BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Understanding the environment within which the business has to operate is very important for running a business unit successfully at any place. Because, the environmental factors influence almost every aspect of business, be it its nature, its location, the prices of products, the distribution system, or the personnel policies. Hence it is important to learn about the various components of the business environment, which consists of the economic aspect, the socio-cultural aspects, the political framework, the legal aspects and the technological aspects etc. In this chapter, we shall learn about the concept of business environment, its nature and significance and the various components of the environment.

In addition, we shall also acquaint ourselves with the concept of social responsibility of business and business ethics.

OBJECTIVES

• explain the meaning of business environment;

• identify the features of business environment;

• describe the importance and types of business environment;

• describe the recent developments in Indian Economy that have greatly influenced      

  the working of business units in India;

• explain the concept of social responsibility of business;

• state the social responsibility of business towards different interest groups; and

• explain the concept of business ethics.

MEANING OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

As stated earlier, the success of every business depends on adapting itself to the environment within which it functions. For example, when there is a change in the government polices,Senior Secondary.

Business around us the business has to make the necessary changes to adapt itself to the new policies. Similarly, a change in the technology may render the existing products obsolete, as we have seen that the introduction of computer has replaced the typewriters; the colour television has made the black and white television out of fashion. Again a change in the fashion or customers’ taste may shift the demand in the market for a particular product, e.g., the demand for jeans reduced the sale of other traditional wear. All these aspects are external factors that are beyond the control of the business. So the business units must have to adapt themselves to these changes in order to survive and succeed in business. Hence, it is very necessary to have a clear understanding of the concept of business environment and the nature of its various components.

The term ‘business environment’ connotes external forces, factors and institutions that are beyond the control of the business and they affect the functioning of a business enterprise.

These include customers, competitors, suppliers, government, and the social, political, legal and technological factors etc.  While some of these factors or forces may have direct influence over the business firm, others may operate indirectly. Thus, business environment may be defined as the total surroundings, which have a direct or indirect bearing on the functioning of business. It may also be defined as the set of external factors, such as economic factors, social factors, political and legal factors, demographic factors, technical factors etc., which are uncontrollable in nature and affects the business decisions of a firm.

FEATURES OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

On the basis of the above discussion the features of business environment can be summarised as follows.

(a) Business environment is the sum total of all factors external to the business firm and that greatly influence their functioning.

(b) It covers factors and forces like customers, competitors, suppliers, government, and the social, cultural, political, technological and legal conditions.

(c) The business environment is dynamic in nature, that means, it keeps on changing.

(d) The changes in business environment are unpredictable. It is very difficult to predict the exact nature of future happenings and the changes in economic and social environment.  .

(e) Business Environment differs from place to place, region to region and country to country. Political conditions in India differ from those in USA. Taste and values  cherished by people in India and China vary considerably.

IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

There is a close and continuous interaction between the business and its environment. This interaction helps in strengthening the business firm and using its resources more effectively.

As stated above, the business environment is multifaceted, complex, and dynamic in nature and has a far-reaching impact on the survival and growth of the business. To be more specific, proper understanding of the social, political, legal and economic environment helps the business in the following ways:

(a) Determining Opportunities and Threats: The interaction between the business and its environment would identify opportunities for and threats to the business. It helps the business enterprises for meeting the challenges successfully.

(b) Giving Direction for Growth: The interaction with the environment leads to opening up new frontiers of growth for the business firms. It enables the business to identify the areas for growth and expansion of their activities.

(c) Continuous Learning: Environmental analysis makes the task of managers easier in dealing with business challenges. The managers are motivated to continuously update their knowledge, understanding and skills to meet the predicted changes in realm of business.

(d) Image Building: Environmental understanding helps the business organisations in improving their image by showing their sensitivity to the environment within which they are working. For example, in view of the shortage of power, many companies have set up Captive Power Plants (CPP) in their factories to meet their own requirement of power.

(e) Meeting Competition: It helps the firms to analyse the competitors’ strategies and formulate their own strategies accordingly.

(f) Identifying Firm’s Strength and Weakness: Business environment helps to identify the individual strengths and weaknesses in view of the technological and global developments.

TYPES OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Confining business environment to uncontrollable external factors, it may be classified as (a) Economic environment; and (b) Non-economic environment. The economic environment includes economic conditions, economic policies and economic system of the country.

Non-economic environment comprises social, political, legal, technological, demographic and natural environment. All these have a bearing on the strategies adopted by the firms and any change in these areas is likely to have a far-reaching impact on their operations.

Let us have a brief idea about each of these areas of business environment.

ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

The survival and success of each and every business enterprise depend fully on its economic environment. The main factors that affect the economic environment are:

(a) Economic Conditions: The economic conditions of a nation refer to a set of economic factors that have great influence on business organisations and their operations. These include gross domestic product, per capita income, markets for goods and services, availability of capital, foreign exchange reserve, growth of foreign trade, strength of capital market etc. All these help in improving the pace of economic growth.

(b) Economic Policies: All business activities and operations are directly influenced by the economic policies framed by the government from time to time. Some of the important economic policies are:

(i) Industrial policy

(ii) Fiscal policy

(iii) Monetary policy

(iv) Foreign investment policy

(v) Export –Import policy (Exim policy)

(c) Economic System: The world economy is primarily governed by three types of economic systems, viz., (i) Capitalist economy; (ii) Socialist economy; and (iii) Mixed

economy. India has adopted the mixed economy system which implies co-existence

of public sector and private sector.

NON-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

The various elements of non-economic environment are as follow:

(a) Social Environment :

The social environment of business includes social factors like customs, traditions, values, beliefs, poverty, literacy, life expectancy rate etc. The social structure and the values that a society cherishes have a considerable influence on the functioning of business firms. For example, during festive seasons there is an increase in the demand for new clothes, sweets, fruits, flower, etc. Due to increase in literacy rate the consumers are becoming more conscious of the quality of the products. Due to change in family composition, more nuclear families with single child concepts have come up. This increases the demand for the different types of household goods. It may be noted that the consumption patterns, the dressing and living styles of people belonging to different social structures and culture vary significantly.

• Capitalist Economy: Emphasis on private ownership.

• Socialist Economy: Resources are owned and managed by the state.

• Mixed Economy: Co-existence of public and private sectors.Senior Secondary

(b) Political Environment

This includes the political system, the government policies and attitude towards the business community and the unionism. All these aspects have a bearing on the strategies adopted by the business firms. The stability of the government also influences business and related activities to a great extent. It sends a signal of strength, confidence to various interest groups and investors. Further, ideology of the political party also influences the business organisation and its operations.  You may be aware that Coca-Cola, a cold drink widely used even now, had to wind up operations in India in late seventies.  Again the trade union activities also influence the operation of business enterprises. Most of the labour unions in India are affiliated to various political parties. Strikes, lockouts and labour disputes etc. also adversely affect the business operations.  However, with the competitive business environment, trade unions are now showing great maturity and started contributing positively to the success of the business organisation and its operations through workers participation in management.

(c) Legal Environment:

This refers to set of laws, regulations, which influence the business organisations and their operations.  Every business organisation has to obey, and work within the framework of the law.

(d) Technological Environment

Technological environment include the methods, techniques and approaches adopted for production of goods and services and its distribution. The varying technological environments of different countries affect the designing of products. For example, in USA and many other countries electrical appliances are designed for 110 volts. But when these are made for India, they have to be of 220 volts. In the modern competitive age, the pace of technological changes is very fast. Hence, in order to survive and grow in the market, a business has to adopt the technological changes from time to time. It may be noted that scientific research for improvement and innovation in products and services is a regular activity in most of the big industrial organisations. Now a days infact, no firm can afford to persist with the outdated technologies.

(e) Demographic Environment

This refers to the size, density, distribution and growth rate of population. All these factors have a direct bearing on the demand for various goods and services. For example a country where population rate is high and children constitute a large section of population, then there is more demand for baby products. Similarly the demand of the people of cities and towns are different than the people of rural areas. The high rise of population indicates the easy availability of labour. These encourage the business enterprises to use labour intensive techniques of production. Moreover, availability of skill labour in certain areas motivates the firms to set up their units in such area. For example, the business units from America, Canada, Australia, Germany, UK, are coming to India due to easy availability ofskilled manpower. Thus, a firm that keeps a watch on the changes on the demographic front and reads them accurately will find opportunities knocking at its doorsteps.

(f) Natural Environment

The natural environment includes geographical and ecological factors that influence the business operations. These factors include the availability of natural resources, weather and climatic condition, location aspect, topographical factors, etc. Business is greatly influenced by the nature of natural environment.  For example, sugar factories are set up only at those places where sugarcane can be grown. It is always considered better to establish manufacturing unit near the sources of input. Further, government’s policies to maintain ecological balance, conservation of natural resources etc. put additional responsibility on the business sector.Senior Secondary