Researching a business environment - Essay Example

Researching a business environment Introduction Researching a business environment is very significant because it helps in understanding a business position and its interaction in the environment. Factors that are evaluated under this section are of business understanding both external and internal factors. Internal factors included are the shop, factory, or office environment while the external factors enables analyzing how the business venture interacts with the outside world. Therefore, environmental research benefits the management and the entrepreneurs by placing them in positions to establish plans both for short and long-term purposes.

To achieve an effective analysis, understanding of a business venture requires analysis of business trends, forms of business, and management practices involved in the business venture (Nickels et al, 2009). Business trendsBusiness and market trends such as global awareness, demographic changes, and advanced communication technology have noted to affect the present and future prospects of business organizations. Understanding of these trends enables entrepreneurs to establish new businesses to figure out on ways to incorporate themselves ion the established environment.

In addition, business trends help business owners to devise on ways to capitalize on them. Trends that are analyzed include social media cloud computing, mobile computing, rise of phone applications, and corporate social responsibility. Cloud computing enables business management to cut-down on their expenses since they can resolve their own problems (Stine & Foster, 2010). Furthermore, trends in social media have been identified to be eventual in understanding of business. Social media has been inevitable advantages in marketing of the business.

Social media is employed in the business sectors to listening to posts and advertising their products. In addition, it is essential that businesses should engage in corporate social responsibilities. Through corporate social responsibility, completion is established between large and small business companies. Moreover, understanding business through mobile computing since they help businesses to improve in their development.Forms of business ownership Apart from understanding trends in the business, there is need to understand forms of business ownership.

However any form of business I characterized by trade of services, goods, or both to its clients. Research into the business etymology enable san individual to determine which kind of business is under study. Several forms of business have identified to be in existence namely sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and cooperative. Under sole proprietorship, ownership is under an individual person and its operation ids carried out either by the owner or with assistance of other people.

Liability of the business is usually unlimited. On the other hand, two or more people own partnership businesses. There is unlimited liability in most partnership businesses. Studies have shown that three classes of partnership business exist. These include limited liability, limited, and general partnerships. Similarly, corporations have been identified to form another kind of business ownership (Nickels et al, 2009). Corporations usually are forms of business ownership that have a limited liability and contain a detached legal personality from its members.

They are established based on profit making or non-profit activities. Ownership is either private or government controlled. In regards to ownership, shareholders own profit making private corporations. A board of directors mostly executes management and recruitment of staff in privately owned shareholder corporations. Lastly, understanding off business environment has established cooperative form of ownership. Cooperatives contain limited liabilities and can engage in either profit making or non-profit making enterprises.

Presence of members in cooperative business distinguishes them from non-profit corporations, which are privately owned because they are governed by shareholders. Classification of cooperatives gives rise to two forms namely worker and consumer cooperatives (Barrow et al, 2004).Conclusion In conclusion, business enterprises are best understood through application of SWOT analysis. This method of analysis has been effective since it facilitates all aspects of decision making in organizations and business.

In marketing and business, SWOT analysis is achieved through mapping weaknesses and strength against threats and opportunities. moreover, business are best understood through application of variance analysis similarly defined ANOVA or analysis of variance. Variance analysis employs assessment of two business trends and business forms of ownership. Effective ANOVA tests help businesses to identify opportunities, threats, issues, and trends to long-term and short-term success. Factors that are addressed in variance analysis include actual costs against budget, materiality, relationships, and forecasting.

Forecasting helps analysts to predict trends in the business. Positive or negative variances in businesses are assessed through evaluation of established data. Moreover, application of analysis of variance helps in establishment of relationships between variables. Variance analysis helps in understanding of business financial positions through evaluation of the relationship between budget and actual costs of expenditure. Evaluation of these monthly or yearly analysis helps the management in making necessary adjustments in their businesses.

ReferencesBarrow, J. L., Kleindi, B.,& Everard, K. E. (2004). Business principles and management. .Boston: South-Western Educational Publishers.Nickels, W., McHugh, J., & McHugh, S. (2009). Understanding businesses. New York, NY: McGraw-McGraw-Hill/Irwin.Stine, R. A. & Foster, D. P. (2010). Statistics of business: Decision making and analysis. New York, NY: Addison Wesley.