Unit Code :- L/508/0485
Unit Number and Title :- 1 Business and the Business Environment
Unit Level : 4
Assignment Title :- Business Environmental Analysis
Aim of the unit :- The aim of this unit is to provide students with background knowledge and understanding of business, the functions of an organisation and the wider business environments in which organisations operate.
Students will examine the different types of organisations (including for profit and not for profit), their size and scope (for instance, micro, SME, transnational and global) and how they operate. Students will explore the relationships that organisations have with their various stakeholders and how the wider external environments influence and shape business decision-making.
L/508/0485 Business And The Business Environment Assignment – Nelson College London UK.
Case study: General Motors
Introduction :-
General Motors, abbreviated as GM manufactures, designs and sells vehicles and their parts. It is a multination organization in Detroit, Michigan, America. GM has been in business since 1908 and has grown its business impeccably. GM faced a bankruptcy after which most of its shares and the brand“General Motors” were bought by ‘General Motors Company LLC’ which formed in 2009. GM operates in a joint venture with several companies across the globe.
Operations :
The General Motors designs, builds and sells cars, trucks and automobile parts worldwide. The company is
headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and employs 207,000 people across six continents, of whom 140,000
are hourly employees and 67,000 are salaried. GM operates 158 facilities worldwide, and its employees
speak more than 50 languages and live in 23 different time zones. The company produces brands to
satisfy customers in more than 120 countries around the world. GM is number one in the total number of
vehicles sold in its two most important markets, the U.S. and China.
GM Financial :-
The GM Financial Company was acquired by GM in 2010 for $3.5 billion in cash. It formerly had been operated since 1992 as Ameri Credit Corp. Services include credit or lease financing, vehicle insurance and extended service contracts. Many of its contracts originate from consumers purchasing new and used vehicles from GM dealerships. In April of 2011, GM Financial acquired FinanciaLinx, an independent auto lease provider in Canada, which enabled it to offer lease financing for new GM vehicles purchased at its franchised Canadian dealerships.
Manufacturing :-
GM has adopted several innovations to reshape its manufacturing operations. An innovation called the GM agile machining fixture introduced a process known as flexible manufacturing that enables power train facilities to run different engine or transmission families across common machining lines. This manufacturing technology allows for a significant reduction in the setup and tooling costs that are typically incurred during product changeover.
L/508/0485 Business And The Business Environment Assignment – Nelson College London UK.
Research and Development :
The top research priority within GM is to continue to advance its alternative propulsion strategy, consistent with a business strategy that emphasizes energy diversity and environmental leadership. At the core of this development strategy stands the GM Global Alternative Propulsion Centre (GAPC) in Honeoye Falls, N.Y. where GM conducts the bulk of its research on alternative fuels and propulsion systems.
Marketing :
GM’s product mix varies by country. In the U.S the company currently offers a lineup of 63 different vehicle models, spread among nine different product areas. These product areas include coupe, sedan, hatchback/wagon, and sport/convertible cars, as well as, sports utility, crossover vehicles and pick-up trucks. In addition, GM also offers vans and hybrid/electric vehicles.
Competition :-
The global automobile industry has three primary product segments: cars, vans, and pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs). The car segment includes small, medium, large, luxury and all other cars such as hybrid electric and flexible-fuel cars. The auto manufacturing industry is fiercely competitive at the global and domestic levels.
GM PESTLE Analysis
Political Factors
Government rules and regulations have huge impact on automotive firms as GM because they have to oblige by safety rules. Also, the custom duties, quotas, embargo, and trade regulations affect the marketing of GM vehicles and parts from one country to another. Moreover, if government buys shares, it must comply with the policies of the government. In addition to that taxation rules, also affected the garment industry.
Economic Factors
GM gets affected by the fuel price fluctuation and relative demand of the customers as they look for more economical solutions. Automotive firms like GM must conduct research on a middle option, for high-end cars, like hybrid manufacturing etc. The prices of steel also fluctuate which impacts the manufacturing of General Motors. Import and export also has affected the economic growth of general motors.
Social Factors :
General Motors understands the social need of customers and provides them with high-end vehicles according to their preferences, keeping in mind the social status of people. GM has always contributed in providing people what they need.
Technological factors
As technology, has advanced in today’s world so has the manufacturing style of GM via robots. GM contributes to providing advanced vehicles, using latest design, manufacturing and technology. Another impact of technology on GM is the connection between the customers and GM through social media and other websites. One can directly contact General Motors, for query and feedback. Communication has eased between GM and the target audience.
Legal Factors
Business has to operate under certain laws set in the market and violating them would result in penalty as well as bad image for the firm. GM abides to safety laws, custom laws etc. along with ‘Auto mobile Recycling Law’ set in the industry. GM is never seen under any legally activity or issues, because it follows every rule and regulation.
Environmental Factors :
As every other automotive organization, GM also has to abide by the environmental laws. Since 1994, GM
has been working successfully on reducing the emissions of the factory. It has abided to the ‘environmental pledge’ of “CERES Principles” which includes a code of 10 points about business environmental guide.
Learning Outcome (1 & 2)
You have been employed as a Business Analyst by a large multinational organisation like GM Motors or an organisation of your choice. You are going to present a report to the CEO.
The report to the CEO and should include the following:
Explain (i) different types and purposes of organizations; public, private and voluntary sectors and legal structures. along with (ii) their sizes and scope and (iii) the relationship between different organisational functions and how they link to organisational objectives and structure. In addition to your response, analyse how the structure, size and scope of the General Motors or your selected organisation links to its business objectives and product and services. Also, analyse the advantages and disadvantages of interrelationships between organisational functions and the impact that it can have upon organisational structure of your selected organisation. Furthermore, provide a critical analysis of the complexities of different types of business structures and the interrelationships of the different organisational functions
in General Motors or your selected organisation.
Learning Outcome (3 & 4)
With reference to Assignment one, you have been employed as a Business Analyst by a large multi national organisation such as GM Motors, or an organisation of your choice, to analyse, report and present on the current environmental factors that influence or impact your chosen organisation.
The submission is in the form of a written report and a presentation that includes a PESTLE analysis and a SWOT analysis, as well as a 5–10-minute PowerPoint presentation of the key findings.
(iv)Identify the various macro environmental factors that impact on the business operations, highlighting the positive and negative impacts by taking examples using PESTLE analysis. Furthermore, (v) applying the SWOT and Porter tool, conduct internal and external analysis of General Motors or your selected organisation and another similar organisation, to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Also, (vi)explain how strengths and weaknesses interrelate with external macro factors discussed in the context of General Motors or your selected organisation.
L/508/0485 Business And The Business Environment Assignment – Nelson College London UK.
In addition to your response, apply appropriately the PESTLE model to support a detailed analysis of the macro environment within the selected organization, and apply the SWOT analysis appropriately and justify how they influence the decision-making process in your organisation. Also, critically evaluate the impacts that both macro and micro factors have upon business objectives and decision-making in the organisation.
(Hints: The presentation slides for the findings should be submitted with speaker notes as one copy. You are required to make effective use of PowerPoint headings, bullet points and subsections as appropriate. Your research should be referenced using the Harvard referencing system. The recommended word limit is 300 words, including speaker notes, although you will not be penalised for exceeding the total word limit).
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