Business environment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business environment - Assignment ExampleThe region has massive been established as the leading European zone for attracting private investment. In fact, at present it is UKs most successful region for attracting foreign direct investment, and is among the outdo five in Europe.The west Midlands is the address of nearly 2,000 overseas companies from 34 different nations, employing roughly 9% of the regions workforce - nearly a quarter of a million people. Birmingham itself can boast of almost 300 overseas companies, which employ over 36,000 people. Inter subject field and famous companies based in the West Midlands include Peugeot, Ford, BMW, Fujitsu, Oracle, Gap, Denso, IBM, necrotizing enterocolitis and Johnson Controls.A little over the last ten years, the West Midlands experienced real economic growth with gross domestic product increasing by around 29%, an additional 240,000 people in employment, a fall in unemployment rates from 12.1% to below 8% (2000), economic activity rat e at par with the expect of the country, an employment rate of around 74% (1998-1999 to 2003), higher than the bailiwick rate at the start of the three year period (1998-99) and a higher dower of employees in high technology sectors than the national average in 2000 (Mitra, 2001).Despite noticeable indicators of development and progress, the West Midlands maintains its status of an under-achieving region. It has under-performed in almost all major(ip) areas judging by the economic indicators, if overall performance in the UK is used as a standard. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per head in 1999 was 6% below the national average in spite of an increase of nearly 2% from 1998. On the Index of Local Deprivation, the West Midlands has two districts in the top of the inning 10 and 6 in the top 50 most deprived areas. In 1997, likewise, the West Midlands had the second lowest manufacturing productivity levels. Gross Value Added per GDP per head has stayed around 6% below the national av erage throughout the 1990s. Since 1990, unemployment rates have remained above the national average. Finally, the number of VAT- registered businesses has fallen faster than the national average. Compared to EU regions similar to the West Midlands (using the GVA metric), the latter is at par with most another(prenominal) regions and slightly below Bourgogne (France).SMEs in the West Midlands Economy With statistical trends elsewhere, miniature and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) constitute the largest share of all enterprises in the West Midlands. The region is composed of small firms, which would imply that small business activity is indication of the regions business and economic scenario. The sectoral spread of the firms portray the profile of the region with its mix of traditional industrial ands agricultural activities, combined with business and financial services. Reflecting overall national patterns, and indeed that of the West Midlands region, no one sub-region has more than two sectors with greater than 20% of the business sites in those sectors.Potential Sources of SupportAcross the region, Advantage West Midlands is setting up a variety of strategies and business support programmes aimed at motivating and promoting wealth creation and the diversification of the regions economy. Working in alliance with other organisations, the objective is to provide the business support required