Management And Business Context For Political: A Study Of AustralianSuper

Discussion

Discuss about the Management and Business Context for Political.

The smooth management of the business processes is considered as big challenge for all the companies irrespective of their size and the number of employees (Cuevas?Rodríguez, Cabello?Medina & Carmona?Lavado, 2014). The external as well as internal environment of the firms is constantly changing and these factors affect the performance of the organization (Cuevas?Rodríguez, Cabello?Medina & Carmona?Lavado, 2014). This essay would discuss the different critical issues that are directly related with the management as well as business context. The aim of the essay is to enhance the understanding of the different contextual factors which are important for the internal business environment of the organization including decision making.

The organization selected for the purpose of study is AustralianSuper. The Australian Super is one of the pension fund and the superannuation organizations located in Australia (Australiansuper.com, 2017). This fund has approximately 2 million members, which is considered as the largest industry funds in Australia. The fund is only for the profit members. This report would discuss the key terms as well as concepts related to this topic. The major international as well as domestic contextual would be discussed.

The business processes do not occur in isolation and they are integrated into the core business processes. The factors persistent in the external environment of AustralianSuper include the political, social, economic, technological and environmental (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). The PESTEL analysis would help in the determination of the external factors of AustralianSuper in the background of Australia (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). The industry in which the AustralianSuper operates can be analyzed with the help of Porters’s five forces. It helps in identification of major factors in the business environment of AustralianSuper. These include the competitive rivalry, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers and the bargaining power of the buyers (Anton, 2015). The advantages of this model includes that it segregated the micro-economic theory into five major influences, essential for clarity in understanding. The internal environmental forces can be analyzed with the help of McKinsey 7S model (Zou et al., 2014). This theory focuses on the fact that a particular aspect of the organization cannot be considered under isolation (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). The other useful tools used in the analysis of the internal environment are SWOT analysis and TOWS strategic alternatives matrix (Grünig & Kühn, 2015).

Domestic Contextual Factors

There are several critical issues that are intrinsic to the business environment of AustralianSuper (Crane & Matten, 2016). There can be poor market assessment as well as market research, which can lead to risky decision making. There can be poor selection of the suppliers and poor monitoring of the activities of the competitors (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). The organization may have poor responses to the different economic changes especially in the times of economic downturn (Drucker, 2014). The company can be exposed to the lawsuits which are related to the risks associated with the service advice or the risks associated with product use. The firms also have high degree of risks in the global market (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). One of the greatest risks is the dominance of other similar firms and the increasing competition in the market (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). There can be high cost associated with international business activities. There are several risks for the MNC’s such as political risk, legal risks, economic risks, financial risks and societal risks (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). It is important for the company to evaluate the risks associated with a new country. The economic risk factors are concerned with the macroeconomic performance of the country and the level of political stability. There can be several legal risk factors such as law and enforcements of the country. It is important to prepare risk management strategies for mitigating the risks associated with the business functions (Gerding et al., 2013). A risk assessment matrix would be helpful in identifying the degree of risks under categories such as negligible, minor, moderate, significant and severe (Grünig & Kühn, 2015).

There are different domestic contextual factors that are relevant to the business environment. The contextual factors such as age of firm, ownership and the size of the firm are important determinants of the business success (O'Brien & Gunay, 2014). It is important for the organization to consider factors such as customer management, supply chain management, new product development and others. The business managers pose the challenge of doing correct strategic choices and set their tactical priorities (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). It is also important to allocate organizational resources to different functions which are present in the organization (Harper, 2015). The managers should engage in the development of the new concepts, new tools, new mindsets, which leads to fulfillment of the organizational objectives. It is also important to focus on the vital statistics of the firm such as profit, sales and the number of employees working in the organization (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). The managers should also take care of the life cycle stages of the firm such as growth, maturity, decline or infancy stage (Hanks, 2015). This would help the company to formulate organizational policies. The nature of the industry is important to determine and it is important to know the strengths as well as weaknesses of the firm. The firm should focus on the entry modes especially while venturing into foreign lands. There has been research which showcases that the profitability of a firm is directly proportional to the growth process. The managers should have effective management policies that are known to give superior outputs. It is important to devise focused and clear strategy (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). This would help in the flawless execution of the operational processes (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). The employee engagement is one of the most important factors, which is important for organizational success. The employees are responsible for fulfilling the job duties well and causing enhanced customer service.

International Contextual Factors

There are different international contextual factors that are relevant to the business environment. Globalization is one of the most important international factors that affect the business processes (Ahearne et al., 2015). The high degree of globalization has led to increased competition for AustralianSuper. There is high level of competition regarding the technological adaptation, target market, high cost of services and goods (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). There is also a rise in the technology process and the managers should know how to leverage the right technology (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). The technology push is concerned with the process of technology change that is defined by appropriate technology in the process of special industrial usage (Lasi et al., 2014). The different dimensions of the technological opportunity include technological importance in the fulfillment of the business goals (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). The industry maturity also influences the business operations of the company. Once a business starts maturing, then the there is a shift from the product innovation to the process innovation (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). There are also changes in the customer needs as well as preferences on a global basis. For example, the preferences of the people of India are quite different from that of the people of Australia (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). This implies that the business processes of the two countries would be different, which would best suit the needs of the organization. The orientation to the customers as well as consumer satisfaction is integral concepts of the total quality management (). It is also important to focus on the emerging markets in an international domain. The aspect of sustainability should be emphasized by the company such as global warming, governments and the increased implementation of the environment friendly practices (Grünig & Kühn, 2015).

The contextual factors affect the business structures in a major way. The organizational functioning of AustralianSuper is affected by the interaction of the internal as well as external context factors. The organization has high levels of decentralization and high division of labor (Grünig & Kühn, 2015). It affects the level of internal communication in the organization. The organizational culture is directly related to the level of the organizational communication, which is inclusive of the interpersonal relationships. The employees of the company are satisfied and hence they have respect for each other as well as the organization as a whole. It has loser controls for the new undertakings of the business.

Conclusion

The implementation of the contextual factors of a business is an important criterion for achieving organizational success. The businesses contextual factors are important for influencing the performance ranking of the organization. The company should be engaged in the business analysis, which should take into account both the internal as well as external environment. This essay discussed the external business environment factors such as PESTEL analysis and Porter’s five forces, which are important for determining the type of external environment faced by the company. There are several critical issues of business such as poor market assessment, poor responses to the different economic changes, exposed to the lawsuits and risks from global markets. There are several risk factors associated with the multinational organizations. The different domestic as well as international contextual factors are discussed. The effect of the contextual factors on the business environment is also discussed.

References

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