Environmental Scan Essay 4/20/2013 Environmental scanning can be viewed as a way of acquiring information about outside events that can aid organizations in first identifying potential trends, then interpreting them (Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2010). These trends normally consist of five sources, social, economic, technological, competitive, and regulatory forces. My intention in this essay is to focus on one; the economic environmental force. I will discuss how the current state of the economy will impact completing an environmental scan. In order to evaluate how the economy will impact the completion of an environmental scan, it is essential to cover the concerns that affect the economic aspect whether people want to believe …show more content…
The second concern is more of a microeconomic trend and it has to deal with the consumer income. These are equally important because as a consumer, we affect the economy with what we do or do not purchase. Overall there are three components that a consumer’s income is related to in reference to buying that give us an idea of the state of the economy and the impact of completing an environmental scan. They are the gross, disposable, and discretionary components. The gross income is the total amount of money that is made by one person, or a household. This can affect an environmental scan due to the fact that someone in a family can fired from their job or given a raise leading to a disparity in the trend. The disposable income is the money left after paying taxes. The problem is evident as described by Kerin, et al., (2010), “if taxes rise or fall faster than income consumers are likely to have more or less disposable income”(p.66). By having more or less income it makes it hard to scan and develop trends effectively. The third component is the discretionary income; what is left over when everything else is paid. In the end, the state of the economy will undoubtedly have an effect on completing an environmental scan in large part due to the ups and downs of both what the consumers and businesses are going through just to stay on track financially. It will make it difficult because of the concerns and trends that potentially are out
Environmental scanning involves an organization to look at any trend, opportunity or threat that could create issues for their company. Once any of these issues are identified, the organization should consider new strategies that react to these external factors. Issues should be examined that involve not only direct customers and suppliers, but also competitors, any changes in regulations and possible political involvement. External factors will be constantly changing so environmental scanning should occur frequently and regularly to ensure the current issues have been captured. Research and data analysis can help drive decisions regarding overall marketing changes that might be necessary.
1. Environmental scanning – A version of environmental scanning in which the firm identifies desirable markets by using the environmental forces to eliminate the less desirable markets
During environmental scanning of a company, there is a thorough assessment into a complete global analysis. This involves companies, markets, clients, industries, and businesses in the same market. For this study will consider the trends, technological events, successes, and expectations in business.
To stay tuned to the recent situation in order not to miss perspective opportunities, an organization should go on with continuous scanning of its environment. According to Jobber, environmental scanning is “the process of monitoring and analyzing the marketing environment of a company” (Jobber, 2010, p.93). Aguilar states (Aguilar, 1967, cited in Costa, 1995, pp.4-5) that environmental scanning serves the purpose of gathering information about the facts and events happening around the company in order to let the management lead the organization in the right direction. Most of the authors agree on the same main function of environmental scanning.
Information will be gathered monthly and quarterly both internally and externally to determine areas that are successful and areas that need improvement. You Inc. will continually use the methods in environmental scanning to analyze the factors that impact the company’s future success to implement necessary changes. An environmental scan usually include an internal analysis as well as an external analysis using PEST. PEST stands for political, economic, social, and technological, which are some of the areas analyzed. The SWOT analyze a company’s internal processes which stands for strengths, weakness, opportunity, threats. (QuickMBA, 2010). Environmental scanning “is a process that systematically surveys and interprets relevant data to identify external opportunities and threats. An organization gathers information about the external world, its competitors and itself” (SHRM
What is the environmental focus of this decade? How will the increased costs of energy, waste management, and pollution affect your ability to succeed in your career?
Environmental scan in essence analyzes and evaluates the internal as well as external data and factors that influence the organization. Environmental scan entails the acknowledgment of a company’s environment that has potential effect on the organization’s operations and consequently, is critical in devising and implementing successful strategies. Apple Inc. is a leading international company that specializes in the production of computer software, commercial servers and consumer electronics. Its key products include iPhones, iPad, iPod and Mackintosh computers. The company has been in operation for the past 36 years.
Environmental factors in a business are identified, their impact is assessed and a strategy is developed to mitigate and/or take advantage of them. While frameworks do exist to aid in
First of all, our country has experienced the decline of our natural resources, like tragic forest fires, the pollution of our water supply and damaging air pollution, not to mention food contamination. Anyone with any intelligence can overlook our growing environmental epidemic. Some people may not be aware of the severity of the problem, but most would agree that our communities need to be protected and preserved. This is why now scientists, financial advisors and economists are mutually concerned by the obvious dilemma in recognizing that our society is changing and needs to be redirected into a more stable, healthy and sustainable direction.
Environmental scanning is a critical piece of the planning process in the POLC framework and “means that planners must be aware of the critical contingencies facing their organization in terms of economic conditions, their competitors, and their customers.” (Carpenter, M., & Bauer, T. (2009). Introduction to Principles of Management. In Principles of management (p. 9). Nyack, N.Y.: Flat World Knowledge.) The American auto industry is no exception to this fact and must face the impact of shifts in global competition and changing consumer expectations on their industry. The global recession that started in 2007 has impacted the American and worldwide automobile industry by forcing corporations out of business, into bankruptcies and corporate restructurings. There have also been changes in the supply chain of components that go into these vehicles due to the same economic hardships hitting the companies that provide the components. The global demand for automobiles is rising and emerging markets in the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) as well as an increased appetite for higher margin vehicles in North America will create opportunities for the auto industry if it can properly plan and forecast sales growth and consumer demand. “Apart from sales volume growth, four challenges will shape the near and medium-term future. The industry response to these challenges could raise profitability...these challenges will matter much more for established markets than for emerging
Most of the pollution is the result of human activities. There is no question that human activities have badly harmed the natural environment and this negative impact has always be a major concern. People starts to aware of the potential effect of environmental damage on the ecosystems. Therefore there has been increasing concern over the companies' impacts on the environment (Hart 1995). Chatterji et al (2009) mentioned that it becomes significant for the companies to take environmental issues into consideration as there is an increasing interest in how the companies deal with their environmental impact. Also, the public becomes more scrutiny about this matter over time.
EKC is a graphical illustration of the relationship between the various pollutants and per capita income (Dinda 433). The basic concept implies that there is a direct relationship between environmental pressure and the level of income. Therefore, the pressure increases to the point where the income starts increasing as well. The EKC concept is more of an economic overview of the environmental quality that defines a major concept, which strengthens its argument. The concept is the notion that high income influences people’s expectations and preferences for a quality environment, which means high income is directly proportional to the need for environmental quality (Dinda 440). Overall, the logic behind the EKC reasoning revolves around the fact that the environmental quality changes according to the
A high-level assessment of the Global Economic Outlook will be provided in this section along with a Regional and a Country-specific Outlook. This macroeconomic view of environmental conditions will serve as the foundational element and will set the guiding principles to conduct in-depth industry and company-wide analyses.
With the development of the global economy, the interaction between environment and companies became more important, therefore, throughout macro environment analysis, which includes political, economic, social, environment, legal and technology (PESTEL) that provides an indispensable part in the comprehensive list to understand opportunities and threats on the businesses (Searle and Barbuto, 2010). In this industry, political, economy and technology would mainly influence the strategies, thus
Growing environmental trepidations, combined with stricter regulations and public pressure, are altering the way people usually do business all over the world. Business & Industry is now on a three-phase journey from environmental compliance to long-term sustainable development strategies through environmental risk management.