Introduction
The business environment can be defined as the space in which an organisation exists or carries out its operations. However, there are several external and internal constituents that are available in the environment that affect the entire course of business functioning. In the present research report, researcher's aim is to evaluate or illustrate different aspects that are linked with the company and tactics implemented to overcome them. Thus, British Airways (BA) was selected for the course, which is a flag carrier airline in the UK. However, in a recent survey, BA has been considered the biggest airline in terms of fleet numbers, foreign flights and number of destinations (British Airways Home, 2015). In this regard, the investigator identifies the corporate aim and objectives of BA and the tactics undertaken by top-level management to satisfy the different needs and wants of stakeholders.
The main aim behind carrying out this study is to help the researcher develop a suitable and reliable understanding regarding the environmental conditions of business that consist of various factors including cultural, financial, legal etc. which BA has to abide by for the execution of its operations. Thereafter, factors that affect the price in the airline industry such as market structure, demand etc. are described in this report. Along with this, the report consists of the effects of the trade regime on the activities of BA in the international market. Lastly, the report sums up strategies to maintain a competitive edge in the airline industry.
Task 1
1.1 Identify the purpose of various companies and the goals and objectives of BA
In the corporate world of the UK, there are several companies that have different purposes for their existence. Therefore, it is important for an individual to evaluate goals and objectives for their purpose of short and long-term existence.
National Health Care: The main aim of NHS is to offer quality medical services to the public of the UK (Rosser and Rosser, 2004). It is a publicly funded organisation. So, it is the duty of the senior authority of NHS to offer better medical services by organising free medical camps to treat people all around the country.
Nector plc: It is one of the biggest retail chains in the UK that offers a wide range of quality products and services to its customers. The main purpose behind the existence is to provide quality commodities at affordable prices and increase the market share.
Sole proprietor: This type of firm is owned and managed by an individual who has all the authority and responsibility regarding making decisions for future contingency. The main aim of such entities is to generate profit and sustain for a long-term period.
Virgin Group Ltd: It is one of the leading private limited airline companies that operates with the aim of offering quality and leisure services to customers in three different segments such as travel, lifestyle and entertainment (Kourteli, 2000).
Mission, vision, objectives and stakeholders of BA
Mission is an important aspect of business enterprise as it assists in creating an image of the company. The mission statement of BA is to ensure that the company offers prominent services to its customers and enhances their travelling experience (Our strategy and objectives., 2010). Along with this, it includes the objective related to encouraging them to fly with confidence and safety. However, top-level management focuses on enhancing the trust and loyalty of customers through the help of this mission statement.
On the other hand, the vision statement of BA is to maintain its leading position in the airline industry of the UK so that the needs and wants of different associated stakeholders can be fulfilled in an effective manner. Moreover, operating in such a competitive business environment it is important for BA to make sure that it offers quality services to its customers and generates higher revenue to attain a better share of the market. The following are the various corporate objectives of BA:
- Provide the best quality of travelling leisure.
- To become the preferred means of transport for the people.
- Increasing market share in the UK and international market.
- Giving priority to attaining the needs and wants of different stakeholders.
1.2 Key stakeholders of BA
Operating at such a large level, it is essential for BA to include different stakeholders who can make valiant efforts in carrying out the operations of the company in this competitive environment. There are several stakeholders associated with BA that constantly contribute positively to the successful run of the business enterprise. In particular, customers are the major stakeholders who are responsible for generating revenue for the company (Aras and Crowther, 2011). In their case, quality-related issues are the major concern that the management of BA has to pay attention to. Along with this, employees are another major stakeholder who makes valiant efforts to enhance the level of services offered to customers and encourage or influence them to travel from BA flights. Lastly, management has all the responsibilities regarding making strategic and tactical decisions as well as maintaining the competitive edge within the market.
1.3 BA respond to fulfil its responsibilities to stakeholders
There are several key stakeholders of BA which have different interests in the functioning. Thus, it creates different responsibilities for BA to fulfil all the needs and wants of the above-stated stakeholders and attain future sustainability.
Firstly, in order to improve efficiency in the level of the services offered to customers, the senior authority of the cited company has to develop a quality committee that will be responsible for checking the quality at each level of the business structure (Wetherly and Otter, 2014). By means of this, BA can understand the demands and expectations of travellers that are satisfied or not in the best possible way. The main benefit that the quality team will provide is that it will mould the functioning of BA as per the requirements of customers so that they can be offered a leisure experience.
Secondly, employees are an integral part of a business enterprise. However, BA is responsible for providing quality services to its clients in order to improve their experience of travelling. For employees, the company should understand their basic requirements as well as provide them benefits in monetary and non-monetary terms so that their level of loyalty and trust towards business can be improved.
Lastly, suppliers should be given great importance as well as provide them timely payment so that they can offer quality goods for the company. Coordination between the purchase and finance departments should be made so that they can ensure timely payment to suppliers as well as long-term relationships (Antonacopoulou and Sheaffer, 2014).
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2.1 Economic systems that attempt to allocate resources effectively
In general, the economic system can be defined as the procedure through the means by which the corporate world makes attempts to meet the material requirements of people in society by offering them quality products and services. Herein, it can be said that BA has to function or make use of available resources according to the economic system of the UK. There are two different economic systems (Command and Free market) that make different impacts on the distribution of resources to various organisations.
Firstly, in the command economic system, the government and other legal regulatory bodies have the authority to undertake decisions regarding the operations of businesses. Herein, all the authorities distributing resources related to government and leading companies irrespective of their sector get the equal opportunity to avail resources so that they conduct business in the best suitable manner (Lee, 2014). Particularly in the airline sector, BA and its art rivals are given a similar amount of resources by the legal authority of the UK in which companies have to conduct business and satisfy the needs of different sta