P3
Unit - 1 (The Business
Environment)
BTEC National Diploma In Business Level 3
The Date
Author: Your Name
Your Teacher
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,Unit 1: The Business Environment P3
Unit 1 – Business Environment
On completion of this unit I should:
1) Know the rage of different businesses and their ownership
2) Understand how businesses are organised to achieve their purposes
3) Know the impact of the economic environment on businesses
4) Know how political, legal and social factors impact on business
Task 3:
a) Explain the points of view of different stakeholders seeking to influence the aims and
objectives of two contrasting organisations.
b) Evaluate the influence different stakeholders exert in one organisation.
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, Unit 1: The Business Environment P3
Businesses organisation structures
Business structure – is a system used to define a hierarchy
within an organization. It identifies each job, its function and
where it reports to within the organization. This structure is
developed to establish how an organization operates and assists
an organization in obtaining its goals to allow for future
growth. The structure is illustrated using an organizational
chart.
Span of control – is the number of subordinates answerable
directrly to a manager.
Chain of command – is a vertical line of authotity within an
organisation enabling orders to be passed down.
Hierarchy – is ordered subordination grouping of people
within a business.
High organisational structure – is one which has many levels of hierarchy. In these organizations,
there are usually many managers, and each manager has a small span of control – they are in charge
of only a small group of people.
Flat organisational structure – is bringing the top management (owners, managers…) in
direct contact with the frontline salespeople, shop floor employees, and customers.
Every organisation made up of more than one person will need some form of organisational
structure. An organisational chart shows the way in which the chain of command works within the
organisation.
An organizational structure is usually either flat or high. Small companies with low quantity of
employers tend to have flat organisation structure; this is mainly because they have very few levels
of management and employer’s hierarchy is similar or the same.
The larger companies are tend to have high organisational structure due to a lot of employers and
greater workload, which means company would have a lot of organisational branches, which should
be managed individually.
There a several ways, in which business can be organised, they could be by:
Function – departments such as sales and finance.
Geography – the company might have organised the business by region e.g. Europe or
America.
Product or service – e.g. in a soft drinks manufacturer by product or brand or by service e.g.
in the local council.
Customer – e.g. in banking by business or personal banking customer.
Team – means that people work together on project in teams with people from different
departments/specialisms coming together.
Both, Durlem College and TESCO PLC have a high organisational structure. TESCO PLC’s
hierarch is organised by Function and Geography. DURLEM COLLEGE’s hierarch is organised by
Function and Team.
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