2. Unit 1.5 The external Environment PEST analysis (and other variants)

3. PEST analysis  Political factors  Economic factors  Socio-cultural factors  Technological factors

4. PEST analysis This has many variants such as STEEPLE which distinguishes between:  Social/cultural  Technological  Economic  Environmental  Political  Legal  Ethical

5. Political/legal  Monopolies legislation  Environmental protection laws  Taxation policy  Employment laws  Government policy  Political Patronage  Political Confidence/Stability  International trade laws

6. Economic Factors  Inflation  Employment  Tax and disposable income  Business cycles  Consumer confidence  Exchange rates

7. Sociocultural factors  Demographics (including growth of multi- culturalism)  Distribution of income  Social mobility  Lifestyle changes (Breakdown of traditional family)  Consumerism (both partners working so high incomes but lack of time for leisure etc)  Levels of education  Environmental and ethical norms of society

8. Technological  New discoveries and innovations  Speed of technology transfer  Rates of obsolescence  Internet and decline of “brick” retailing.  Information technology and production (JIT etc)