environments+of+business

=The Environments of Business= toc

[|Going Up in Smoke]
Businesses are urging the government to move slowly in trying to cut carbon. But when does transitional assistance become needless corporate welfare? Article in the Sydney Morning Herald 19-2-2011

Every business operates in a setting or "environment" of outside influences:

The Macro Environment
Large-scale influences on the country, region or the world:
 * Governments -- laws and regulations of Local, State/Territory, Commonwealth governments
 * Competitors -- actual or potential (attracted into the market, as when Coles and Woolworths supermarket chains entered the service station retail petrol market).
 * Generational issues (exact years may vary depending on commentator) -- The Greatest Generation (b. 1901-25, fought WWII), The Silent Generation (b. 1925-1945), Baby Boomers (b. 1945-1961), Generation X (b. 1962-1981), Generation Y ("Millennials" b. 1982-2000), Generation Z (b. 2001 to present);.
 * Cultural and social factors -- eg increasing personal wealth of women since 1920s, gender balance of workforce, work preferences of employees especially Gen X, Y (and soon) Z
 * Natural environment -- greenhouse gases, pollution, nature conservation
 * Prices of raw materials ([|commodities])

The Operating Environment
Influences on the market in which the business exists:
 * Competitors -- current products, market positioning, innovation, reaction to their competitors' actions (including your own business decisions)
 * Customers -- corporate or individual
 * Suppliers -- wholesalers, utilities (electricity, water, phone, broadband...),
 * development of technologies, especially in production and ICT (information and communications technology)
 * Marketing and advertising -- impact of own marketing and of competitors' marketing

The Internal Environment
Factors existing inside the business:
 * Staffing -- individual preferences, prejudices, skills, talents; Union and professional organisations; staff certified agreements and laws regulating staffing.
 * Financing -- how capital ($) is handled within the business -- allocation of finance between different organisational units;
 * Lines of control -- autonomy given to managers in handling resourcing such as staffing and finances; advantages and disadvantages of centralised control.
 * ICT (information and communications technology) -- access to IT, communications (landline, mobile, wireless, broadband, datacasting)
 * Location -- land and buildings purchased/leased, future expansion plans