BAM4015T1 Business Environment Assignment Sample

Introduction To: BAM4015T1 Business Environment

The business environment is collection or sum of the external and internal factors like as consumer expectations, workers, supply and demand, owners, activities by governments, management. These factors mainly affect the organizational functions and how the organization mainly works indirectly and directly. The aim of the essay is to evaluate Wm Morrison supermarket limited (Morrisons) organisational structure, external business environment and ethical responsibilities towards different stakeholders. Morrisons is one of the biggest chain of supermarket in the UK (Morrison, 2023). The organisation is mainly functioning as the private organisation, this is focusing on acquisition by (CD&R) Clayton, Dubilier and Rice in the year 2021 (Morrison, 2023). The organization has been established in the year 1899 as the major market staff within the Morrison. This has been grown in the one of the biggest grocery retailers, providing the home clothing and food products. In the year 2024, the organisation employs more than 110,000 workers and operates in the 500 stores; it is generating the major annual revenues (ref, yyyy). The key event of organization is related to Safeway acquisition in the year 2004. This has been expanded the major national presence. The organization holds a major share with the grocery market and competing with the ALDI, Sainsbury and TESCO. The essay will evaluate the external business environment, organizational structure of the organization.

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Main body

Organizational structure: The organizational structure can be defined as how the different activities like as supervision, coordination and task allocations are directed to gaining the objectives of organization. This mainly discovers the hierarchy in the company and how diverse roles and departments are transmit to each other. The organization operates within the hierarchical structure of organization, these permits for the clear chains for the decision making and command. The structure mainly within the large or big scale retail operations, this makes sure about the strategic decisions mainly developed by the major top management. (Organizational structure of Morrisons, 2023)

The Morrison’s strength of organizational structure involves the clear and transparent reporting lines, this mainly facilitate the effective decision making and accountability (Daniels et al, 2019). The clear hierarchy structure offers the fast implementation of the strategic change within the stores, like as at the time COVID-19 Pandemic, during this the protocols of the health and safety were developed. Moreover, the structure permits for the management and control of the daily operations within 500 stores.

(Source: Organizational structure, 2023)

On the other hand, the major structural weaknesses include this can slow down the adaptability and innovation, as the effective decision making determined at the top priority (Pears and Shields, 2019). The approach of top-down might affect the responsiveness to the shift within the retail environment. Mainly when compared with the different competitors such as ALDI, this particularly empowers the managers of stores with the effective autonomy of decision making. Moreover, the rigid structure can decrease the collaboration among the different departments, this is making is more challenging to apply cross functional projects.

External business environment

The External business environment is related to the different external factors which can affect the performance and operations of the organization. The different factors might be evaluated by utilising the PESTEL analysis.

Political factors: Morrison’s is mainly influenced by the different political aspects; this includes the government policies related to the labor and trade laws. For instance, the brexit had put major impact on the effective supply chain, organizations sources the major fresh products directly from the Europe (PESTEL analysis of Morrison, 2023). The shifts within the export/ import regulations and trade tariffs might disrupt the whole product availability and supply.

Economic factors: The different economic conditions, this includes the purchasing power of consumer, rates of unemployment and inflation, these can affect the organization (Needle and Burns, 2019). The recent boost in the living cost because the inflation has decreased the disposable income, distracting the consumer to opt the different discount retailers such as Lidl and Aldi. The economic downturns boosted the demand for the value ranges of Morrison, as the consumers’ looks for the affordable products.

Social factors: The shifts within the demographics and consumer preferences play a major role within the organizational performance (Hilton and Platt, 2020). The regular developing awareness related to the healthy eating and increasing needs for the organic products mainly pushed the organization to increasing healthier options. The different social trends like as home delivery services, online grocery shopping have been increasing rapidly. The Morrison has answered to the change by developing capabilities in the e-commerce.

Technological factors: The technology advancement has developed the whole landscape of retail. The organization had to invest within the digital platform which can work well with the change in online shopping. The Morrison has partnered with the E-commerce lead Amazon to boost the delivery capabilities and mainly invested within the mobile apps and website for the click and collection facility (PESTEL analysis of Morrison, 2023). The utilisation of the in-store technology includes like as options of mobile payments and self checkouts, this has developed the consumer experience. The organization also investing in the data analytics and automation process of the supply chain to optimise and forecasts the demand and inventory management. However, working with the increasing technological change can be challenging part, as this requires the ongoing adoption and investment.

Environmental factors: The Environmental sustainability mainly boosting the significance within retail sector. The organization is mainly emphasised on the developing energy efficiency and decreasing the plastic waste. As the major part of the sustainable effort, the organization has developed the effective initiatives like as promoting recycling and decreasing use of plastic bags. The organization also pledged to be a net zero within the operation by the year 2040. The different actions are aligning with the development in the environmental consciousness, these also include the balancing profitability with the sustainability and operational costs which is challenging.

Legal factors: The regulation compliance with the food safety, data protection and employee welfare play a major role in Morrison. The organization needs to be updated related to employment laws, this includes employee rights, wage regulations, this might put impact on the cost structure (Abu-Rumman, 2021). The supermarket needs to adhere with the regulations of the food safety by the government of UK to make sure about the safety and quality of products. The non-compliance can be result in the damage to the reputation of organization and outcome in hefty fines. Moreover, the organization needs to focus on the employment regulations like as laws of employee’s rights, directives of working hours and national minimum wages. The organization has mainly faced the different legal hurdles in the year 2021. The challenges lead to loss in the trust of consumers and financial penalties. By being compliant with the landscape of regulatory plays a major role in the organization to manage the operational stability and reduce the risks.

The organization mainly operates within the dynamic and complex external business environment; this is inclined by the different factor. This includes the political, social, legal, environmental, social and technological. The organization focused on the adaptability to resolve the different challenges via sustainable efforts, technological investment and strategies of the competitive pricing. On the other hand, the ongoing monitoring of the different external factors play a major role for organization to grow within the UK’s competitive market and manage the market position.

Carroll’s pyramid of sustainability

The Carroll’s pyramid related to CSR (Corporate social responsibility is major framework which focuses on the organizational responsibilities within the four different levels. This includes the philanthropic, ethical, legal and economic. The different levels showcase the obligation of the organization to the stakeholders such as consumers, employees, shareholders and community.

Economic responsibility: This is considered as the base of pyramid, the main economic responsibilities include offering the return on investment and being profitable to the shareholders. Morrison, the economic responsibility plays a major role, as this is important for the organization to manage the effective profitability to boost the investment and operations within the future growth. Apart from rapidly increasing competition, the organization has emphasised on the value for money and affordable pricing, this mainly aligns with the effective economic responsibilities.

Legal responsibility: It showcases the obligation of organization to comply with the regulations and laws. The organization adheres to the environmental standards, labour laws and safety regulations. The compliances with the different legal responsibilities make sure that organization operates in the regulations boundaries to avoid the penalties and manage the reputation.

Ethical responsibility: This goes beyond of the different legal obligation and also focus on what is appropriate for the stakeholders. The organization developed the major efforts to fulfil the ethical responsibilities via resolve the different issues such as fair treatment for the suppliers and employees (Rimita, 2019). For example, the organization mainly implemented the different initiatives to makes sure about the staff benefits and fair pays. This provides support to the British farmers through product sourcing; this boosts the strong relations with the partners of supply chain and encourages the ethical sourcing.

Philanthropic responsibility: This is the top factor within the Carroll’s pyramid; this includes the improving society and community. The organization has mainly engaged with the different charitable activities which includes introducing “Morrison’s foundations” and providing support to the local food banks, this majorly donates to the different cases (Carroll’s pyramid of sustainability, 2023). The organization plays a significant role in the resolving the issues related to the food poverty via the effective program “Waste not”. This refers to the excess food to the poor and charity.

The implementation of the Carroll’s pyramid within Morrison focuses on the commitment to the philanthropic, ethical, legal and economic responsibilities. The organization also faced the different challenges mainly within the terms to adapt the developing customer experience and making sure about the long term sustainability. The organization continues developing the balanced approach within the meeting the CSR objectives.

CONCLUSION

Conclusively, it states that Morrison operates within the dynamic and competitive within the retail environment. This is shaped by the different external factors via the effective framework of the PESTEL. The organization mainly established resilience via adapting the economic and political challenges like as inflation and Brexit. By regularly investing in the development of technologies and responding to the shifts in the consumer preferences. On the contrary hand, the organisation need to evolve to be biggest rivals among the Lidl, Aldi and TESC, In terms of the digital capabilities, sustainability and pricing. The evaluation related to the organizational structure highlights that advantages of the different centralised systems which makes sure about the control and consistency, this faces different limitation within the local and agility responsiveness. By making use of the Carroll’s pyramid, this is particularly clear that organization can focusing on the taking steps related to meeting the ethical responsibilities.

Recommendations

• In order to address the different weaknesses within the structure, the organization needs to adopt the different and decentralised approach and focus on the decision making autonomy. It will permit the organization to respond quickly to the demand and opportunities within the local market while managing the corporate governance.
• With the regular increasing growth of the digitalisation and e-commerce, the organization ought to invest within developing the consumer experience and expanding the online platform via innovative and efficient technology. By developing the data analytics and system of online ordering in the efficient manner, the organization can meet the demand of consumers who are tech savvy and streamline the operations.
• The Morrison recommended deepening the sustainable commitment by setting the effective objectives for decreasing food waste, carbon emissions and plastic waste. The effective collaboration with the different suppliers to boost the transparency within the measuring sustainability progress and encouraging the eco-friendly practices. This will helpful in attracting the consumers and build the trust of the consumers who are environmental conscious. This is developing the ethical responsibilities.

REFERENCES

Books and journals

• Abu-Rumman, A., 2021. Transformational leadership and human capital within the disruptive business environment of academia.World Journal on Educational Technology: Current Issues,13(2), pp.178-187.
• Daniels, J.D., Radebaugh, L.H. and Sullivan, D.P., 2019.International business: Environments and operations. Pearson.
• Hilton, R.W. and Platt, D.E., 2020.Managerial accounting: creating value in a dynamic business environment. McGraw-Hill.
• Needle, D. and Burns, J. 2019 Business in Context: An introduction to Business and its Environment. 7th ed. Andover: Cengage Learning.
• Pears, R. and Shields, G. 2019 Cite them right: The essential referencing guide. 11th ed. London: Red Globe Press.
• Rimita, K.N., 2019.Leader readiness in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business environment(Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).

Online

• Carroll’s pyramid of sustainability, 2023. Online. Available through https://www.lythouse.com/blog/exploring-carrolls-csr-pyramid-key-principles-modern-applications#:~:text=Carroll's%20CSR%20Pyramid%20provides%20a,%2C%20ethical%20practices%2C%20and%20philanthropy.
• Morrison, 2023. Online. Available through <https://groceries.morrisons.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorHkjYbD2bK_FTLrUBiCGC1bXINxuN5uL9VUx-NB_IgCn-vLMMv>
• Organizational structure of Morrisons, 2023. Online. Available through <https://theorg.com/org/morrisons>
• Organizational structure, 2023. Online. Available through <https://www.morrisons-corporate.com/morrisons-sustainability/charity-and-community2/>
• PESTEL analysis of Morrison, 2023. Online. Available through <>https://www.swotandpestle.com/morrisons/

Author Bio

Jordan Clarke   7 Years | Masters

I am Jordon and I am a resident of London. I have completed my master's from Imperial College. I have gold medals in bachelor's as well as master's. I have been a certified academic writer for 7 years or more. My passion is to help students write flawless assignments. I have also been a professor at two or three renowned universities in London, so I am very well aware of what the guidelines demand.