HELP SHEET FOR ASSIGNMENT 2:

https://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/secondary/btec/btec-nationals-2016-and-
2017/btec-national-in-business/Samples/Student-Book-1/Unit-1.pdf

IF YOU PLAGIARISE YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED

UNIT 1 – EXPLORING BUSINESS

ASSIGNMENT 2: The effects of the environment on a business

To get a Pass grade: You To get a Distinction

To get a Merit grade: You
must complete all of P4, grade: You must
must complete all of P4,
P5 and P6 complete all of P4, P5,
P5, P6, M3 and M4
P6, M3, M4, D2 and D3

KEY THING TO KNOW

***ONE BUSINESS: One profitable large business

Profitable large businesses that you could use: Nike, Tesco, Apple, Rolls Royce, River Island,
Samsung, Adidas, Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer etc
P4) Title: The internal, external and competitive environment on a chosen business
For YOUR CHOSEN LARGE PROFITABLE BUSINESSES, you should do the following:
- Brief description of the businesses – when it started, headquarters, number of
employees, CEO etc. Make it very comprehensive and add pictures/images/graphs
- Explain how the external environment affects your chosen business – This should be
done using PESTLE FACTOR: Political, Economical, Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal and
Environmental. EXPLAIN TWO KEY POINTS PER FACTOR
• - Explain how the internal environment affects your chosen business – What is the
culture of your chosen business and how does it affect its activities? What is the business’s
CSR plan/Ethical Code and how does it affect its activities? Make sure to explain using
examples.
- Explain how the competitive environment affects your chosen business- Who are the
main competition to your business and explain what they do to show they are the main
rivals? What is your business doing differently from their main competition to be one step
ahead – explain how this (competitive advantage) is helping them? Then explain factors
influencing competitive advantage of your chosen business – points like product differentiation,
pricing policies, market leadership, reputation, market share, cost control, technology
relationships with customers, suppliers, employees should be used.
- Conclude P4 by explaining the benefits and importance of establishing and maintaining a
competitive advantage for your chosen business.

Exemplar of P4: https://www.studocu.com/en-gb/document/university-of-

greenwich/understanding-business/assignments/assignment-2-unit-1-exploring-
business/2195913/view

This will give you P4 DO NOT COPY FROM THE EXEMPLAR – YOU WILL FAIL
***Do not forget your referencing log – you can use the HARVARD REFERENCING TOOL
ONLINE to make your work more professional and presentable.
P5) Title: SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS USING SWOT AND PORTER’S FIVE FORCES

(Optional) Explain the task is about -

- For the same business in P4, you should do the following:
- Explain the SWOT of your chosen business. So, for your chosen business from P4, explain
(using paragraphs):
 TWO strengths that your business has in the environment they are in
 TWO weaknesses that your business has
 TWO opportunities that your business should use.
 TWO threat that your chosen business faces in the business environment.

-Explain what PORTER’s FIVE FORCES is about including the 5 components that make up
Porter’s 5 Forces. You may want to use an
image for this.

-Explain how each component of Porter’s

5 Forces affects your business.
(if you can answer at least the questions in
red in the image, you are going to be fine
with PORTER’S 5 FORCES)

Exemplar of P5: https://www.studocu.com/en-gb/document/university-of-

greenwich/understanding-business/assignments/unit-1-exploring-business-assignment-
2/9892256/view

This is the end of P5 DO NOT COPY FROM THE EXEMPLAR OR YOU WILL FAIL
***Do not forget your referencing log – you can use the HARVARD REFERENCING TOOL
ONLINE to make your work more professional and presentable.
P6) Title: Market Structures that affect my chosen business
- Explain what we mean by MARKET STRUCTURE.
- Identify and explain at least 3 different types of market structures that exist in the
external environment – make sure to explain how the key features differ in each
market structure.
Some market structures you need to explain are: Perfect competition, Imperfect
competition, monopoly, oligopoly. When explaining these market structures,
explain how the following features are within each market structure:
-Number of sellers/businesses within the market structure
-Barriers to entering that specific industry/market structure
-Types of products/services that businesses with the market structure provide
-Availability of substitute products.
-Pricing power of businesses within the market structure
-Factors that will make your competition gain an advantage within the market
structure

- For your chosen business, identify and explain the market structure in which your
business operates
 Using the above key features, explain the main activities you’re
your business does to show it has features of the market structure
you have chosen: E.g. IF it is
 Perfect competition- explain with examples from your business
to show that they have the main features of being in a perfect
competition market.
 Imperfect competition- explain with examples from your
business to show that they have the main features of being in a
imperfect competition market.
 Oligopoly - explain with examples from your business to show
that they have the main features of being in an oligopoly market.
After Half-term!! We start here
- Identify and explain the type of competition that your chosen business faces within
its identified market structure.
- Identify the impact of the market structure on the pricing of products/services by
your chosen business.
- Clearly identify and explain how the business and the main competitors
respond to changes in pricing and supply. Questions you should be focusing
on for this part are:
• what is the availability of raw materials and labour for products that my business and
competition sell?
• how does logistics affect that product/services that my business sells?
• how can my business have the ability to produce profitably with the market structure?
• Is there high/low competition for raw materials and how does this affect my business
• Is there government support and if yes how can this affect supply of the
product/service,
• Is there price elasticity of some products/services sold by my business and if so how
does that affect supply/profit levels.
-
• Identify and explain the factors that influence the demand for the products and
services that your business sells. EXPLAIN WITH EXAMPLES THAT RELATE TO
YOUR BUSINESS. You will need to check the following and explain ONLY the ones
that apply to your business based on the products and services the sell:
affordability, competition, availability of substitutes, level of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), needs and aspirations of consumers.
- Exemplar of P6: https://www.studocu.com/en-gb/document/university-of-
greenwich/understanding-business/assignments/assignment-2-unit-1-exploring-
business/2195913/view

This is the end of P6 DO NOT COPY FROM THE EXEMPLAR OR YOU WILL FAIL
***Do not forget your referencing log – you can use the HARVARD REFERENCING TOOL
ONLINE to make your work more professional and presentable.

AFTER P6 – EVERY TASK HAS TO BE DONE BY CARRYING OUT A LOT OF

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH BACKED WITH AN IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF YOU
CHOSEN BUSINESS – THEREFORE ARE NO FORMAL EXEMPLARS AVAILABLE.
WE SHOULD ALL HAVE COMPLETED P4, P5 and P6 before doing M3

M3)
This should be done underneath P4

- Identify TWO of the PESTLE factors which are the most important or relevant to your
chosen business.
- Then EXPLAIN WHY these two factors are important to your business – BACK THIS UP WITH
EXAMPLES THAT RELATE TO YOUR BUSINESS. Make sure to explain the how your business is
addressing any negative issues arising from these two factors you have chosen.
- Then look at the factors below that you explained in P4:
 Corporate culture
 Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

- Identify which one out of the TWO is important /relevant to your chosen business and
explain WHY. Explain by mentioning key examples to show which one the business gets
involves more and why do they chose to get involve more in this one compared to the
other.
- Then look at the factors below that you explained in P4:
 Competition
 Competitive advantage
 Factors that influence competitive advantage

- Identify which one out of the THREE is important /relevant to your chosen business and
explain WHY.
This is the end of M3:
***Do not forget your referencing log – you can use the HARVARD REFERENCING TOOL
ONLINE to make your log work more professional and presentable.

WE SHOULD ALL HAVE COMPLETED P4, P5, P6 and M3 before doing M4

M4 - This should be done UNDERNEATH P6

EACH BULLET POINT HAS TO BE ONE PARAGRAPH

 How has your chosen business responded to changes that occur in the market structure
that it is found in?
 How has your chosen business responded to challenges that it has face with key
competition?
 What are the negative things that your chosen business has faced when changes in
demand and supply have occurred – back with examples.
 What are the negative things that your business has faced when there has been a change
in prices by competitors in the market?
 What are the main the impact from changes in demand on the pricing of products and
services for your business?

**MAKE sure to show (provide evidence through research) real examples that relate to your
chosen business.

This is the end of M4

***Do not forget your referencing log – you can use the HARVARD REFERENCING TOOL ONLINE
to make your log work more professional and presentable.

WE SHOULD ALL HAVE COMPLETED P4, P5, P6, M3, and M4 BEFORE ATTEMPTING D2

D2 This should be done UNDERNEATH M3 task

ALL PESTLE FACTORS done in P4/M3 and explain the following: (each point should be a
paragraph)
Political Economic Socio-cultural Technological
Legal Environmental

- What has your business done to respond to negatives changes that has happened in each
of these factors?
- What impact has the respond to these changes had on your chosen business? 
- What impact has the respond to these changes had on key stakeholders of your chosen
business.
- What impact has the responds to these changes had on the market share/competitive
advantage of your chosen business.
- State and explain ways your business can address negative responses they may have
encountered when addressing the negative changes.

This is the end of D2

***Do not forget your referencing log – you can use the HARVARD REFERENCING TOOL ONLINE
to make your log work more professional and presentable

WE SHOULD ALL HAVE COMPLETED P4, P5, P6, M3, M4 and D2 BEFORE ATTEMPTING D3
D3 This should be done UNDERNEATH M4 task

- Evaluate the extent to which your chosen business has responded to past changes in the
market – this means that you have to explain at least three key things that have worked for
your business as the market has changed in terms of supply and demand, pricing and
competition. THIS IS BASED ON THINGS THE BUSINESS HAS DONE
- Suggest ways in which the business will respond to future changes in the market that they
exist in – you may want to use an example from a key competition to further explain your
points.

This is the end of D3

***Do not forget your referencing log – you can use the HARVARD REFERENCING TOOL ONLINE
to make your log work more professional and presentable

END OF ASSIGNMENT 2 – UNIT 1 EXPLORING BUSINESS