Strategic Plan and Presentation

An environment refers to the various factors that have some influence on something, an individual, or a group. Environments differ in the degree of influence they have on the aforementioned. In the business world, an environment earns the name business environment. By definition, a business environment refers to the summation of all internal and external forces that have some influence in the general operations of a business body (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). Depending on the business structure, the business’ internal and external factors may work in harmony or work separately each having its own share of influence on the total business performance. In order to determine the degree of impact and the direction the impacts offers, either positive or negative, there is great need to conduct an analysis and monitor the various factors. The above factors are possible through environmental scanning, which is an important element of global environmental analysis.

This paper attempts to identify various internal and external environments while describing their influence in a given business entity. In order to understand these factors comprehensively, the company of choice Xerox Inc., will serve as the main reference in this paper. In addition, it analyzes the influences of the identified environmental factors on market competition and positions. Currently, there is a mass of techniques, which business analysts use to ensure they conduct a comprehensive business analysis and attain the desired results. To conduct their environmental factors successfully, the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis technique will be put into use.

Xerox is a global American firm in the document management sector that manufactures and sells a wide variety of products such as printers, photocopiers, digital production and printing devices. In addition, the company offers a variety of consultation services on its products and those in the same field (Ellis, 2011).

External Environment

As explained earlier external factors influence the business from outside, including the social factors, microeconomic factors, macroeconomic factors, and technological factors (Mugurel-Alin, 2014). Each of these factors have varied impact on the various operational elements of a company. To begin with, the most significant external environmental factor in Xerox’s remote environment will be identified and analyzed. A remote environment refers to the forces that influence the decision making process of a business entity. In the case of Xerox, the most significant remote external environmental force is the technological factor. Xerox has heavily invested in the latest technology in the aim of ensuring it meets the latest technological standards. In this line, the use of great technology has enabled the firm to set its own standards upon which the decision of quality production lays.

In the same direction, technological advancements have great influence at the industrial level hence affecting the company’s industrial environment. As previously mentioned, the company has set specific standards that guide the production of their products. The standards ensure the latest technologies are used in the production of Xerox’s products and services. To finalize, technological advancements the company exhibits have great influence on the corporation’s operations. Through the technology the firm uses, it has made its distribution chain easy. The external factors has enables the firm to handle competition effectively making it a part of the pool of market leaders in the document management sector.

Strengths

In order for a company to enjoy success and market dominance, it is important for it to conduct a strength analysis to determine the strengths of the firm. Once it identifies its strength, it is at a position to use it in its advantage in the race to acquire business success and market dominance. In Xerox's case, the most significant strengths include the company’s ethics, managements of finances, and human resource management strategies. Xerox has concrete ethical standards that define the company’s code of conduct. In any business, setting ethics play a great role in guiding the various stakeholders on how to conduct themselves while associating with a business entity. The aforementioned has been of great benefit since it has ensured that the business observes high level of ethics in their daily operations. In addition, its high levels of ethics have served as grounds for practicing high levels of integrity in the business’s operations. This has helped in the creation of a good relationship between the business entity and the various relevant stakeholders.

The other strength is the ability of the firm to manage its financial resources. The firm was able to leverage success from its short-term finances and current asset. In addition, the company has well utilized it working capital, which has resulted to great financial prosperity. Finally, the company has a well elaborate human resource management scheme that has seen the firm create an excellent workforce. The financial resources has led directly to a world-class performance. Xerox has invested heavily in ensuring that diversity is observed in the selection of its workforce. Recently, FORTUNE magazine and Forbes magazine recognized Xerox as a part of the top 50 firms that embrace diversity (Casadesus-Masanell & Ricart, 2011).

Weaknesses

Every business must have various elements that act as downing force towards its success. If that is correct, they bring about some elements of success in the business. Just like any other business, Xerox is not an exception of the previously said. Among the most crucial weakness that have immense influence on the firms operations are high technological prices, stakeholders’ adoption problem to technological changes and a retiring poll of resources.

A greater portion of success in Xerox is from its incorporation of high levels of up-to-date technologies. Despite the fact that it brings along some benefits, it also comes at a price. Currently the firm heavily invests to ensure that it runs with the latest levels of technology. In order to achieve success it has to channel a large amount of its funds into technological advancements, which could have been put into use for other purposes. The other weakness is the period the stakeholders may take to adopt to technological advancements. Some stakeholders may not understand the need of a given technology and it may take them some time to comprehend its importance. As a result, this may create an opposing force that may lead to the slow implementation of new technologies. Due to the constant change in technology, the firm finds itself with many retired resources that have little economic value to the business. In turn, the business finds itself in a situation where it has to abandon some resources in order to a accommodate others. These resources may include an old workforce, old equipment, and old production techniques among many others (Mathai, 2014).

Positioning and Structure

It is clear that the company is at a good market position having a fair position of the customers in the document management sector. The other factor that makes it a market leader is the company’s organizational structure with every observation of high levels of ethics. The company’s use of high levels of technology has also given the company competitive advantage over its rivals. In addition, the company is at a good position with many possibilities of expanding in terms of both success and size (Agarwal, Kansal, Kumar, & Gupta, 2011).

Conclusion

Since the SWOT analysis aims to define the relationship between internal and external appraisals in strategic analysis, this analysis enables the firm to exploit future opportunities while avoiding threats. Every firm must apply such an analysis to its competitors, suppliers, and customers to assess its status and position within an industry. These are useful strategies for ensuring the organizational success if the marketer reviews such strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. An environmental analysis in strategic management allows Xerox to gain an overview of their environment to find opportunities or threats.

References

Agarwal, P. K., Kansal, M., Kumar, P., & Gupta, S. (2011). Benchmarking: A tool for gaining competitive advantage:(A Case Study of Xerox). Mangalmay Journal of Management & Technology, 5(2), 56-68.

Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2014). Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Cengage Learning.

Casadesus-Masanell, R., & Ricart, J. E. (2011). How to design a winning business model. Harvard Business Review, 89(1/2), 100-107.

Ellis, C. D. (2011). Joe Wilson and the creation of Xerox. John Wiley & Sons.

Mathai, A. S. (2014). Benchmarking critical care processes: Reaching standards of excellence!. Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine, 18(5), 265.

Mugurel-Alin, M. (2014). The management of external business environment interaction with the company. Methods.