REPORT

Report: External Environemnt Analysis & Change Management in Grocery Business

External Environemnt Analysis & Change Management in Grocery Business

Introduction

Business world exhibits a strong influence from its external environment. There are a number of factors, associated with the external environment. In order to analyse the influence, there are a number of analysis techniques; the techniques analyse the external environmental factors like political, economic, social or technological (PESTEL). An organisation has to evolve its business principles & strategies, according to the environmental changes. An organisation can improve its competitive edge by changing with the external environment. In this regard, an organisation has to tailor strategy which manages change in the workplace.

In this report, the discussion highlights the significance of environmental & behavioural factors on the organisational strategy. Further, the report provides information about managing change, in order to stay competitive. The primary rationale for this report is to assist a grocery business in managing change. In this regard, the associated policies have been introduced. In the succeeding section, the discussion elaborates the scope for a grocery business.

Grocery Store: the case of Retailing Business

A grocery store is a supermarket business. It consists of a number of structures, which work together. A supermarket business is retailing business type, which does not involve product manufacturing. It involves a number of complex components such as:

Repeated customers' groups

A number of retail stores

Transportation systems for distribution of products

A number of distribution centres

Suppliers

Inventory management

Stores (Frank & Dave, 2012, p.2)

A retailing business has to act as value-adding resellers. They serve as intermediary between suppliers & customers. A supermarket business obtains assorted products from distinct suppliers; then, the business has to organise & distribute them to the retailing outlets. The outlets facilitate the provision of the grocery items to the local customers' base. Figure 1 demonstrates the business model for retailing business. “Business enterprise” refers to the retailing business like supermarket. It reflects the involved business entities. A supermarket market business acquires products & goods from the supplier markets (Frank & Dave, 2012, p.2). A retailer may choose to make contractual terms with the suppliers. The model also highlights the external factors, which influence a business enterprise. Economic forces, technology, competitors, and political factors have a huge influence on the sustainability of a business.

Figure 1: Retailing Business

Besides, the supermarket business involves a number of other tasks such as building warehouses & distribution centres. Figure 2 illustrates the flow of stock from suppliers to customers. The regional warehouses supply the products & goods to the local stores. From the business structure & model, it is apparent that the supermarket business requires a lot of communication. Also, the internal & external communication has equal significance (Frank & Dave, 2012, p.4)

Internal communication involves coordination between regional warehouses & the local stores. On the other hand, external communication would be directed towards customers or the suppliers.

Figure 2: Products Stock Flow

The Influence of External environment

A business operates in an environment in which the competition sources are varying: these include competitors as well as ...