Relevant Issue Affecting Business

The business environment is rapidly changing due to various factors including environmental factors. As a result of the frequent changes in the business environment, business owners and managers face the need to develop measures for planning and conducting their operations in relation to the changes. Over the past few months, the business environment has been affected by numerous environmental factors ranging from technological to social factors. For business managers and owners, the ability to remain competitive and successful is largely affected by their ability to respond to emerging changes in the business environment. One of the major factors that have affected the business environment in the recent past is the COVID-19 global pandemic.

McLaughlin (2022) wrote an article regarding the implications of COVID-19 for business. The article sought to provide the latest perspectives regarding the coronavirus outbreak and how its threats to lives and livelihoods affect business organizations. In the article, McLaughlin (2022) also examines the need for business managers and owners to develop targeted action due to fallout from the pandemic. The fallout from the global pandemic has included inflation, mental health challenges, and the need for improvement of customer service. These environmental factors have generated undeniable challenges for business managers to develop new ways of operations.

As part of new ways of operating, business owners and managers need to find creative ways to mitigate prices in response to inflation, which has been a major issue for businesses since the 1970s. To this extent, the author argues that supply-chain leaders can embark on a series of steps in order to determine the suitability of a price increase. This process begins by identifying the main costs of inputs with the highest level of change. This is followed by estimating the percentage of the total costs for these inputs. Once the percentage of the total costs is determined, an acceptable price-increase range is calculated. Insights obtained from the process can be used to determine whether to explore new suppliers or used as the basis for win-win negotiating.

COVID-19, which has affected lives and livelihoods across the globe, has disrupted businesses operating in nearly every sector of the generation is more likely to suffer from substance abuse or mental health issues and more likely to have not sought treatment. Additionally, Generation Z is thrice as likely as other generations to report suicide ideations or attempts since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. These health issues brought about by the coronavirus outbreak have, in turn, affected consumer behavior and purchase decisions,...

…external factors but also incorporates responses to natural disasters/emergencies. The creation of an emergency management plan helps to enhance a business preparedness and response to potential disasters/emergencies in its environment. This implies that emergency preparedness and planning is a critical component for dealing with outside forces that are constantly changing in todays business environment. The planning should incorporate strategies to address unprecedented disasters like a global public health emergency. Without a proper emergency management plan, business organizations are unable to effectively respond to emergencies and other outside forces affecting them.

In light of insights obtained from the course and article, long-term business strategies should include measures for dealing with the constantly changing outside forces. Business owners and managers should establish plans to respond and deal with factors that take place outside their organizations internal environment. As noted by McLaughlin (2022), the long-term sustainability of a business is partly affected by its preparedness and response to external forces like the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses should review and enhance their planning and responses to outside forces depending on how these factors change. This implies that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with the evolving factors in the external business environment. Companies approaches to handling these forces should change with time as the forces evolve. Through reviewing and updating their responses, businesses enhance their long-term survival…