P5 – Explain the external factors that influence a selected business considering
trading international
Political Factors
To begin this report, I will be first be talking about the political factors that affect Apple as a
multinational company. First and foremost, these factors involve the decisions and laws
made by a government, in which businesses must have to abide by. These factors include
government policies, trading policies (EU), tariffs, corruption level, bureaucracy, tax policies
and freedom of press. These factors can impact Apple as a company that is multinational in
many ways such as, as of 2020, recent trade disputes have created an incoming threat for
Apple, putting them at a disadvantage in terms of being able to target China as a country
where they can gain internal growth as well as increased sales revenue. Because China has
the largest population, Apple will, unfortunately, lose out on distributing consumer
electronics. And will have to push up the cost of their iPhone's and other Apple products.
Economic factors
Economic factors play a major role in the success of Apple. An example of these factors can
include labour rights, growth of national rates, inflation rates, interest rates, taxes,
economic growth patterns, and foreign exchange rates. A rise in the inflation rate of an
economy would affect Apple and any other companies’ products and services causing a
significant increase in prices on products and services. Apple's prices could be heavily
influenced by rising labour rates with their most reliable manufacturers, who are based in
China as well as countries such as the UK where their products are sold which could increase
the prices of these products and services over time. Apple is primarily perceived by the
quality of its products and services, which drives its pricing range much higher than that of
the average smartphone and electronics retailer. average smartphone and electronics
retailer. This can be identified as a drawback for Apple as this could cause them to alter
their financial resources to adjust to the high labour costs and national growth rates.
Exchange rates is also another important factor for Apple to consider when trading
internationally as Exchange Rates is the price of one currency expressed in terms of another
currency, or against a basket of other currencies. This impacts Apple because, if the
exchange rate decreases, against the interests of the business, this will require the business
to spend more money for goods and lead to, Apple not buying such big stocks of customer
goods and materials
Social Factors
In terms of social factors relating to Apple. these factors consist of the growth of consumer
spending in Africa, rising use of mobile access, social media, cultural trends and
demographics. In the last decade, Africa's unfamiliarity with Apple products has aided
Apple's capacity in order to develop more items and push them to their smallest number of
audiences, knowing that sales will build their popularity and perhaps gain a big part of the
market in the continent. This allows Apple to be able to distribute their products in Africa in
knowing that there is a demand for the products to be sold there, as well as seeing the
,potential growth of consumer spending, where the company is able to penetrate the
unexplored market and can harbour new possibilities of acquiring revenues. On the other
hand, Apple is regarded as the leading smartphone and electronics company in terms of
technological innovation and transformative design, which has helped Apple maintain its
high global ranking. Additionally, globalization has helped Apple become a premium brand
all over the world, as their products are considered high-end by their owners and
consumers.
Technological factors
Apples technological factors mostly include opportunities for the company. Apple has many
advantages when it comes to technological factors since Apple is regarded as an industry
leader because they have a significant effect on the market and their competitors are always
attempting to mimic them and modify their products to match their own. Examples of
technological factors include the cloud computing trend, technological integration and the
growing apps market. Technological advancement has allowed Apple to not only innovate
their products but to develop new software and products where no other company has
developed before, which enables Apple to do extensive research, product innovations,
designs and trends in which they will gather and manufacture a product or service which
can bring in new revenue for the company. since the announcement of 5G, Apple has
invested in countries such as Germany to build facilities that focus mainly on the
development of 5G and future wireless technologies that may come forward in the future. A
factor that affects Apple is that competitors are capable of finding ways to copy products
and services that the company sell, which puts pressure on Apple in knowing that other
companies are copying their ideas and making their own version by adding different
features to the original product that was made by Apple.
Legal factors
Legal factors play a major role in the success of any company as such as Apple, as the
company must adhere to any laws that can affect the way the business operates, for
example, increased privacy regulations on businesses such as Apple. This legal external
factor is a risk that could impose costly regulatory compliance requirements as well as
additional constraints on the technology company and is seen as an opportunity for the
company. Furthermore, the company is facing legal challenges related to its after-sales
service practices and policies, as well as other areas of the business. For example, the
company has faced harsh criticism and legal battles in Australia, the European Union, and
the United States, among other countries, for its policies on third-party repair services
which could potentially put the company in a bad situation of having to deal with these
issues. Examples of legal factors include equal opportunities, health and safety, advertising
standards, product labelling, consumer rights and laws and product safety. Apple must know
what is legal and illegal in order to trade their products internationally in different
continents, as Every country has its own set of rules and regulations so trading
internationally can become tricky for Apple as they would need to be familiar with the rules
and regulations with every country they are trading with.
,Environmental Factors
Environmental factors relating to apple offer many opportunities for the business to
improve the environment which can improve the business as well as the functionality of
how the business can impose itself as an environmentally friendly company which will allow
their company to expand into new markets and work with more dependable and cost-
effective suppliers. These factors can include business sustainability, product energy
efficiency and labour rights trend, and climate change. finally, these opportunities give
Apple the advantage of expanding further into different economies in different countries
they are patterned with. Apple manufactures the majority of its products in China where
environmental side effects are a great concern and can influence manufacturing costs and
regulations shortly. Apple is producing more energy-efficient products like batteries,
processors and other types of equipment that emits less heat, which has started working for
new technological solutions of new products that the company makes.
Ethical Factors
Apples ethical factors include climate change, environmental reporting, habitats &
resources, human rights, workers’ rights, supply chain management, irresponsible
marketing. These factors relate to the ethical and unethical behaviours of how the company
treats employees and the overall workplace. One of the ethical issues that impact the
company trading internationally, is the violation of employee rights and labour laws in
countries where they employ new staff to work for the company as well as factory workers
who work at production factories in China and other countries. Apple has been criticised for
paying less wages to employees compared to the amount of work they undertake whereas
the company has been accused of overworking employees who work long hours, working in
dangerous conditions in the suppliers of China. These factors show that if the business
cannot treat all employees the same then countries that the company does business will
decide to part ways as the company overworking employees who do a lot for the Apple.
Countries Apple trades internationally with and their relationship
The majority of the countries Apple trades internationally consist of the Americas, Europe,
Great China, Japan and the Asia Pacific. Apple has a good relationship with most of these
countries but there are certain issues that the company faces when trying to maintain their
relationship with the countries, which can result in the businesses reputation being
damaged by either falling out with the country or issues to do with trade. Apple's
relationship with China is ongoing as the company deals with most of its manufacturing in
the country. Over the years the company has had disputes on overworking employees and
lack of pay which also damages Apple reputation of a being global brand by China having to
withdraw from taking on their production. On the other hand, Apple's relationship with
Europe is solid as the company allocates what country they would like to trade with as well
as the countries of where Apple will distribute their products too, this allows Apple to trust
the country in being able to sell their products and the company to invest in new facilities
that relate to technological and economical change such as Apple building development
, centres in Germany that consist of the new and existing 5G network which has been
introduced.
Conclusion
In this report, I was able to cover all of the 6 factors in the PESTLE for Apple which helps
me show the analysis of all of the business’s activities and structures around all the factors
that affect Apple trading internationally. All of these pestle external factors allow the
business to have a positive direction in knowing how to operate and trade internationally in
different countries which leads to a better reputation and success of being able to exceed
these opportunities and different economies.
P6- Explain how business support systems enable a business to trade
internationally
In this task, I will be demonstrating how a business support systems enables
Apple to trade internationally.
What is a business support system?
A business support system is a platform that is typically used by service
providers and telecom operators to deliver product management, revenue
management, customer management, and product management in order to
help businesses run their operations both nationally and internationally.
The support system is fully available and accessible for those who choose to
trade internationally, including government assistance and trade delegations,
as well as assistance from other commercial and successful businesses. An
example of this can be the ability to finance international business
internationally in order to become successful. Business support systems aid
communication, trading method and the different international methods of
payment.
Businesses such as Apple are now able to trade all over the world in number of
different countries that have never been accessible to the use of the internet.
The internet, use of social media and websites are constantly evolving whereby
businesses like Apple can act very quickly in utilising these new evolvements of
the internet in order to attract new customers in other parts of the world.
Apple uses the internet to attract and market their brand by the use of online
marketing which has a huge influence on the way consumers make purchasing
decisions for Apple products as well as they Apple persuades customers from
across the whole globe to buy their products in knowing that no other
company can overstep the way Apple Is ahead of all of their competitors.
trading international
Political Factors
To begin this report, I will be first be talking about the political factors that affect Apple as a
multinational company. First and foremost, these factors involve the decisions and laws
made by a government, in which businesses must have to abide by. These factors include
government policies, trading policies (EU), tariffs, corruption level, bureaucracy, tax policies
and freedom of press. These factors can impact Apple as a company that is multinational in
many ways such as, as of 2020, recent trade disputes have created an incoming threat for
Apple, putting them at a disadvantage in terms of being able to target China as a country
where they can gain internal growth as well as increased sales revenue. Because China has
the largest population, Apple will, unfortunately, lose out on distributing consumer
electronics. And will have to push up the cost of their iPhone's and other Apple products.
Economic factors
Economic factors play a major role in the success of Apple. An example of these factors can
include labour rights, growth of national rates, inflation rates, interest rates, taxes,
economic growth patterns, and foreign exchange rates. A rise in the inflation rate of an
economy would affect Apple and any other companies’ products and services causing a
significant increase in prices on products and services. Apple's prices could be heavily
influenced by rising labour rates with their most reliable manufacturers, who are based in
China as well as countries such as the UK where their products are sold which could increase
the prices of these products and services over time. Apple is primarily perceived by the
quality of its products and services, which drives its pricing range much higher than that of
the average smartphone and electronics retailer. average smartphone and electronics
retailer. This can be identified as a drawback for Apple as this could cause them to alter
their financial resources to adjust to the high labour costs and national growth rates.
Exchange rates is also another important factor for Apple to consider when trading
internationally as Exchange Rates is the price of one currency expressed in terms of another
currency, or against a basket of other currencies. This impacts Apple because, if the
exchange rate decreases, against the interests of the business, this will require the business
to spend more money for goods and lead to, Apple not buying such big stocks of customer
goods and materials
Social Factors
In terms of social factors relating to Apple. these factors consist of the growth of consumer
spending in Africa, rising use of mobile access, social media, cultural trends and
demographics. In the last decade, Africa's unfamiliarity with Apple products has aided
Apple's capacity in order to develop more items and push them to their smallest number of
audiences, knowing that sales will build their popularity and perhaps gain a big part of the
market in the continent. This allows Apple to be able to distribute their products in Africa in
knowing that there is a demand for the products to be sold there, as well as seeing the
,potential growth of consumer spending, where the company is able to penetrate the
unexplored market and can harbour new possibilities of acquiring revenues. On the other
hand, Apple is regarded as the leading smartphone and electronics company in terms of
technological innovation and transformative design, which has helped Apple maintain its
high global ranking. Additionally, globalization has helped Apple become a premium brand
all over the world, as their products are considered high-end by their owners and
consumers.
Technological factors
Apples technological factors mostly include opportunities for the company. Apple has many
advantages when it comes to technological factors since Apple is regarded as an industry
leader because they have a significant effect on the market and their competitors are always
attempting to mimic them and modify their products to match their own. Examples of
technological factors include the cloud computing trend, technological integration and the
growing apps market. Technological advancement has allowed Apple to not only innovate
their products but to develop new software and products where no other company has
developed before, which enables Apple to do extensive research, product innovations,
designs and trends in which they will gather and manufacture a product or service which
can bring in new revenue for the company. since the announcement of 5G, Apple has
invested in countries such as Germany to build facilities that focus mainly on the
development of 5G and future wireless technologies that may come forward in the future. A
factor that affects Apple is that competitors are capable of finding ways to copy products
and services that the company sell, which puts pressure on Apple in knowing that other
companies are copying their ideas and making their own version by adding different
features to the original product that was made by Apple.
Legal factors
Legal factors play a major role in the success of any company as such as Apple, as the
company must adhere to any laws that can affect the way the business operates, for
example, increased privacy regulations on businesses such as Apple. This legal external
factor is a risk that could impose costly regulatory compliance requirements as well as
additional constraints on the technology company and is seen as an opportunity for the
company. Furthermore, the company is facing legal challenges related to its after-sales
service practices and policies, as well as other areas of the business. For example, the
company has faced harsh criticism and legal battles in Australia, the European Union, and
the United States, among other countries, for its policies on third-party repair services
which could potentially put the company in a bad situation of having to deal with these
issues. Examples of legal factors include equal opportunities, health and safety, advertising
standards, product labelling, consumer rights and laws and product safety. Apple must know
what is legal and illegal in order to trade their products internationally in different
continents, as Every country has its own set of rules and regulations so trading
internationally can become tricky for Apple as they would need to be familiar with the rules
and regulations with every country they are trading with.
,Environmental Factors
Environmental factors relating to apple offer many opportunities for the business to
improve the environment which can improve the business as well as the functionality of
how the business can impose itself as an environmentally friendly company which will allow
their company to expand into new markets and work with more dependable and cost-
effective suppliers. These factors can include business sustainability, product energy
efficiency and labour rights trend, and climate change. finally, these opportunities give
Apple the advantage of expanding further into different economies in different countries
they are patterned with. Apple manufactures the majority of its products in China where
environmental side effects are a great concern and can influence manufacturing costs and
regulations shortly. Apple is producing more energy-efficient products like batteries,
processors and other types of equipment that emits less heat, which has started working for
new technological solutions of new products that the company makes.
Ethical Factors
Apples ethical factors include climate change, environmental reporting, habitats &
resources, human rights, workers’ rights, supply chain management, irresponsible
marketing. These factors relate to the ethical and unethical behaviours of how the company
treats employees and the overall workplace. One of the ethical issues that impact the
company trading internationally, is the violation of employee rights and labour laws in
countries where they employ new staff to work for the company as well as factory workers
who work at production factories in China and other countries. Apple has been criticised for
paying less wages to employees compared to the amount of work they undertake whereas
the company has been accused of overworking employees who work long hours, working in
dangerous conditions in the suppliers of China. These factors show that if the business
cannot treat all employees the same then countries that the company does business will
decide to part ways as the company overworking employees who do a lot for the Apple.
Countries Apple trades internationally with and their relationship
The majority of the countries Apple trades internationally consist of the Americas, Europe,
Great China, Japan and the Asia Pacific. Apple has a good relationship with most of these
countries but there are certain issues that the company faces when trying to maintain their
relationship with the countries, which can result in the businesses reputation being
damaged by either falling out with the country or issues to do with trade. Apple's
relationship with China is ongoing as the company deals with most of its manufacturing in
the country. Over the years the company has had disputes on overworking employees and
lack of pay which also damages Apple reputation of a being global brand by China having to
withdraw from taking on their production. On the other hand, Apple's relationship with
Europe is solid as the company allocates what country they would like to trade with as well
as the countries of where Apple will distribute their products too, this allows Apple to trust
the country in being able to sell their products and the company to invest in new facilities
that relate to technological and economical change such as Apple building development
, centres in Germany that consist of the new and existing 5G network which has been
introduced.
Conclusion
In this report, I was able to cover all of the 6 factors in the PESTLE for Apple which helps
me show the analysis of all of the business’s activities and structures around all the factors
that affect Apple trading internationally. All of these pestle external factors allow the
business to have a positive direction in knowing how to operate and trade internationally in
different countries which leads to a better reputation and success of being able to exceed
these opportunities and different economies.
P6- Explain how business support systems enable a business to trade
internationally
In this task, I will be demonstrating how a business support systems enables
Apple to trade internationally.
What is a business support system?
A business support system is a platform that is typically used by service
providers and telecom operators to deliver product management, revenue
management, customer management, and product management in order to
help businesses run their operations both nationally and internationally.
The support system is fully available and accessible for those who choose to
trade internationally, including government assistance and trade delegations,
as well as assistance from other commercial and successful businesses. An
example of this can be the ability to finance international business
internationally in order to become successful. Business support systems aid
communication, trading method and the different international methods of
payment.
Businesses such as Apple are now able to trade all over the world in number of
different countries that have never been accessible to the use of the internet.
The internet, use of social media and websites are constantly evolving whereby
businesses like Apple can act very quickly in utilising these new evolvements of
the internet in order to attract new customers in other parts of the world.
Apple uses the internet to attract and market their brand by the use of online
marketing which has a huge influence on the way consumers make purchasing
decisions for Apple products as well as they Apple persuades customers from
across the whole globe to buy their products in knowing that no other
company can overstep the way Apple Is ahead of all of their competitors.
