Enterprise Education - local, national and international business environments
What the exam tests
You must describe how businesses operate locally, nationally and internationally, and explain how changes in each environment affect them. Expect case-study questions about an Irish firm facing a new threat or opportunity.
The three levels
- Local: customers, suppliers, competitors, Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), Chambers of Commerce, community groups, planning permission, local infrastructure.
- National: government policy and the Budget, Revenue and taxation, employment law, education and skills, transport and broadband, competitiveness, interest rates.
- International: EU Single Market, globalisation, exchange rates, tariffs and customs, Brexit, multinationals, trade agreements, competition from low-cost economies.
Support agencies
- Enterprise Ireland supports Irish-owned firms to start, grow and export.
- IDA Ireland attracts foreign direct investment.
- LEOs support micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees) with grants, training and mentoring.
- Údarás na Gaeltachta supports enterprise in Gaeltacht areas.
Analytical tools
Use PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental) to structure external factors, SWOT for internal strengths and weaknesses plus external opportunities and threats, and stakeholder analysis for who is affected.
Worked example
An Irish food exporter loses UK sales after new customs checks. PESTLE: political (tariffs, paperwork), economic (sterling weakness), legal (food safety rules), technological (traceability systems). Response: diversify into EU markets, hedge currency, invest in customs expertise. Note the impact on local jobs.
Traps
Listing factors without explaining impact; mixing up IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland; discussing only one level; forgetting that SMEs make up the overwhelming majority of Irish enterprises; ignoring stakeholders.