The Business Environment of the Modern Day Society - Research Paper Example

? Newproject_ Case Study _EN_#806824 The business environment of the modern day society is highly competitive in nature. The rapid evolution of various forms of connectivity powered mostly by the high level penetration of the internet as well as easy and smooth integration of various forms of modern day gadgets in the lives of the masses all over the world has transformed the world in to an arena of highly connected single entity. Because of this transformation of the world, information from various corners of the world can be easily accessed by individuals and organizations without facing the problems of existence of a geographical barrier. The availability of various kinds of free data and other information content has automatically contributed in the rapid dispersion of various kinds of global trends. The fast maturity of markets around the world with response to the global trends resulted in creating unique demands from the consumers located in the developed as well as the developing markets. Business organization and companies in order to attain future growth in their areas of businesses increasingly try to focus on fulfilling the demand arising in the new as well as established markets located all over the world. However, before entering into a new market or trying to fulfil an existing or emerging demand in an already existent market, firms and organization often conduct external as well as internal environment analysis. While the internal analysis of the firms’ environment brings into focus the various advantages and disadvantages that are existent within the possibility of control of the firm, the external analysis outlines the positive and negative points that are beyond the controlling ability of the firm. Talking in a little detailed manner about the analysis of the external environment, it has to be said that the PEST analysis plays a very critical role. The PEST analysis comprises of evaluation of the external environment from the perspectives of political, economic, social and technological factors. It is important to mention that the PEST analysis is a highly effective tool for organizations that are looking forward to identify and control the weaker sides of the business environment so as to generate significant amount of potential leverage for their own product or service offerings (Henry 2). Talking more on the same note, it has to be said that by using the PEST analysis, the organizations look forward to capitalizing on their core competencies while addressing significant anomalies that might alter the balance existing in a competitive environment of business. It is relevant to mention the fact that when firms and organizations look forward to implementing a PEST analysis for analyzing and studying the current business environment, focus has to be given on a particular region on the basis of the firms’ product or service offerings. Also, an effective study of the business environment by the firm while using the PEST analysis will help the organization or firm to identify potential areas of business opportunity and threats (Ward and Daniel 28). Talking in a little elaborate manner about the factors that comprise of the PEST analysis, a brief description about each of the four factors has to be provided. While discussing the political factors, issues comprising of consumer protection law, contract and property rights, exchange rate policies, healthcare policies, political stability and trade regulations has to be taken into consideration. The economic factor will cover the analysis on the lines of availability and cost of workforce maintenance, growth factors of the economy, economic growth rate, rates of unemployment and inflation, stability of the exchange rate of the currency as well as existence and nature of the free market. While talking about the social factor of the PEST analysis, importance has to be given to issues like demographic factors, education, spirit of entrepreneurship as well as factor of wealth distribution. Finally while discussing about issues related to technological aspect of PEST analysis, focus needs to be given on issues like access and evolution of new technology, level of penetration achieved by technology, R&D spending of the government and even to the acceptance of the evolving trends of technology by the masses and firms of the specific region (Afuah 329). 2. It has to be said that a large majority of the population working in the UK region are immigrant workers who have relocated from various regions of the European Union. As per research conducted it has been found that this shift of migrant workers from the European Union is fuelled mostly because of the fact of existence of a political agreement between UK and European Union. As per the political agreement, workers from various regions of the European Union, apart from Bulgaria and Romania have the right to work and reside in the country of UK. However, there are a couple of negative factors that are often faced by the migrant working population living in the UK. It can be said that because of the potential disadvantages that are often faced by the migrant workers of the European Union, they run a high risk of getting exploited in the work places as well as their daily lives while living in UK. Talking about this issue in broader details, it needs to be highlighted that a native of the European Union might get exploited in UK in a multiple number of ways. The first point of disadvantage that is often faced by a migrant worker is the language problem. Because of the unfamiliarity with English as a native language, the migrant workers run the threat of getting exploited in the workplace as well as in the daily life. Talking in connection to exploitation in the workplace, it has to be said that the migrants’ discomfort with the English language results in difficulty to understand and interpret the new rules and regulations of the workplace as well as exercising their own rights. Also, as a result, of this language problem, the migrant workers find it difficult to ask for legal help in case of harassment and exploitation at their respective workplaces. Now talking about the exploitation because of the language problem, it has to be said that the migrants are easy prey in regards to exploitation while doing their daily activities which might comprise shopping, looking for accommodation, gaining access to education as well as seeking benefits of social welfare programs. Also, since, the migrants are unable to understand the clause and contracts offered in their recruitment agreements, it becomes difficult for them to negotiate with the employer in regards to wages and working hours and working conditions. This huge disadvantage of the migrants provides ample scope for the employers to exploit them very easily while availing their services. Another highly critical factor that leaves the migrants exposed to various forms of exploitation is the threat arising from racist attitudes of the local masses. It has to be considered that this often transforms into various critical forms of exploitation in the workplace as well as that of the surroundings of daily life. 3. It is important to mention that in the recent times, the migrant workers from various regions of the European Union, who come to look for work and a better life in the UK, forms a very important chunk of the entire working population of UK. However, while trying to analyze the factors which might have resulted in the high inflow of migrant workers, it can be said that the factors can be categorized on the basis of political, economic, social and technological criteria. Political factor: Talking in the lines of political factors that might have acted as a catalyst for generating the inflow of migrant workers in the UK region, the Legislative agreement existing between UK and European Union needs to be brought into focus. It has to be highlighted that the legislative agreement provides the right to migrant workers from various regions of the European Union to come and earn a living in the United Kingdom. Economic factor: It is important to highlight the fact that there has been a significant amount of economic benefit that is attached with the migration of the workers to the UK. The migrants who shift to the UK for the purpose of looking for a job often come from backward nations of the European Union where the economic development is very low. Because of their shifting to the UK region, the migrant workers attain a significant increase in their monthly earnings, which help them to develop the financial wealth of their families living in the native places. Social factor: There is a social side that can be attached to the factor of shifting of migrant workers to UK. It has to be said that a large majority of the population of UK is ageing. As a result of systematic and steady departure of the ageing UK population from the nation’s workforce, there will be a high spike of demand for workers and skilled employees for business and organizations who are catering to the manufacturing and service sector of UK. Technological Factor: Considering the technological factor that has probably acted as a catalyst for boosting the inflow of migrant worker in the UK region, it has to be said that with the evolution of various technology based automated process, there has been a steady shift of jobs from production and manufacturing to the service sector. Hence, this automatically results in a very good fit for the qualified and educated migrant workers in regards to the job prospects and job opportunities. 4. While discussing the factors which has provided significant amount of benefits to the UK economy from the services offered by the migrant working population of the UK region, it has to be said that the factors of benefits can be categorised on the basis of political, economic, social and technological benefits. Talking from the political benefits, it has to be mentioned that the migrant workers coming from the various countries of the European nations contribute to a large amount of contribution to the exchequer’s funds. On comparison of the tax receipts with that of the expenses, it has been realized that difference of contribution coming from the migrants and local population has reduced over the years. Discussing the benefits from the economic perspective, it can be said that the migrants make a important part of the entire economy of UK, which includes public and private sector. GDP data provided by government revealed that the migrant population contributed to around .5% of the nation’s GDP, which amounted to over 6 billion pounds in 2006. Also, the regional business leaders feel that the migrant worker have a better work ethic which helps in generating a high competitive edge for the business in the marketplace (Times 100 158). It also has to be highlighted that the nation of UK receives a considerable amount of social kind of benefits from the services rendered towards the masses by the migrant population coming from the various economically backward countries of the European nations. It can be said that the migrant working population of the European Union plays a vital role in filling up the void that is happening because of the steady departure of the ageing working population of UK. Also, a section of the highly skilled migrant workers plays a vital role in providing various kinds of emergency services like the healthcare services to the nation of UK. Finally, talking in regards to the technological benefits that are leveraged by the population of UK because of availing of services provided by the migrant EU population, it can be said that the migrant workers play a very crucial role. It cannot be denied that with the evolution of various kinds of advanced modern technology, the processes of manufacturing and production have become highly automated. However, this creates a significant challenge which arises from the need of controlling and maintaining the sophisticated technology. Talking on these lines, it can be said that the skilled workers of the migrant population helps UK in tackling the gap that emerges in regards to skilled service based requirements. Works Cited Henry, Anthony. Understanding Strategic Management. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. Print. Affuah, Allan. Strategic Innovation: New Game Strategies for Competitive Advantage. USA: Routledge. 2009. Print. Ward, John and Daniel, Elizabeth. Benefits Management: How to Increase the Business Value of Your IT Projects. UK: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. Print. Times 100. Use of PEST analysis at UNISON. N.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. Read More