Environmental Analysis of Shangri Hotels

Introduction

The study of the environment is essential in the planning and operations of an organisation. especially when considering aspects such as business dissertation help. It helps in referring to the past events, managing the present and predicting about the future of the organisation. An organisation can be influenced by factors outside itself. These are called external environmental factors (Tomaszuk 2017). PEST is a framework used to analyse these external environmental factors. It is an acronym used to represent political, economic, social and technological factors that surround and affect an organisation. In this paper, Shangri-la Hotels will be the organisation of study. Shangri-la Hotels is an organisation that majors on hotels and restaurants as well as other related services such as recreational and resort activities such as swimming, golf courses, among others (Market Line 2016).

PEST Analysis

Political environment includes policies and laws of a country that spearhead the running of the organisation. These include laws on matters such as taxations or exemption permits. The political environment links the organisation to the respective nation or state in which it operates (Zirra 2015). Tax and tariff rates are some of the policies and regulations, which characterise organisations in a certain state or country. Shangri-la Hotels is an international organisation and has branches in different countries worldwide, although mainly in Malaysia. This, therefore, dictates that the organisation ought to conform to the different political systems and policies of the host countries.

Economic environment refers to the monetary issues that surround an organisation. This is in terms of money factors that directly affect the marketing and pricing of the products of an organisation. For example, inflation has affected the prices and fees of products that are used in the hotels and restaurants of Shangri-la Hotels. In essence, Brexit affected the tax rates in the organisation; hence it led to increase in fees of the services, such as massages so as to curb the effect of inflation (TWSJ 2018). Other economic factors affect labour availability and cost, which consequently informs the prices of the end-product (Nicole et al, 2016). The hitherto success in handling the economic environment in its different states has resulted to the growth and expansion of Shangri-la Hotels.

Social environment is the aspect of population that influences the operations on an organisation. These include the target population in terms of features such as age and number. For example, Shangri-la Hotels targets all ages of the population in the different locations. Here, people of different ages and classes can access the services offered there such as foods and beverages as well as swimming pools. Different classes are also characterised by the presence of recreational services such as golf course, which are mostly associated with business partners and associates. Therefore, the social aspect determines the nature of the products and services of an organisation, and also provides important information that can be used to develop the organisation. This is mainly done through feedback on their website (Allen 2016).

Technology in organisation is mostly evidence of innovation, creativity and flexibility. The consumers of a product or service require technology to efficiently connect to their service-provider, for instance. On the organisation under study, technological advancements have been upheld, which makes communication to and from the consumer effective and efficiently. For example, the feedback provided through emails as well as other social media platforms is used to change and improve products and services, which translates to better services and eventually stable and reliable market. This can be attributed to the contributions made by customers and other sources of information such as the internet, which are solely technological in one way or another.

Recommendation

Based on the current state of operations discussed above, future development will increase the credibility of the services and products of Shangri-la Hotels. Most of these developments are basically maintenance of the current policies and features as well as their innovative and deliberate improvement. For example, the open and free communication to and with the consumer enhances a rapport for future endeavours. When consumers freely express their views and concerns through phone-calls, emails and other technological advancements, product are prone to improving in terms of quality, hence even better operations in terms of market.

Still, the sustained expansion of the branches worldwide should also be directed towards exploring wider populations for possible markets. For example, a branch situated in ideal sporting areas such as ice-skating during winter should also be launched, such that the scope of products and services also expands. This will help in sustaining the organisation and its operations in all seasons, where one product may not be at its best and the other may reduce the effect. Inflation may affect some products more than others; hence, increasing the varieties of products is likely to render the organisation even more stable in the future (Kuntonbutr and Kulken 2017).

Conclusion

Environment factors vary in nature, but they affect the operations of an organisation. PEST is efficient in analysing these environments to organisations of study such as Shangri-la Hotels. These factors are universal but they affect a business in whatever environment, state or nation the business or organisation is located. For example, Shangri-la Hotels was affected by the Brexit which is a political issue, but it translated to economic aspects through ways such as taxes and tariffs. Therefore, it is impossible to separate a business from these factors of the environment, hence it calls for planning and innovation to maintain and improve the organisation as suggested in the recommendations.

References

• Allen, I. 2016, "International Entrepreneurship Theory: Past, Present and Way Forward", Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 93-103.
• Kuntonbutr, C. & Kulken, M. 2017, "The Effect of Business Intelligence on Business Unit Strategies, International Operations and Business Growth", Journal of Economic & Management Perspectives, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 1800-1807.
• Market Line 2016. Shangri-La Hotels (Malaysia) Berhad-strategy, SWOT and corporate finance report. [Online] Available at 2 November 2018]
• Nicole, F.R., Sinkovics, R.R., Ringle, C.M. & Schlägel, C. 2016, "A critical look at the use of SEM in international business research", International Marketing Review, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 376-404.
• Tomaszuk, A. 2017, "cooperation of businesses with business environment institutions (using polish and Belorussian businesses as a case study)", Varazdin Development and Entrepreneurship Agency (VADEA), Varazdin, Dec, pp. 232.
• TWSJ (The Wall Street Journal) 2018. Shangri-La Hotel PLC. [Online] Available on
• Zirra, A. 2015, "Recent developments of international business environment", Romanian Economic and Business Review, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 69-80.

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