British Airways

Political Factor- An activity related to government policy and its administrative practices that can have an effect on something. Most business operators will keep a watchful eye on any political factor, such as new legislation or regulatory shifts, which could have a substantial impact on how their business operates and its bottom line. Economic Factors- The set of important information that affects a business or an investment’s value. Various economic factors need to be taken into account when determining the current and expected future value of a business. For a business, key economic factors include labour costs, interest rates, government policy, taxes and management. Social Factor- The facts and experiences that influence individuals’ personality, attitudes and lifestyle.

The marketing department of a business needs to take into account the various social factors such as the characteristic of the consumer groups it is targeting to help increase a product’s appeal to those potential buyers. Technological Factors- Influences that have an impact on how an organization operates that are related to the equipment used within the organization’s environment. Legal- Allowable or enforceable by being in conformity with the law of the land and the public policy; not condemned as illegal. Environmental Factors- An identifiable element in the physical, cultural, economic, political, regulatory, or technological environment that affects the survival, operations, and growth of an organization. Examples of P.E.S.T.L.E

Political-
New State Tax Policies For Accounting
New Employment Laws For Employee Handbook Maintenance
Political Instability In A Foreign Partner Country
Economic-
International Economic Growth
Changes In Interest Rates
Social-
Shift In Educational Requirements And Changing Career Attitudes Population Growth Rate
Technical-
Automated Processes In The Industry
Rate Of Innovation
Changes In Technology Incentives
Legal-
Discrimination Laws
Health And Safety Laws
Consumer Protection Laws
Copyright and Patent Laws

Environment-
Changes In Weather And Climate
Laws Regarding Pollution And Recycling
Waste Management
Use Of Green Or Eco-Friendly Products And Practices
These things can affect British Airways and Martindale’s LTD in many different ways;

British Airways
Background Information-
British Airways is a PLC (Public Limited Business) with a workforce of over 57,000, a fleet of 266 Aircraft and occupies over 416 airports. British Airways have an annual Turnover Profit of over £10.8 Billion. This makes British Airways one of the largest airlines in the world as they are the second biggest business in the aviation industry. This makes British Airways a Large Sized Business on an international scale. British Airways was formed on 31st March 1974 and it was created by two airlines merging: British Overseas Airline Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA). These two businesses formed British Airways later, being merged with another business in 2011, Iberia Airways, making the business larger and making the business worth more in revenue. The Stakeholders of British Airways that are affected by these factors are; Customers

Airports
Shareholders
Suppliers

Customers-
Customers are affected by political factors because as the political factors may change the regulations for people flying so this means a policy can be made that will stop them from being able to fly. Political factors that also may affect customers is new state tax policies that may mean an increase of prices meaning less people could fly with British Airways. This will affect British Airways as it will come with a loss of profits for British Airways this will mean that overtime British Airways may need to change the way that they run as a business so they can make the business cheaper to run. The economic environment can affect the customers of British Airways as there are 4 main things British Airways need to take into consideration is Inflation, Recession, Interest Rates and Exchange Rates.

These can affect British Airways as they are always changing. But the main thing that would affect the customers of British Airways is the change in interest rates that could mean an increase of prices. Inflation affects British Airways as it is dependent on the amount of money people spend as it affects peoples wages this means the higher the inflation the less money people have to spend and this is bad for British Airways as it means people do not have any money to spend meaning less people can go on holiday so they don’t need to pay for flights aboard. This means British Airways is a risk of losing profits. The amount of customers British Airways get is dependant with their social factor. I.e. the higher the social factor the more customers British Airways would get as this means they have a good reputation. But, If British Airways had a low social factor they would receive less customers as this means they would have a bad reputation meaning they will be losing money.

Population change could also affect the customers of British Airways as this means that there could be fewer seats for others meaning British Airways would have to buy new aircraft to cope with the increase of demand. Technological Factors can affect British Airways as the equipment used relates to the way they run as a business operates as the equipment may be able to deal with issues the business has but if they were to change the piece of equipment they may have to change the way the business operates. Customers of British Airways are affected by legal factors as a customer may be involved in an incident that means they have to stay in the country meaning they may not be able to board an aircraft if the government feels they are posing a threat to other people. This means if a person has plan to go on a holiday with British Airways they will not be able to go and British Airways will then be losing out on money. British Airways can be affected by the environmental factors as they would have to take all sorts of problem in to consideration like different cultures and how they may feel about the business. http://omotg.com/blog/2012/05/07/training-be-first-class-cabin-crew-british-airways/

Airports-
The airports British Airways operate at are affected by political factors as they may need to hire more staff and security for special events that are happening in that country as British Airways will be transporting thousands more people to that destination i.e. In 2012 the Olympics were held in London, England this mean English airports had to tighten security and hire more staff so that they could cope with the amount of people travelling in and out of the country while keeping out people that would cause a threat to the Olympic Games as the policies would have to change temporally so the UK (United Kingdom) would be safer. The airports that British Airways operate at are affected by economic factors as they need to charge British Airways more in taxes as the pound may end up getting weaker and the airport may start to lose money.

The Social Factor of an airport is dependent if British Airways operates there as the lower the social factor of an airport the less likely British Airways are going to operate there as they wouldn’t have as many customers as the airports with a larger social factor. Technological factor may affect an airport as the technology British Airways use may not be compatible with the airports meaning British Airways would have to adapt their system. The legal factor of an airport is also dependent if British Airways operate there as the airport may only have a licence to work with small planes which would be no good for British Airways as they mostly operate larger aircraft. Environmental Factors that can affect an airport is its geographical location and the amount of pollution that is created as it may affect local wildlife and that means that there would always be an environmentalist around to make sure the airport is not affecting the local wildlife. http://travel.aol.co.uk/2011/10/14/british-airways-moves-to-self-service-at-new-gatwick-extension/

Shareholders-
Shareholder of British Airways are affected by political factors as the British Airways may get limited with the amount of shares they sell meaning there would be losing money as there would be less people investing into the business. The economic factors that affect the shareholders in British Airways is things like inflation which could mean British Airways would need to increase the price of flights to keep from going bankrupt. This means that customers may not be able to fly British Airways as they may not be able to afford to The social factor of British Airways is dependent on the amount of people willing to buy share in British Airways i.e. the higher the social factor of British Airways the more amounts of people would want to buy shares in the business as the value would be more likely to go up.

Technological Factors that could affect shareholders is the regulations to change as the government may make a legislate a law that means certain equipment could not be legal to use no more as is could be outdated or may have a serious issue with it that may threaten lives. The legal factor of British Airways is likely to make shareholders in British Airways to make choose whether they keep their share in British Airways because if British Airways had legal problems the value of the business would drop. Environmental factors that may affect the shareholders is that interest rates may change meaning that investors may potentially lose money within their business may go bankrupt.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/5825965/British-Airways-AGM-as-it-happened.html

Suppliers-
Political factors means that a supplier may not meet them correct regulations to be able to work with British Airways and that means they would lose a chance take a once in a life time opportunity to work alongside the flag ship of the UK. Economic Factors can affect the suppliers of British Airways as prices may change meaning that the prices the supplier charges British Airways is going to increase meaning British Airways would need to increase the price of their services. Social Factors of supplies is dependent if British Airways uses them and involves them within the running on British Airways because if the supplier was known to fail to do jobs properly then British Airways wouldn’t use them as the supplier may pose a threat to British Airways safety Record.

Technological Factors that could affect shareholders is the regulations to change as the government may make a legislate a law that means certain equipment could not be legal to use no more as is could be outdated or may have a serious issue with it that may threaten lives. Legal Factors may affect the decision of British Airways to use that supplier because they may court records on their file due to inadequate work this means thy may get not get chosen as they may cause financial problems with British Airways. Environmental Factors that affect the suppliers of British Airways is the pollution it causes as it can affect the local wildlife and if there is rare animals or insects flights will be grounded so suppliers wouldn’t get any orders in for supplies as they will not be needed. http://www.britishairways.com/careers/

Conclusion-
In conclusion British Airways would need to keep an eye on on legislation but also make sure that they are looking for changes in the weather and climate to make sure they are not putting lives at risk.

Martindale’s
Background Information-
Martindale’s is a partnership with a workforce of 248 employees and 4 stations over the UK (United Kingdom) they are in Tonbridge, Luton, Glasgow and the headquarters is in Bolton the have 96 vans in the business and work in twos or threes or there per van and if required there will be more than one van on site. They have an annual turnover profit of £20.1 million. The business is medium sized and works on a national scale. Martindale’s was founded in 1986 by the founder John Martindale who formed the business with his son that made the partnership within the business. The Stakeholders of Martindale’s that are affected by these factors are; Customers

Suppliers

Customers-
The customers of Martindale’s may be affected by political factors as where they are located or the materials the building is build out of maybe hazardous to the works i.e. asbestos because if it was airborne it can become toxic. This will mean that Martindale’s will not be able to do their job until the asbestos has been removed by a qualified business or person. Economic factors can affect the customers of Martindale’s as inflation could cause the prices of supplies rise meaning Martindale’s would need to charge the customer more. The customers of Martindale’s may be affected by the social factor of the business as they may not choose Martindale’s if they had a bad record for unfinished jobs or lots of complaints about the work or the employees.

Technological factors that may affect Martindale’s is the usage of their tools as there may be new equipment brought in that employees need to be trained to use meaning Martindale’s could potentially lose money. This means it could take more time to do a job for a customer as there would be fewer employees. Legal factors of Martindale’s that could affect their customers is the conditions they live in as it may be to hazardous for Martindale’s to operate in this means they will be breaking the laws of health and safety. Environmental Factors that could affect the customers of Martindale’s is the location in which they live as the vans that Martindale’s use may not be able to get down the roads that lead there. https://www.martindales.ltd.uk/news_article00000024.htm

Suppliers-
The suppliers of British Airways is faced with lots of political factors that could affect the working of Martindale’s because if the suppliers were to sell something to Martindale’s that didn’t mean governmental regulations Martindale’s would get fined for buying unsafe supplies. Economic Factors that can affect the suppliers of Martindale’s is the rise in prices meaning Martindale’s may have to pay out more money for the supplies they need to do jobs. The suppliers require a good social factor for Martindale’s to continue to use them because if they were to have a bad record Martindale’s wouldn’t use them as they would be seen as unreliable. Technological Factors that can affect the suppliers of Martindale’s is the machines that they use as they may be slow and cannot keep with the demand from Martindale’s. Legal factors could influence to choose a supplier because if Martindale’s were to work with somebody who is not aware of the laws towards carpentry then they are more likely going to end up breaking the law causing Martindale’s to pay out for a large fine. Environmental Factors that could affect the suppliers of Martindale’s is the weather as it can cause all sorts of problems with transport and equipment. http://www.solidon.ro/

Conclusion-
In conclusion Martindale’s need to make sure they are always ahead of changes in the law as they may end up breaking the law without even realising. They also need to keep track of changes in technological factors as they need power tools to do their work and if a certain type of tool gets banned for health and safety reasons so they would need to be able to dispose of all of the banned tools and get new ones that are legal.

Comparison of British Airways and Martindale’s
British Airways and Martindale’s are affected by P.E.S.T.L.E in different ways as they both work in different industries. The Political Factors that affect British Airways and Martindale’s are similar because it involves taxes and employee regulation. Both of these things will affect both businesses in a similar way. This would also be the same for economic factors because it involves interest rates so this means that the businesses would be affected as the increase of interest rates could mean that both businesses could lose money. Social factors would affect British Airways and Martindale’s in different ways as it involves population change as the shift in the size of the population would mean the British Airways would be affected as the population would change all over the world meaning a bigger demand for air travel. Whereas, Martindale’s would only have to deal with population increases in the UK as they are a national based business meaning that there may be an increase of demand for double glazing but there would be a dramatic increase for demand.

Technological factors would also be different for British Airways and Martindale’s as both of them use completely different equipment as British Airways would need fuel trucks and aircraft movers whereas Martindale’s would need power tools and the change rate between the two would be completely different. Legal factors would be similar for both of the businesses as they both have to worry about health and safety laws and consumer protection laws this means the businesses would be worried about the change in laws so they both would have people keeping both of the businesses updated when legislation is written so both businesses can make sure they are both functioning legally.

Both businesses have their similarities and differences when it comes to environmental factors as British Airways would be affected by the change in weather and climate as they need make sure that flights don’t fly into weather that would put people’s lives at risk. British Airways would also need to keep track of laws regarding pollution and waste as they may have to find a more eco-friendly way of running the business. Whereas Martindale’s would have to deal with laws regarding pollution and waste as they would rely on their vans to get employees to and from the work place and they also would be expected to recycle as many things as possible as there would be lots of waste for repair and fitting jobs. Martindale’s would also be expected to use as many eco-friendly products as possible as people would expect them to look after the environments they work in. Conclusion-

In conclusion there are lots of similarities and differences between the two businesses as they need to keep track on the same things but things like technological factors would be different for both businesses as they use different tools and vehicles.

Bibliography;

[1] General Knowledge
[2] http://www.britishairways.com/travel/globalgateway.jsp/global/public/en_ [3] https://www.martindales.ltd.uk/1_about_martindales/overview.html [4] http://www.businessdictionary.com/
[5] http://pestleanalysis.com/
[6] British Airways 2012 annual report (See sources section in folder) [7] http://www.caa.co.uk/homepage.aspx?catid=752