Higher National Diploma in Business and Marketing Unit 1: Business Environment
Edexcel BTEC Level 5 HND Business and Marketing
Unit 1 Assignment: Business Environment
Useful Websites:
www.managementhelp.org
www.mindtools.com
www.businesslink.gov.uk
www.12manage.com
www.businessballs.com
Section 1
Understanding the organisational purposes of businesses
You will need to:
 identify the purposes of different types of organisation
Here you will need to – briefly – describe a range of types of organisation (for example: public sector municipality, charity, private sector limited or public limited company, or partnership) and – briefly – explain the purpose, aims/objectives, of each (of course, all are aiming to generate revenue, but there are many differences!)
 describe the extent to which an organisation meets the objectives of different stakeholders
This could include ….staff, unions, suppliers, customers/clients, funding sources, banks, shareholders, local/national media, local community, local authority, government.

 explain the responsibilities of an organisation and strategies employed to meet them
Following on from the above, you will need to – briefly – summarise the broad areas of responsibility to – for example: owners/shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers – and to the physical environment, and possibly, to the local/national/international community – and explain the strategies (the broad long-term approaches) which are put in place in an attempt to ensure those responsibilities are met.
For articles on these, try search phrases such as:
mission+values+vision+examples,stakeholders+influence+examples,organisational responsibilities+stakeholders, organisational responsibility+community
Higher National Diploma in Business and Marketing Unit 1: Business Environment
Section 2
Understanding the nature of the national environment in which businesses operate
You will need to:
 explain how economic systems attempt to allocate resources effectively
This needs a very broad response, you need to briefly describe the main, different, economic systems, and briefly list the “resources” (people, raw materials, land, etc), and how each of those systems attempts to make best use of those resources
 assess the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on business organisations and their activities
Briefly explain Fiscal and Monetary, then discuss how taxation levels, interest rates, the value of the £, $, € will positively or negatively affect business organisation
 evaluate the impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms on the activities of a selected organisation
You will need to select a suitable organisation – ideally a large national or international one – and discuss how it is constrained by competition policy (eg regarding monopolies) and regulations such as the planning laws. Good examples in the UK would be supermarket chains, or airport operators.
For articles on these, try search phrases such as:
economic systems allocate resources, fiscal+monetary+policy+impact on business, competition policy+impact+businesss
Section 3
Understanding the nature of the national environment in which businesses operate
You will need to:
 explain how market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of business
Describe different market (place) structures and how they affect pricing, distribution, product/service offerings. A good example is where there is substantial competition, many suppliers, and a wide range of products/services for customers to choose from. Another is where there are very few providers, little competition, but high demand.

 illustrate the way in which market forces shape organisational responses using a range of examples
List some market forces (recession, competition, changing demographics, etc) and explain how organisations have to respond to / react to these (eg. supermarkets offering many more “own brand” and low-cost products)
 judge how the business and cultural environments shape the behaviour of a selected organisation
Select a national or international business organisation, and describe how it changes its behaviour depending on the external environment situation – again recession, demographic changes – plus if it moves into new national / overseas markets there are cultural differences to respond to.
Higher National Diploma in Business and Marketing Unit 1: Business Environment
For articles on these, try search phrases such as:
market structure+influence on busines+examples, market forces+influence+businesses, business environment+cultural environment+strategies
Section 4
Assess the significance of the global factors that shape national business activities
You will need to:
 discuss the significance of international trade to UK business organisations
Just as it says – look at imports – to satisfy business raw material needs, and consumer needs, but more importantly, exports – and how much the UK earns from these / how critical this is to the health of the UK economy
 analyse the impact of global factors on UK business organisations
Research and discuss the impact of negative / positive economic situations in, for example, the USA or Europe (for example the negative effect of the Euro problems) – also consider factors such as shortages of raw materials – metals, foods, for example – or the growing demand from developing countries for products and services.
 evaluate the impact of policies of the European Union on UK business organisations
Describe at least 2 EU policies such as those on social welfare, working conditions, freedom of labour movement – and the positive or negative impact on these have on UK businesses.
For articles on these, try search phrases such as:
international trade+importance to UK business, global factors+impact on UK, EU social welfare policies+impact on UK