The macro-environment of business forces

The macro-environment of business includes six distinct external and uncontrollable forces that affect the business operations in terms of operations management. These distinct forces are the demographic, economic, political, ecological, socio-cultural, and technological forces which impact a business decision making process and shapes specific structures such as the diversity requirements and the legal framework of a company (Elias, Alexopoulou, Scholes and Hughes, 2019). The forces are essential in the making of strategic decisions, especially for companies that work within different regions and the requirements of the forces act differently for each region. For instance, in the political demands of the US-based companies such as Colgate Palmolive, the company is liable to the dealings it makes outside the US that is controlled by the US government. Any company that makes deals outside of the US jurisdiction can be monitored and held culpable if it fails to adhere to the transparency rules that are set by the US policies on business proceedings. The ITA in the US regulates the way companies handle their expansion in other regions as well as provide ways to promote trade on a global scale. However, In the UK, the Unilever products are within the regulation of the European market, but for these products to be sold in the American market, they must meet the demands of the American policies on trade. The political interference here may lead to a change in specific regulations that are different in other markets.

On the other hand, sociological demographics may affect decision making, as seen in the case of Colgate Palmolive in the aforementioned case analysis company (Elias, Alexopoulou, Scholes and Hughes, 2019). The company had to create products that are specific for certain markets and customized to the needs of a particular region. This led to a negative impact on the growth of the company for a few years before 2006 as the company used the home-based feedback to create uniform products prior to its decision to change its operations. On the positive side, the demographics of different markets helps a company to position itself for global competitiveness. Again, looking at Colgate, it branded its products differently and changed its management and operations department to suit each market demands, thus recovering from an imminent fatal downfall in certain regions. The macro-environment of a company may lead to negative impacts such as the loss of certain jobs by specific people due to regulations of employment in a country. On the other hand, adhering to the demands of a particular region may increase the growth and development of a company.

The Internal Strengths and Weaknesses of Specific Businesses

The SWOT analysis of a company is a famous model to look at the weaknesses and strengths of a company. However, even with the analysis of each of the strength and weakness, one must identify the reasons why a company identifies one aspect as being a weakness or a strength. For instance, one of the strengths of the Unilever brand is the diversity it shares amongst its employees and Human resource management. The company has invested in its people’s capabilities, and this can be attributed to the Macro environment of the business environment that Unilever works. The company is based in many regions across the world, and consequently, it has a richly diverse team of employees that is proliferated by the different demographics represented in each region. However, due to its strong human resource department and empowerment of its employees, people from these regions have continually liked the brand because of its policy on taking care of the people. Concerning the demographics, the products are also a beneficiary of the goodwill by clients as they interact with the products with the same spirit that is spread by the way employees are treated by the company. The results of the macro-environment are a basis for identifying the weaknesses or the strengths of a company in practical analysis of which aspects of the uncontrollable external environment a company seeks to address. For instance, competition on a global level is part of the macro environment and uncontrollable, but with a well-positioned brand, the competitive advantage can be termed as a strength once a company has utilized it maximally.