Week
3 DQs
1.
Why
is it important to look at the PESTLE (political, economic, social,
technological, legal, and ecological) factors in environmental scanning?
Describe each and give examples of their importance to industries and various
companies relative to strategic planning.
The PESTLE Analysis is basically used as a framework or tool to identify,
analyze and scan the firm’s external remote environment so as to make the
strategic planning efficiently and effectively for achieving a competitive
advantage. The abbreviation used in PESTLE stands for Political, Economic,
Social, Technological, Legal, and Ecological factors It is important to look at
this analysis because it provides the firm to assess the current environment
and potential changes that are likely to occur in the future. The main idea
here is that if this analysis is done properly than its competitors, it would
be able to respond to changes more effectively and efficiently. The PESTLE
analysis comprises the following major components:
1.
Political Factors: Political factors are concerned with the
legal and regulatory parameters within which firms must operate (Pearce II,
J.A.,& Robinson, R.B., 2012) . These factors
include employment laws, tax policies, trade reforms, trade restrictions,
environmental regulations, political stability, tariffs and the like.
2.
Economic Factors: Economic factors refer to the nature and
direction of the economy in which a firm operates. It comprises the three basic
factors such as economic system: free market, planned and mixed economy,
economic policies such as monetary, fiscal & industrial policies, and
economic conditions such as interest rates, economic growth, recession,
inflation, exchange rate, minimum wage rates, unemployment rates, level of
people’s income, & credit facility.
3.
Social Factors: They refer to socio-cultural factors in
which a firm operates. Social factors
include the social norms, values, beliefs & attitudes, social institutions
such as family, reference group, social class, social change and mobility, and
demographics such as size, distribution & growth of population, age mix,
urbanization etc.
4.
Technological Factors: With the advancement of technology, the
companies are finding very hard to adapt in new context as the time period of
advancement is very short. However, if the company cannot adapt itself
according to the change in technological factors, then the company might be
handicapped. For instance, after the digital revolution in photography, Kodak
Company, though being the pioneer company in photography field, collapsed badly
as they couldn't realize the need of change brought by the revolution in
photography.
5.
Legal Factors: Legal factors refer to legal surroundings in
which a firm operates. These include all
legal aspects like employment, quotas, taxation, resources, imports and
exports, etc.
6.
Ecological Factors: This factor takes into consideration ecological and environmental
aspects that could be either economic or social in nature. These include
temperature, monsoons, natural calamities, access by rail, air, and road,
ground conditions, ground contamination, nearby water sources, and so forth.
In conclusion, the PESTLE analysis is an important tool to analyze the
external environmental factors which provides the foundation for strategic
planning and decision making for any industry and firms. It helps to understand
the environment, encourage the strategic thinking, reduce the future potential
risks, and ideally enable the firms or industries to spot new opportunities and
threats.
References
Pearce II,
J.A.,& Robinson, R.B. (2012). Strategic Management: Formulation,
Implementation, and Control. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
(n.d.) Retrieved
from http://www.brighthubpm.com/project-planning/51754-components-of-a-pestle-analysis/
2.
Explain
Porter’s five forces model of industry analysis and give examples of the
influences of entry barriers, supplier power, buyer power, substitute
availability, and competitive rivalry on a firm.
Porter's five forces model of industry analysis is one of the important
analyses to gain a clear picture of the industry-specific environment. The five
forces and examples of the influences on them are discussed as follows:
1. Bargaining
power of suppliers: It
refers to those situations where suppliers have the ability to force the firm
to pay higher prices which are driven the product's key input, uniqueness of
the product and services and so on. It affects the industrial profit. For
example, the bargaining power of drug industry is high as there are specific or
limited industries.
The bargaining power of suppliers is high when:
·
Suppliers
are few and buyers are many
·
Products/services
are unique and not easily available
·
Firms are
not a significant customers for supplier group
·
Suppliers’
goods are essential to buyers’ market success
·
Suppliers’
have ability to integrate forward
2. Bargaining
power of buyers: It
means that the buyer has the capacity to reduce the price of the products and
also demand for high quality goods and services and so on. For example: the
bargaining power of auto manufacturers for purchases of its parts.
The bargaining power of buyers is high when:
·
Buyers are
few and they place large orders
·
Alternative
sellers are high and they sell at a lower price
·
Low cost
for switching the product
·
Undifferentiated
products and ability to do backward integration
·
Buyer has
full information
3. Competitive Rivalry: It means that the strong competitors has the
ability to keep impact upon the market. As there are large and strong
competitors who offers homogeneous goods then they result in less power then it
definitely affects the market. For example, customers switching their bank
accounts from one bank to other.
The competitive rivalry is high when:
·
There is presence
of more or equally balance competitors
·
They have
high fixed storage costs
·
There is
lack of product differentiation or low switching costs
·
There are
diverse competitors and existence of global customers
·
There is
slow industry growth
4. Threat of Substitute products: Substitute good means those goods which has
ability to satisfy the same need of the customers. Due to the availability of
substitute products in the market, the customer, if not satisfied can switch
their product as substitute goods. For example, the threat of substitute goods
is high in tea, coffee products.
The threat
of substitute products is high when:
·
Customers
face lower switching costs
·
Substitute’s
product’s price is lower
·
Substitute’s
product’s quality and performance is high
·
Buyers have
more propensity to substitute
5. Threat
of New Entrants: It
explains about the chance that new entrant will enter into the industry. For
example, the difficulties for new automobiles industries to entry in the market
because of the technologies and cost of those products. It is affected by two major
factors such as
a)
Barrier
to entry
·
Economics
of scale
·
Product differentiation
·
Switching
costs
·
Capital requirements
·
Access to
distribution channels
·
Government
policies
·
Cost disadvantages
independent of scale
b)
Expected
retaliation from existing firms
References
Pearce II,
J.A.,& Robinson, R.B. (2012). Strategic Management: Formulation,
Implementation, and Control. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
3.
Compare
and contrast the foreign market entry options available to firms wanting to
start doing business internationally.
Strategic options for firms that are attempting to move globalization
can be categorized by the degree of complexity of each foreign market being considered
and by the diversity in a company’s product line (Pearce II, J.A.,& Robinson, R.B., 2012) . Some of the major foreign market entry options
available to firms wanting to start doing business internationally are compared
and contrasted as follows:
1. Exporting:
Exporting is the easiest and simplest form of
entering into the foreign market. In this option, goods and services will be
sold and distributed from one country-home country, to the other country (host
counties). This option does not require much investment like other options do.
2. Licensing/Contract
Manufacturing: It is a
contractual agreement between the parent company-licensor and the foreign company-licensee
whereby the licensor allows the licensee to manufacture a company's product for
a fixed term in a specific market and in return the licensor must pay a royalty
or specific amount to the parent company. Licensing is generally given for a
fixed period of time. After the expiration of agreement, the company can decide
whether to renew the agreement or not.
3. Franchising:
It is special form of licensing in which
franchisor allows the franchisee to sell highly publicized products or services,
using the parent’s brand name or trademark along with operational and marketing
strategies. In return, the franchisee must pay a fee to the parent company
based on the volume of the sales on that particular market or country. However,
a franchisee or local investor must adhere to the strict rules or policies of
the parent company-franchisor. Some of the common examples of franchising are
Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald, Avis, and Burger King.
4. Joint
Venture: Joint venture is the
safest mode of entering into the foreign market in which the company makes an
agreement and partners with the local firm for attaining common objectives. Since
it begins with a mutually agreeable pooling of capital, production, marketing,
patents, trademark or management expertise Joint venture is generally done for
a long period of time, it offers more permanent cooperative relationships than
exporting or contract manufacturing. However, there is a chance of having high
conflicts among the involved parties in terms of authority, control and secret
information.
5. Foreign
Branching: A foreign
branching is an extension of the company in its foreign country- a separately
located strategic business unit directly responsible for fulfilling the
operational activities such as sales, customer service, and physical distribution
as per the company. This option requires to comply with host countries’ rules
and regulation in its operational activities so it is often short term and has
to be renewed after its expiry.
6. Equity
Investment: This
option is suitable for small and medium-size enterprises with strong growth
potential which requires additional funds to grow further before deciding to
trade their stock publicly in the marketplace. These companies often need a
support from a venture capital firm or private equity in start-ups and other
risky but potential very profitable.
7. Wholly
Owned Subsidiaries: Wholly-owned
foreign subsidiaries require the highest investment commitment along with an ability
and willingness to do by companies. These companies insist on full ownership
for reasons of control and managerial efficiency. It can be of two types-Green field investment which can be
started from scratch and Acquisition
which is purchasing of already established firms in the host country. Choosing
this option has to face a number of risks to their normal mode of operations. First,
it requires a high investment for start-ups or acquisitions. Second, it has to
tackle with foreign culture or language problems. Third, host country expects a
long term commitment from parent company to include the local employees in the
organization and comply with its parent company’s standards.
References
Pearce II,
J.A.,& Robinson, R.B. (2012). Strategic Management: Formulation,
Implementation, and Control. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
4.
Do you agree that all businesses will soon have to evaluate global
environments? Explain why or why not.
Yes, I agree that all businesses will soon have to evaluate the global
environment. However, how much is needed depends upon the nature of businesses
and the level of complexities or risks involved. It is true that the businesses
whose operations are world-wide need a higher level evaluation and the
businesses which operate locally may not need that much level of evaluation.
Having said this, however, every business needs more or less evaluation of
global environment. It is essential that every business organization should
have a clear understanding of the global environment so that they can compete
over their rivals and gain a competitive advantage. The main reasons why all
businesses must evaluate the global business environment are outlined below (Pearce II,
J.A.,& Robinson, R.B., 2012) :
·
The increased
scope of the global management task
·
The increased
globalization of firms
·
The information
explosion
·
The increase
in global competition
·
The rapid
development of technology
·
Strategic
management planning breeds managerial confidence
In short, due to above mentioned reasons, it has become an essential
task for any businesses to evaluate the global business environment. Many
businesses are already involved in the globalization process and many are going
to be globalized soon so that it would not be enough to think just locally,
they have to think globally so they need to have a clear picture of global
environment through its assessment.
References
Pearce II,
J.A.,& Robinson, R.B. (2012). Strategic Management: Formulation,
Implementation, and Control. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.