Businesses cannot operate in a vacuum: if they did they would not survive. Businesses depend on external forces to survive and thrive, but business owners need to understand how to monitor and manage external forces. The main external forces impacting small businesses include competition, political/legal forces, social/cultural forces, and technological forces. Competition is good for most businesses. Just as an athlete needs competition as a motivation to improve performance, successful businesses also use competition to improve the quality of their products and services or to improve their marketing strategies. In addition to competition, political or legal forces can also change the ways businesses operate. All legitimate businesses need to work within the law, and owners must be aware of any constraints on their operations including environmental laws or regulations on certain products. The law has a bearing on how employees are treated and how much they are paid; what licenses are required, and how many taxes to pay. Businesses are also affected by social and cultural forces. A smart business owner understands cultural trends and does not assume that all products will sell in all markets. Social and cultural forces also help determine the character of the businesses' advertisements and the image it projects to the public. Finally, technology has a strong bearing on the future success of a business. Being able to use technology to our advantage will ensure success. Of each of these external forces, I foresee political and legal forces as having the most potential impact on the success of my business because laws affect licensing, taxation, and product regulation.
Financial information systems help small business owners communicate with the market. Although they require an initial expense, financial information systems will help business owners save money by understanding their market share, offering key data on the market environment, and helping a business owner decide whether or not to expand or diversify. At the initial stages of my business, however, I will rely more on managerial accounting information because my partners and I will rely on internal data to guide our early decisions. Soon after we are established I will rely more on financial information systems.
References
Financial Information Systems." Reuters. Retrieved April 19, 2007 at http://about.reuters.com/productinfo/s/financial_information_systems/
Managerial Accounting." Answers.com. Retrieved April 19, 2007 at http://www.answers.com/topic/managerial-accounting
company major businesses operates. One business manufactures sells unicycles commercial circuses (total sales $150M), sells bicycles public (total sales $20M). The unicycle business occupies 75,000 square feet manufacturing warehouse, bicycle business occupies remaining 25,000 square feet. Business scenario Unicycle and bicycle manufacturing Advertising and warehousing costs The totality of the advertising and warehousing costs -- M -- were divided equally between the two businesses. Specifically, this means that advertising costs were of 0.5
Business Plan for a Financial Divorce Software Business Plan Divorce Software Business Plan relating to the Sales of a new Financial Divorce Software. Business Plan relating to the Sales of a new Financial Divorce Software F F1 F2 F3 G1 G1(a) G1(b) G1(c) Business Identification Keys to Success Company Summary Industry History Legal Form of Ownership Location and Facilities Management Structure Products and Service Market Analysis Target Market Industry Analysis Competitive Analysis Market Strategy Ps of Marketing Price List Selling Strategy Sales Forecast Implementation Strategy Overall Strategy Implementation Control Plan Financial Statements and Projections Revenue and Cost Estimate Forecasted Profit and Loss Statement Forecasted Balance Sheet Financial
Business How forces in and outside of business firms are changing the management task, altering business operations, and modifying stakeholder expectations? Business, particularly those heavily emphasizing technology, are constantly changing. In many instances these changes are occurring due to a combination of internal and external factors. These factors often modify stakeholder expectation because the fundamental business itself has shifted. A very dynamic force that is changing the management task is that of
Business Plan In order to accomplish our mission we set forth the following strategic goals, they include: Build the Financial perspective of our business by addressing how shareholders view the firm and which financial goals are desired from the shareholder's perspective. Goals are closely linked to the business lifecycle and must be adjusted over time. For example, in the early stages, our goal is revenue growth, but as the company becomes more
One set of concepts from each area was utilized to explain how the situation at Grand Bois may have come about. The end goal of the authors was to "provide business practitioners, ethics teachers, and readers interested in corporate conduct with insights useful in understanding why managers may act the way they do." It could be argued, according to Hamilton and Berken (2005), that Exxon managers had made a sound
Business Ecosystem The concept of a "business ecosystem" sprung from the idea and eventual development of a business environment that is dependent on entities and organizations outside of the business' structure and systems. It is also inevitably linked with Internet and computer technologies (ICT), as information sharing is the core from which the business and its network of organizations/entities collaborate and work together (Iansiti and Levien, 2004, p. 3). From the
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now