Unit Number And Title

UNIT 1: BUSINESS AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Unit Level

Level 4

Assignment Title

Understandings and Knowledge of Business Sector

INTRODUCTION

This unit is aimed to give scholars best possible understandings and knowledge of business sector i.e. how an organizations function and needed what kind of business environments in which they not only operate but also grow. Scholars will get knowledge and learn about various types of organizations (profit and not for profit), their team size and scope (i.e. micro, Small & Medium Enterprise, transnational and global) and how they operate.

Students will have to explore the relationships of organisations with their stakeholders, relationship management with them and how the external business environment impacts and influence the business decision making.

This unit will help students in choosing their preferred areas of future studies and professional career as with this unit students achieve knowledge, understand and skill sets for business.

Learning outcomes covered

LO1 Explain the different types, size and scope of organisations

Different types of organisations:

·         Differences between for profit and not for profit and non-government organisations (NGOs).

·         Micro, small, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Different business purposes, objectives and supply of goods and services.

·         The range of legal structures associated with different forms of business: sole traders, partnerships and private limited companies.

·         Size and scope of organisations:

·         Differences between large, medium-sized and small organisations including objectives and goals, market share, profit share, growth and sustainability.

·         Global growth and developments of transnational, international and global organisations.

·         Differences between franchising, joint ventures and licensing.

·         Industrial structures and competitive analysis.

·         Market forces and economic operations e.g. scarcity and choice, supply and demand, income elasticity.

·         Stakeholders and responsibilities of organisations to meet different stakeholder interests and expectations.

LO2 Demonstrate the interrelationship of the various functions within an organisation and how they link to organisational structure

The various functions within an organisation:

·         The role of marketing, finance, human resource management and operations within an organisational context and the interrelationships.

·         How functions relate to overall organisation mission and objectives.

·         Organisational structure:

·         Different structures depending upon the size and scope of the organisation, including bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic, parent, strategic business units (SBUs), matrix and functional levels.

·         Organisation structures and complexities of transnational, international and global organisations.

LO3 Use contemporary examples to demonstrate both the positive and negative influence/impact the macro environment has on business operations

The context of the macro environment:

·         The application of the PESTLE framework and how organisations need to monitor and forecast external influences.

·         How the macro environment influences/impacts upon business activities:

·         the impact of the digital revolution on production and consumption; the impact of social technologies; cyberspace security; emerging BRICS markets, the global shift in economic and social power and ethical and sustainable growth.

·         How organisations go through the transformation process and overcome resistance to change in response to the changing market environment.

LO4 Determine the internal strengths and weaknesses of specific businesses and explain their interrelationship with external macro factors

Frameworks for analysis:

·         Introduction to SWOT and/or TOWS analysis and how they can assist in the decision-making process within organisations.

·         Key external macro factors including the competitive environment and government intervention that influence organisations and business.

RESOURCES

BPALMER, A. and HARTLEY, B. (2011) The Business Environment. 7th Ed. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.

ARON, P. (2012) Business and its Environment. 7th Ed. London: Prentice Hall.