General Motors and the External Business Environment - Case Study

MGT - 1B1Y Introduction to Business Assignment: General Motors and the External Business Environment - Case Study Word Count - 1962 Mark Abbott Student Number; U0305189 Question "Using an appropriate theoretical framework describe and assess how the relationship of the General Motors Corporation to its external business environment has altered over time". Introduction According to the Case Study, General Motors is a very large US based car manufacturer with plants located across the globe. It was formed in the early 20th century by William Durant, when he bought an array of small companies including Buick, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Oakland and Pontiac. Durant had experience in this industry as he had worked as an engineer, and had bought many small car and parts manufacturers since 1904. In the years since General Motors was formed, it has experienced successful, profitable times in which it held a large share of the market. However, more recently, it has experienced a decline in its manufacturing capabilities, thus leading to problems regarding its existence. In this report I will look at the question identified above and assess how this once thriving car manufacturing company, has altered over time, focusing on its external business environment. I will consider the factors which have lead to the decline of the company, and assess how these factors have affected it,

  • Word count: 2209
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
Access this essay

The External Marketing environment

Marc Menendez 05260233 Marketing Strategy and planning Assignment 1 2006/2007 Environmental Scanning and Analysis As expressed by Aguilar 1967, environmental scanning gathers and uses information regarding events, trends, and relationships in a businesses' external environment.. Conceptual Framework for Environmental Scanning (Choo 2001, p.103) Environmental analysis has the role of assisting managers in "assessing and interpreting the information gathered" (Dibb, Simkin, Pride, Ferrell 1997) from environmental scanning. Hence environmental analysis is a vital means of organisational learning. As indicated by Dibb, Simkin, Pride and Ferrell, the process may help managers to describe current and future changes in the external environment. By evaluating changes the marketing manager can pinpoint opportunities and threats that may arise from environmental fluctuations. Understanding the current state of the environment and identifying threats and opportunities, companies assess the current performance of their marketing campaigns and develop future strategies. Marc Menendez 05260233 The External Marketing Environment Is determined by "social, demographic, economic, technological, political and legal, and competitive variables" (Williams, 2004). The external market environment is also described "in terms of four key components: economic, technological, political and

  • Word count: 1730
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
Access this essay

PESTEL analysis on the external business environment of Malaysia based whisky industry.

Ong Kok Siong 20050208 PART A: PESTEL analysis on the external business environment of Malaysia based whisky industry. Political factors 1. According to International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed (2010), there will be no tariff reduction on the export of alcohol from Malaysia. This will become a threat to the whisky industry in Malaysia as the price of the whisky will remain high in global market and thus they will lose the competitive advantage on it. The demand of their products will drop as the selling price is high compared to others. . Based on the Budget 2011, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (2010) said that the government will not further increase the excise duty on the alcoholic beverages for the coming year. This will not further exert the pressure to the whisky industry and also consumers especially in this economic downturn. When the excise duty is not increased, the price for the whisky will not be further raised and therefore the industry is expected to have growth in sales and profits. . As stated in Budget 2011, the government will increase the service tax from 5% to 6% starting on 1 of January 2011. The advertising expenditure of the alcoholic beverages is expected to be dropped as government proposed to impose service tax on paid television broadcast services. The increase in service tax will definitely cause the fall in

  • Word count: 6594
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
Access this essay

Business - External Influences.

Business - External Influences - Gautam Kumar Every business is part of an external network called the Environment. This network plays a large role in the way a business functions and is run. The effects of the environment on the business can be both a boon or a bane to the business. The External Environment in which a business operates can be categorically divided into various factors. A few that will be discussed here are : * Competition in the Market * Economic Environment * Political Environment * Population (Sociological Environment) * Ecological Environment * Technological Environment All these factors compose the External Environment. Every business needs to take all these factors into account when carrying out its operations because each one in its own way has a very real impact on the success of a business. However some businesses carry out the less comprehensive but still valuable PEST (Political, Economic, Sociological and Technological Environment) Analysis. Competition in the Market: On setting up and throughout the course of its existence, a business does constant research on the Market Structure of the market it operates within. This is the amount of competition that exists in a market. This is what determines the prices of the business' goods or services. There are a number of standardized 'Models of Competition.' These models are calculated

  • Word count: 2125
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Business Studies
Access this essay

Ethics + External Environment 10 Mark Question

Transfer-Encoding: chunked External Environment 10 Mark Question (January 2011) Given Context Leo Springer has been designing and making office furniture ever since he left college 10 year ago. He started by making desks for people to have in their office/ study at home. Interest grew in his business and he was regularly called into other businesses to design the layout o their offices and then make the furniture. He currently sells the furniture abroad, as well as in the UK. He has always run the business as a sole trader and it operates under the name Springer Office Furniture (SOF). Leo now employs staff to make the furniture and to manage the various functional areas within the business. Actual Question Changes in the external environment can impact on the activities of a business. These include: * The level of consumer spending * New competitors entering the market. Evaluate whether the changes in the level of consumer spending or the entry of new competitors into the market will have the greater impact on SOF. Model Answer Introduction Changes in the external environment could have a big impact on SOF. They currently make and sell office furniture to the public and to businesses Paragraph 1 (analysis of level of consumer spending) If either group has more or less money available there will be a change in the amount of furniture ordered. If the level of

  • Word count: 615
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Business Studies
Access this essay

Key External Environment of Manchester Airport

The purpose of this report is to detail the key external environment issues surrounding Manchester Airport and how the Marketing Manger and the Operations Manager can attempt to influence or control these. The external environment is considered to be a far environment, therefore can neither be controlled nor influenced. This environment consists of Social, Legal, Technological, Economical and Political factors. For Manchester Airport these are: - . Social - Demographics, Seasons, environmental issues. 2. Legal - Legislations. 3. Economic - Boom/bust cycle, interest rates, taxation and Government expenditure. 4. Political - The Government and legislation. 5. Technological - Information technology. Fig 1, Current environmental issues Social: - The social factors include population factors of age, occupation, lifestyle and wealth distribution. These can all have major impacts on businesses. Age population can determine whether people will travel close to home or further away, as younger people have families, which means there is a budget attached to their spending. Older people tend not to have a young family to cater for and have a larger disposable income. Occupation determines a person's lifestyle through their earnings and thus their wealth distribution. Seasons affect the travel industry as most people prefer to travel in the summer for the warmth; therefore it

  • Word count: 2383
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
Access this essay

Business environment

Running Head: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Business Environment Antoine Bruneel Portsmouth University Business environment Business ethics is a well-institutionalized academic field, which deals with the moral dimension of business activity. In the context of international business, it means the treating of moral questions of international cultures and countries. International business should be sensitive to the environment and not just selfish for its own profits. Ethically, safety comes first and the profit comes last. The various issues that ethics target are diverse - environmental concerns, animal welfare issues, labor practices, fair trade, health concerns, genetic modification, patenting of genes, cloning etc. International business is both more exposed to a variety of ethical conditions as well as in a position to exploit business ethics due to the sheer size an international company has. The end result of an ethical judgment entails its authenticity from being morally correct. But moral correction itself is a relative concept and is based upon the cultural perceptions as well as traditions. The international market and business arena can be ethically segmented into the 'die hard', the 'don't cares', and the various groups in between. Companies all around the world are coming under scrutiny from governments, shareholders, customers, trade unions, human-rights groups, and

  • Word count: 2601
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
Access this essay

Business Environment

Contents Page 3 - Appendix Page 10 - Issues Currently Affecting the Business Page 16 - Bibliography Page 17 - End Notes a) Appendix This paper will analyse the current issues and trends in the external business environment. An online business dictionary defines the business environment as: "Conditions, entities, events, and factors surrounding an organization which influence its activities and choices, and determine its opportunities and risks, also called operating environment." i In any organization, manager's decisions will be affected by the current issues and trends in the business environment. It is crucial for manager's to consider these issues and trends in order to make successful choices for their organization. The business environment of the United Kingdom can change in many instances. Change can take place in competition laws, global warming, taxation and inflation for example. These changes can be analysed and classified using the PESTEL framework which differentiate between political, environmental, social, technological and legal topics. The external environment also includes possible competitors to the business. (OUP, 2008). In order to produce a report that will analyse the current external business environment, the PESTEL framework shall be followed in order to visualise any issues that may affect the hypothetical firm of choice producing a

  • Word count: 4609
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
Access this essay

Business Environment and the Economic Environment in India

Meaning of Business Environment Environment of a business means the external forces influencing the business decisions. They can be forces of economic, social, political and technological factors. These factors are outside the control of the business. The business can do little to change them. Following features: . Totality of external forces: Business environment is the sum total of all things external to business firms and, as such, is aggregative in nature. 2. (Specific and general forces: Business environment includes both specific and general forces. Specific forces (such as investors, customers, competitors and suppliers) affect individual enterprises directly and immediately in their day-to-day working. General forces (such as social, political, legal and technological conditions) have impact on all business enterprises and thus may affect an individual firm only indirectly. 3. Dynamic nature: Business environment is dynamic in that it keeps on changing whether in terms of technological improvement, shifts in consumer preferences or entry of new competition in the market. 4. Uncertainty: Business environment is largely uncertain as it is very difficult to predict future happenings, especially when environment changes are taking place too frequently as in the case of information technology or fashion industries. 5. Relativity: Business environment is a

  • Word count: 1471
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Business Studies
Access this essay

Vodafone - Business Environment

Vodafone Business Environment analysis Jason 0714860459 2009/5/31 Content Content 2 History 3 Key current business 4 Sponsorship 4 Strategy 4 Organization Structure 5 PESTLE Analysis 6 The Political Environment 6 The Economic Environment 7 The Socio-Cultural Environment 9 The Technological Environment 10 The Legal Environment 11 The Ethical and Environmental Environment 12 Overview about Vodafone History Vodafone is the largest mobile communication network in the world, which operates its business across 65 countries around Europe, Americas, Middle East &Africa and Asia & Australia. (Vodafone.com) Its headquarters is in Newbury, Berkshire, England, UK, and it currently had a market share of £75 billion. Its name Vodafone represents Voice Data and Fone (phone), and the company chooses this name to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones". (Mobiletor.com, 2007) Vodafone has 260 million customers in the world, which just behind China Mobile on this measure, has 415 million customer, resulting in vodafone is the second largest operator in the world. (Forbes.com, 2008) In the beginning, Vodafone wasn't named Vodafone; it was a form of subsidiary of Racal Electronics Plc in 1984. After that, people called it Racal Telecom Limited in 1988. 3 years later, this company had totally demerged from Racal Telecom Limited and became the

  • Word count: 2871
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
Access this essay