Understanding the Business Environment Assignment

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit an Understanding the Business Environment assignment. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the module, you should be able to:

1. Distinguish between organisational types.

2. Identify their key stakeholders and evaluate their needs and influence.

3. Explain the nature of the national environment in which an organisation operates and its impact on selected businesses, including economic, political and legal factors.

4. Examine the behaviour of selected organisations in their national and international market environments.

5. Identify, select and use a range of economic tools to determine appropriate business decisions under different economic, political and legal constraints.

Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline and a word count; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list in Arden University (AU) Harvard format. You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work.

a) Using an example from an organisation that you have either worked for or researched including the case study outline its legal form, purpose, corporate history, vision, mission and objectives.

b) In terms of the national and international market environments in which the organisation operates carry out an assessment of the external environment in terms of the political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental factors that affect the organisation in its international market making use of your own research or the case study to highlight the specific national/international marketplace in which the organisation operates.

Task One

Using a suitable academic model assess the competitive structure of the market in which the organisation operates. What are the competitive forces at work and how attractive is the industry in which the organisation operates.

Task Two

Identify the main stakeholders of the organisation using an appropriate model after having explained stakeholder theory. Use a Power/Interest matrix to assess the importance of these stakeholders. Evaluate the potential conflicts and suggest how these might be resolved.

Task Three

a) Taking a country of your choice, explain the national economic system under which the country operates.

b) Analyse the advantages and disadvantages of such a system and provide appropriate examples. Ensure you identify and discuss how the pursuit of at least one macroeconomic objective by the Government impacts a chosen organisation.

Formative Feedback

You have the opportunity to submit a draft report to receive formative feedback. The feedback is designed to help you develop areas of your work and it helps you develop your skills as an independent learner.

If you are a distance learning student, you should submit your work, by email, to your tutor, no later than 2 weeks before the actual submission deadline. If you are a blended learning student, your tutor will give you a deadline for formative feedback and further details.