This paper circulates around the core theme of Organisations have a variety of purposes that depend on why they were established. Some operate for profit, whilst others do not. Organisations structure themselves and operate in ways that allow their objectives to be met together with its essential aspects. It has been reviewed and purchased by the majority of students thus, this paper is rated 4.8 out of 5 points by the students. In addition to this, the price of this paper commences from £ 99. To get this paper written from the scratch, order this assignment now. 100% confidential, 100% plagiarism-free.
1. INTRODUCTION
Organisations have a variety of purposes that depend on why they were established. Some operate for profit, whilst others do not. Organisations structure themselves and operate in ways that allow their objectives to be met. Every organisation has a range of stakeholders whose interests need to be satisfied, but stakeholders have competing interests that may be hard to reconcile.
Businesses operate in an environment shaped by the government, competitors, consumers, suppliers, and international factors. Learners will understand that some influences on the business environment are direct and clear, for example taxation policies on corporate activities. Other influences are less clear, perhaps coming from the international arena and sometimes with only an oblique impact on the national business environment.
It is within this business environment that organisations function and have to determine strategies and a modus operandi that allow them to meet their organisational purposes in ways that comply with the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks. In addition, business markets take various forms and the structure of a market enables an understanding of how organisations behave. In this unit learners will consider how different market structures shape the pricing and output decisions of businesses, as well as other aspects of their behaviour.
Aim:
The aim of this unit is to give learners the knowledge and understanding of how a business unit can strategically organise and plan for likely future outcomes in order to be successful.
Key Objectives:
Learning Outcomes and assessment criteria:
On successful completion of this unit a learner will:
1. Understand the organisational purposes of businesses
Categories of organisation: legal structure; type e.g. private company, public company,
government, voluntary organisation, co-operative, charitable; sector (primary, secondary tertiary)
Purposes: mission; vision; aims; objectives; goals; values; profits; market share; growth; return on capital employed (ROCE); sales; service level; customer satisfaction; corporate responsibility; ethical issues
Stakeholders: owners; customers; suppliers; employees; debtors; creditors; financial institutions (banks, mortgage lenders, credit factors); environmental groups; government agencies (central government, local authorities); trade unions
Responsibilities of organisations: stakeholder interests; conflict of expectations; power influence matrix; satisfying stakeholder objectives; legal responsibilities eg consumer legislation, employee legislation, equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory legislation, environmental legislation, health and safety legislation; ethical issues eg environment, fair trade, global warming, charter compliance eg Banking Code.
2. 2 Understand the nature of the national environment in which businesses operate Economic systems: the allocation of scarce resources; effective use of resources; type of economic system e.g. command, free enterprise, mixed, transitional.
The UK economy: size (gross domestic product, gross national product); structure; population; labour force; growth; inflation; balance of payments; balance of trade; exchange rates; trading partners; public finances (revenues, expenditure); taxation; government borrowing; business behavioure.g. investment, objectives, risk awareness; cost of capital; consumer behaviour; propensity to save; propensity to spend; tastes and preferences
Government policy: economic goals; fiscal policy: control of aggregate demand; central and local government spending; Public Sector Net Borrowing (PSNB) and Public Sector Net Cash Requirement (PSNCR); euro convergence criteria, monetary policy; interest rates; quantitative easing; private finance initiative (PFI); competition policy (up-to-date legislation including Competition Act 1998, Enterprise Act 2002); Competition Commission, Office of Fair Trading; Directorate General for Competition); European Commission); sector regulators e.g. Ofgem, Ofwat, Civil Aviation Authority; Companies Acts; regional policy; industrial policy; enterprise strategy; training and skills policy.
3. Understand the behaviour of organisations in their market environment
Market types: perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, duopoly; competitive advantage, strategies adopted by firms; regulation of competition Market forces and organisational responses: supply and demand, elasticity of demand; elasticity of supply; customer perceptions and actions, pricing decisions; cost and output decisions; economies of scale, the short run; the long run, multi-national and transnational corporations; joint ventures, outsourcing; core markets; labour market trends; employee skills, technology; innovation; research and development; core competencies; business environment (political, economic, social, technical, legal, environmental); cultural environment.
4 Be able to assess the significance of the global factors that shape national business activities
Global factors: international trade and the UK economy; market opportunities; global growth; protectionism; World Trade Organisation (WTO); emerging markets (BRIC economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China); EU membership; EU business regulations and their incorporation in to UK law; EU policies e.g. agriculture (CAP), business, competition, growth, employment, education, economics and finance, employment, environment, science and technology, regional); labour movement; workforce skills; exchange rates; trading blocs (e.g. monetary unions, common markets; customs unions, free trade areas); labour costs; trade duties; levies; tariffs; customs dues; taxation regimes; international competitiveness; international business environment (political, economic, social, technical, legal, environmental); investment incentives; cost of capital; commodity prices; intellectual property; climate change e.g. Kyoto Protocol, Rio Earth Summit; third world poverty; the group of 20 (G-20); global financial stability.
Section 2: Learning Outcomes and assessment criteria
LO1. Understand the organisational purposes of businesses
1.1 identify the purposes of different types of organisation
1.2 describe the extent to which an organisation meets the objectives of different stakeholders
1.3 explain the responsibilities of an organisation and strategies employed to meet them
LO2. Understand the nature of the national environment in which businesses operate
2.1 explain how economic systems attempt to allocate resources effectively
2.2 assess the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on business organisations and their activities
2.3 evaluate the impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms on the activities of a selected organization
LO3 Understand the behaviour of organisations in their market environment
3.1 explain how market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of businesses
3.2 illustrate the way in which market forces shape organisational responses using a range of examples
3.3 judge how the business and cultural environments shape the behaviour of a selected organisation
LO4 Be able to assess the significance of the global factors that shape national business activities
4.1 discuss the significance of international trade to UK business organisations
4.2 analyse the impact of global factors on UK business organisations
4.3 evaluate the impact of policies of the European Union on UK business organisations.
Section 3: Teaching and learning Methods
It is recommended that a range of strategies be used to deliver this unit. Discussion, debate, individual workplace comparisons and use of case studies are all elements of this unit. Where groups of learners are from one organisation or sector, consideration of cultural issues can be based upon the needs of the organisation or sector. Video footage, not necessarily relating to business or management, or acting could be used to illustrate some aspects of a business. The use of investigative tools is recommended to encourage both self awareness and the practical application of the insights gained.
Section 4: Assessment Methods -Summary
A key feature of the assessment strategy for this unit is the practical application of the theoretical content to an organisational situation at strategic level. The assessment will consist of an individual report with an organization chosen for the purpose to address all the learning outcomes.
Programme Specification