., (2013). The development and diffusion of
customer relationship management (CRM) intelligence in business-to-business
environments. Industrial Marketing Management, 42(6), pp.855-861.
Sujova, A., Rajnoha, R. and Merková, M., (2014). Business process performance
management principles used in Slovak enterprises. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 109, pp.276-280.
Touboulic, A. and Walker, H., (2015). Theories in sustainable supply chain management: a
structured literature review. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics
Management, 45(1/2), pp.16-42.
Yawar, S.A. and Seuring, S., (2015). Management of social issues in supply chains: a
literature review exploring social issues, actions and performance outcomes. Journal of
Business Ethics, pp.1-23.