REGISTRATION NUMBER 20/U/23697/EVE

STUDENT NUMBER 2000723697

EXAMBAM1105COX1108

Task 1

For a business organization, its environment constitutes of both the things within the unit and those
outside. It consists of the internal and external environment. The business environment is always
changing and as a result, the business needs to adjust as well. The major forces in the business
environment could be political, legal, social and economic among others.

The external environment deals with outsiders and outside factors that affect the business. The internal
environment of a business includes factors that are normally within the control of the of management.

The changes in each of the major forces in the business environment could impact determining the
overall business strategy in the following ways;

Market forces of demand and supply. These affect quantities of goods produced, prices
at which the goods should be sold and frequency of production. Therefore, an increase in demand for
the goods of the business can enable the business to command for higher prices in the market and gain
competitive advantage over other producers. Also, an increase in demand also creates the need to
produce goods in large quantities hence creating the need for expansion of business premises, factory
sites and ware houses so as to supply adequate goods to the market and maximize profits through sales.

An unfavorable change in market forces of demand and supply such as decrease in demand for the
business’ goods would lead to a reduction of sales, quantity produced and level of profits of the
business.

Cultural factors or social norms. These influence the business in what products to
produce and where. For example, one cannot set up a pork joint or piggery in a Muslim community
because it won’t be socially acceptable and will not have public support.

Political forces play a major role in the business environment through taxation policies,
political climate and various restrictions and regulations. Tax holidays, incentives and a decrease in the
level of taxation on the business’ income can lead to growth of the business because it’ll be able to
retain more revenue to carry out its objectives and expand. Favorable tax policies also encourage
investors to stay in business and continue operations so as to maximize profits.
 Unfavorable tax policies such as an increase in the level of taxes on business revenue would
lead to a decrease in the level of taxes of the business which would discourage the investors of the
business to continue with their operations.

Sociological factors often drive what consumers buy and where and how they buy it. For
example, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to many customers opting to buy goods online as opposed to
physically picking them. This has created the need to buy delivery vehicles to take the goods to the
buyer hence the business incurs carriage expenses.

Technological factors can also impact the business. They influence the efficiency of the
production process and quantity of goods produced. Adoption of modern technology and high
modernized equipment leads to production of larger quantities of products at faster rates. However, the
use of simple or rudimentary technology and methods of production lead to low levels of efficiency
during the production process hence less goods are produced and at a slower rate.

Influence of the country’s economy. Economic growth in the country could positively
impact the business because there is increased production, wider market for goods produced and
technological advancement. The business would therefore grow as well. An economic recession would
negatively impact the business due to reduced market for goods produced.

Weather and environmental factors especially for agricultural businesses. Favorable

factors such as rainfall and conducive temperatures lead to high levels of production and better quality
yields from the business. However, unfavorable weather conditions such as drought hinder production
and lead to lower quality yields.

Influence of the quality of management of the business. Proper management of the

business can lead to higher levels of efficiency through proper supervision of workers and high standard
protocols hence growth of the business. Poor management of the business in turn leads to low levels of
efficiency among workers and slow completion of tasks hence hindering the growth of the business.

Political climate of the country in reference to peace and stability. A stable political
climate encourages production of goods and services because there are few interruptions in forms of
riots and wars. Political instability however, interrupts production and other business operations.

Influence of the media for example social media. Through advertising and good press,
the business is able to win over new customers and maintain old ones thus increasing its market share.
Bad press or scandals discourage customers and scare off potential new ones thus the growth of the
business.

Task 3

Finance as a function refers to the ways by which individuals, businesses and organizations raise,
allocate and use the monetary resources overtime, taking into account the risks involved in their
projects.

Retaining profits. The business can retain profits made after a given financial period and reinvest
them to provide more capital. This is appropriate when the costs of borrowing are high and the it’s not
the policy of the business to pay dividends to shareholders. This would provide more capital to the
business to use for marketing and advertisement so as to expand market for its products.
 Mortgages. The business can take out mortgages or credit to purchase assets such as land and
buildings. This can help to expand business premises, set up factories and warehouses to facilitate large
scale production of goods and build market for new products.

Bank overdraft facilities. This is where the business is allowed to overdraw from its business
account. Since there is no collateral security required, this is a preferable source of short term funding.
This can provide funds for marketing and advertisement as the business attempts to reach out to more
customers and expand market for its products.

Ordinary share capital. This involves the issue or sale of shares to the existing shareholders or
the public to raise capital. Through the sale of shares, the business can raise funds to implement its
strategy and accomplish its primary objectives such as build market for new products.

Investing in money markets and other securities. This involves buying and selling short term
securities such as treasury bills, corporate bonds, commercial papers. This will help the business
generate miscellaneous income which they can use to produce standardized products in large quantities
to meet the anticipated high demand.

Lease financing. The business can lease out some of its assets to tenants such as buildings,
warehouses to earn income through rent in return. This can provide funds to the business to use in
developing a variety of new products in the long term.

Miscellaneous sources. This includes loans from individuals or friends and sale of business
assets. This is a source of short term financing and is usually used as a last resort solution to keep the
business afloat.

Loans from banks and other financial institutions. Loans, especially long-term loans can provide
large sums of capital to carry out business projects such as increasing levels of production, advertising to
expand market for the business’ products and are repaid at a later date.

Conversion of preference shares. Preference shares are fixed dividends payable to preference
shareholders. They can be converted to ordinary shares to raise funds for the business to accomplish its
primary objectives

Debentures. These are a long term fixed financial security. The business can borrow funds and
promise to pay interest and principal as agreed. This provides the business with funds that can be used
to achieve long term goals such as producing standardized products in large quantities.

Venture capital. This is where investors provide financing to start ups and small businesses that
are believed to have long term growth potential. Here, the business can convince investors to back it
and fund its activities for a profit in return. The business would be able to raise capital to achieve its
primary objectives.

: Task 6:

Information technology

Analyze how the business can make use of technologies to connect with the different stakeholders. Use
examples to support your answer.
A business is an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial, or professional
activities. With reference to Wikipedia.

Technology is the sum of any techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods
or services or in the accomplishment of objectives. With reference to Wikipedia.

A stakeholder is a party that has an interest in a company and can either affect or be affected by the
business. With reference from Investopedia. Stakeholders are important to a business because they
provide your project and business with support and input, they broaden the range of people involved in
your project and have a collective best interest for the project and/or organization.

Businesses can use technology to connect with the different stakeholders in the following ways:

Establishment of websites. Using a dedicated website as a platform to connect with stakeholders allows
organizations to set up a landing page where information can be attained. Having a website not only
allows organizations to control the information that stakeholders can see, but it also allows
organizations to gain important information from the community, in the form of analytics and If done
right, they also have the capability of capturing a stakeholder’s contact details. Anyone with access to a
computer and internet can engage with a project website, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which makes
websites a crucial tool to use for an effective engagement strategy for a big project. Websites also
bridge the gap for potential stakeholders who aren’t able to attend in-person events by communicating
all the relevant information for a project. This for example is practiced by Mantra Uganda company
which has an active working and updated websites which enables stake holders to see the activities of
the company.

The use of social media in the business. The recent occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a
reduction in the physical interaction between the stake holders and the people in the company. This
therefore has led to companies adjusting to the updated ways of communication which are easier and
more efficient. The common social media platforms that companies use to communicate with its stake
holders include Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+. This therefore enables communication between the stake
holders and the businesses. For example, many companies have established chat rooms on platforms
like Microsoft Teams.

The use of mobile apps. The use of mobile apps for stakeholder engagement purposes is gaining
popularity, thanks to the continued increase in use of mobile devices. Like websites and social media,
the use of apps as a stakeholder or community engagement tool allows for 24/7 communication. This
option for engagement is becoming more and more important for organizations to consider due to the
high percentage of the population that has access to a smartphone. For example, in 2016, as part of its
General Social Survey, Statistics Canada reported that 76% of Canadians owned a smartphone. To break
it down further, a staggering 94% of 15 – 34-year old’s reported owning one, along with 69% of 55–64
year-old’s. these mobile apps may include those personally developed for the company like Mantra
Uganda which has a mobile app for its activities.

The use of email and Newsletter. Email is one of the most popular tools to use for stakeholder
communication as it has a number of benefits such as immediate delivery of information, proof of
sending, it makes it easier to manage communications with each stakeholder and you can also monitor
engagement and open rates. This is evidenced by the use of emails by all businesses in Uganda in the
relay of information between employees.

The use of online or virtual presentations. It is also another popular way of communicating with stake
holders. Opting to use video presentation software is easy as there are many video presentation
platforms out there and a lot of them are free to use. Video presentations are great tools to effectively
engage and manage your stakeholders. And in addition, it allows for future referencing because once
the online presentation is completed, the slides are saved and sent off to the stakeholders so they can
refer to them in their own time and the examples of presentation software include Microsoft office
power point.

Engaging in group video calls or screen to screen meetings. Scheduling a group video call once a week to
give a summary of the project(s) and to provide any updates is often good to have as in case there is a
sudden obstacle which needs to be addressed quickly, it is worked on. These meetings can be carried
out on the online platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google meet.

Establishing of proper e-procurement channels. This will establish a proper supply chain for the various
stakeholders in the business and this will promote proper communication. This for example is facilitated
by the use WhatsApp business app by business in Uganda.

TASK 2

Marketing is a social and managerial process by which firms, individuals and groups obtain what they
need through creating and exchanging products and services with each other.

The marketing mix is a set of marketing tools that a firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the
target market. The marketing mix is made up of the 4 P’s which include product, promotion, place and
price. These tools can be incorporated in the following ways to achieve the business goal.

Product is anything tangible offered to satisfy a need. It involves planning and developing of the right
products that are demanded by consumers through determining customer needs and wants. The
decision on producing products have to include packaging, labelling and branding in response to the
identified consumer needs and wants. This enables the business to build market for its products.

Product packaging is the process of wrapping, filling, or compressing of products in a container or

wrapper to protect them atmospheric conditions so as to maintain quality. Packaging as a marketing
tool for new products in the business guides consumers on identification and selection of a product
while purchasing, preserves the product, and attractive packaging attracts more customers to buy the
product.

Labelling is part of packaging and this markets products through providing information about the
product intended to assist consumers when buying and using the product. It also enables consumers to
identify the product from another because labels on products have different brand names for example
Riham Whatsapp soda and Riham Fun time soda.

Branding involves establishing an identity for a product. It can be a name, design, sign, symbol or a
combination of them. It enables the business market its products through easy identification of a
product on the market by differentiating it from similar products of other producers for example Omo
and Nomi.
Promotion. These are activities undertaken to make a product or service known to the user and trade. It
is used to communicate to prospective buyers about the product through advertising, sales promotion,
publicity and selling. Promotion aims at making consumers aware of a product and attracting more
customers.

Advertising is the spreading of information relating to the business and its products to the public. The
aim of advertising is to inform, persuade or remind consumers about a product. There are different
types of advertising which include informative advertising which is used when introducing a new
product on the market, persuasive advertising which aims at enticing the consumer to buy the product
and direct advertising which appeals to some specific group pf customers.

Sales promotion includes activities that are aimed towards increasing sales. These activities include free
samples, free gifts campaign for example Kyamuka keys that Crown Beverages used, trade shows,
exhibitions, and clearances sales. The increase of sales enables the business to get revenue which is
used to run the business financially.

Place is how products move from points of production to points of consumption. This involves
distribution channels that the business can use to markets its products and make them available to the
consumers. A distribution channel is a path that products and services take on their way from the
producer to the end consumer. Distribution channels consists of producers, wholesalers, retailers,
distributors and the internet. There are three distribution channel the business can use.

The first channel is the longest because it involves the producer, wholesaler, retailer and the end
consumer. The producer sells the product to the wholesaler in large quantities, who sells it to the
retailer who has to make the product available to the consumer by selling it to them in smaller
quantities.

The second channel doesn’t involve the wholesaler whereby the producer sells the product directly to
the retailer who sells it to the consumer.

The third channel is where the producer sells its products directly to the end consume

Price is the amount of money charged for a product or service. The business can use different pricing
strategies when pricing its product and they are based on the market situations. Some of these pricing
strategies include penetrating pricing which involves setting lower prices for the new products being
introduced in the market.

Human resources (HR) is the division of a business that is charged with finding, screening, recruiting,
and training job applicants. With reference from WWW.investopedia.com

Basing on the scenario, the policy may be used to drive the human resource strategy in the following
ways:

Human resource audit. This policy comes into play within the policy through determining the
number of people who are required by the prevailing workload in the company so as to elude the issue
of having less people causing low productivity and overworking or having too many workers causing
underperformance of some. This is also used to determine the people to acquire according the
requirements of the jobs that are available. This audit is to be carried out annually
 Job analysis. This policy will be used in the determination of the skills and criteria that is
required by the person that is brought for the available positions in the company. This makes sure that
right person is employed for the available position for proper efficiency and productivity. This is mainly
carried out by the human resources manager.

Recruitment. This will be done through the use of different recruitment methods for example
oral interviews, psychometric test or aptitudes and the practical interviews of for example role playing
the buying and selling of products so as to promote efficiency.

Selection. The recruitment process should be non-biased and mainly merit based which is done
following the criteria for the job which is satisfied by the abilities and capabilities of the person to fulfill
the requirements of the position.

Induction and orientation. This should be practiced by taking every new person through their
roles at the company, what the company is about and what it does and how they will contribute to it.
This should be done in the initial days of employment per say the first weeks.

Training. This is through going through the day to day activities at the company and of the
employee and this is both theoretically and practically. These activities may include packaging in this
scenario which is an issue to be addressed and making sure that employee is doing it as required by the
company’s standards. Training policy will ensure that all Trainees are accorded training opportunities
and shan't be selective.

Performance appraisal. This policy is satisfied by the measuring and tracking each individual
performance in the business. This enables the identification of those who are lacking in productivity and
those are going out of them to meet the targets and even beating them and therefore, enabling the
introduction of trainings to address the needs for those who are lacking and rewarding those who have
outstanding performance as an incentive for them to keep it up. Performance appraisals will be carried
out quarterly and the appraiser will be the employee's immediate Supervisor

[: TASK 5

Production is the conversion of raw materials into finished goods that satisfy customer needs and
wants.it involves the transformation of inputs into outputs. The inputs include, labor, land, capital and
entrepreneurship

A production process refers to a method of using resources such as labor, capital equipment, land to
provide goods and services to consumers. There are three types of production processes and these
include,

Batch production process. This involves the production of standardized parts in small or large amounts.
Here groups of items are made together and each batch is finished before starting the next one. and this
is characterized by the use of heavy shop floors, specialized skills are required because the products are
standardized and among others.

Job production process. This is where items are made individually and each item is finished before the
next one is started for example designer dresses are made using this production process, and it is mainly
adopted in industries such as heavy engineering, ship building and civil engineering such as bridge
construction. This is characterized by a wide variety of different operations to be performed under
varying circumstances, general purpose machinery and equipment, skilled workforce in a wide range of
skills.

Mass production as a type of production process involves a continuous production of standardized

products on a large scale. This will require a lengthy and careful planning of the processes by the
employees to continuously produce the same products which will avail may products to meet the
increasing demand of products such as canned goods, household appliances. This is characterized by
division of labor where each employee has a task to perform towards the production.

As the newly appointed experienced independent consultant, I can recommend mass production as the
most appropriate production process for this business since the business intends to produce
standardized products in large quantities to meet the anticipated high demand because of the following
explained,

Reduced costs. Mass production is characterized by fewer skilled workers and this reduces the overhead
costs in terms of wages, facilities provided to the employees such as medical, housing, transport and in
addition there is limited waste due to automation reducing the costs of disposal by the business. This
can enable the business to produce a variety of products at a lower cost.

Efficiency. Mass production is the most efficient process of production because the process is
continuous and each stage is completed by a different employee due to the division of labor involved,
this saves too much time and the business will be able to produce larger quantities of products and thus
meet the increasing demand.

Increased productivity. The business will be able to manufacture large volumes of products in a short
period of time since the three is use of advanced technology and the machines speed up the production
process which simplifies work leading to a variety of goods being produced.

Uniformity. Mass production can ensure that all products are the same due to the production of
standardized products and use of machines and this will enable the business to have control over the
quality and the customers are aware of what to always expect.

Faster production. The business will develop and produce products faster due to the use of machinery
and mass production techniques and this will enable the business to distribute and market their
products faster in the competitive business world. For a business organization, its environment
constitutes of both the things within the unit and those outside. It consists of the internal and external
environment. The business environment is always changing and as a result, the business needs to adjust
as well. The major forces in the business environment could be political, legal, social and economic
among others.

The external environment deals with outsiders and outside factors that affect the business. The internal
environment of a business includes factors that are normally within the control of the of management.

The changes in each of the major forces in the business environment could impact determining the
overall business strategy in the following ways;

Market forces of demand and supply. These affect quantities of goods produced, prices
at which the goods should be sold and frequency of production. Therefore, an increase in demand for
the goods of the business can enable the business to command for higher prices in the market and gain
competitive advantage over other producers. Also, an increase in demand also creates the need to
produce goods in large quantities hence creating the need for expansion of business premises, factory
sites and ware houses so as to supply adequate goods to the market and maximize profits through sales.

An unfavorable change in market forces of demand and supply such as decrease in demand for the
business’ goods would lead to a reduction of sales, quantity produced and level of profits of the
business.

Cultural factors or social norms. These influence the business in what products to
produce and where. For example, one cannot set up a pork joint or piggery in a Muslim community
because it won’t be socially acceptable and will not have public support.

Political forces play a major role in the business environment through taxation policies,
political climate and various restrictions and regulations. Tax holidays, incentives and a decrease in the
level of taxation on the business’ income can lead to growth of the business because it’ll be able to
retain more revenue to carry out its objectives and expand. Favorable tax policies also encourage
investors to stay in business and continue operations so as to maximize profits.

Unfavorable tax policies such as an increase in the level of taxes on business revenue would
lead to a decrease in the level of taxes of the business which would discourage the investors of the
business to continue with their operations.

Sociological factors often drive what consumers buy and where and how they buy it. For
example, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to many customers opting to buy goods online as opposed to
physically picking them. This has created the need to buy delivery vehicles to take the goods to the
buyer hence the business incurs carriage expenses.

Technological factors can also impact the business. They influence the efficiency of the
production process and quantity of goods produced. Adoption of modern technology and high
modernized equipment leads to production of larger quantities of products at faster rates. However, the
use of simple or rudimentary technology and methods of production lead to low levels of efficiency
during the production process hence less goods are produced and at a slower rate.

Influence of the country’s economy. Economic growth in the country could positively
impact the business because there is increased production, wider market for goods produced and
technological advancement. The business would therefore grow as well. An economic recession would
negatively impact the business due to reduced market for goods produced.

Weather and environmental factors especially for agricultural businesses. Favorable

factors such as rainfall and conducive temperatures lead to high levels of production and better quality
yields from the business. However, unfavorable weather conditions such as drought hinder production
and lead to lower quality yields.

Influence of the quality of management of the business. Proper management of the

business can lead to higher levels of efficiency through proper supervision of workers and high standard
protocols hence growth of the business. Poor management of the business in turn leads to low levels of
efficiency among workers and slow completion of tasks hence hindering the growth of the business.
 Political climate of the country in reference to peace and stability. A stable political
climate encourages production of goods and services because there are few interruptions in forms of
riots and wars. Political instability however, interrupts production and other business operations.

Influence of the media for example social media. Through advertising and good press,
the business is able to win over new customers and maintain old ones thus increasing its market share.
Bad press or scandals discourage customers and scare off potential new ones thus the growth of the
business.