Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
http://textbook.stpauls.br/Business_Organization/page_58.htm
https://www.businessmadeeasy.xyz/business-basics/1-5-external-environment/
https://ibnotesbyellie.weebly.com/external-environment.html
https://blog.prepscholar.com/the-best-ib-business-and-management-notes-study-guide
https://www.khairul-syahir.com/topics/education/2008/ib-business-management-sl-
notes.html
Learning objectives:
A02, A04 - STEEPLE analysis of a given organization
A03 - Consequences of a change in any of the STEEPLE factors for a business's objectives
and strategy
Q. Explain the STEEPLE ANALYSIS with opportunity and threats for businesses.
Ans) Social:
1
Ramesh Naoickyer
management.
Technological
Use of tools and machines
Information technology
Innovations in technology
Economic
State of the economy
Interest and tax rates
Exchange rates and foreign relations
2
Ramesh Naoickyer
Environmental
Abundance of natural resources or raw materials
Threats from nature (or natural disasters)
Waste disposal/recycling
Political
Laws (employment, consumer, business) & policies (fiscal and monetary)
Changes brought about by new government
Possible effects of political unrest
3
Ramesh Naoickyer
Fiscal policy is the use of taxation and Monetary policy is the use of interest rate
government expenditure policies to influence policy to affect the money supply and
business activity. The government spends the exchange rates in order to influence business
activity.
tax revenue that it raises, in addition to other
sources of government revenue, on a number
of areas including social security, health care,
education, transport and infrastructure.
Legal
Employment or contract laws
Trade unions
Environmental protection regulations
Ethical
Client confidentiality
Bribery and other forms unethical (and possibly illegal) business transactions
Fair competition
Meaning of Ethics: Business ethics are the moral principles that are, or should be, considered in
business decision-making, i.e. what is judged to be right or wrong. Ethical firms act in a socially
responsible way towards their stakeholders (especially their customers, employees and the local
community),
4
Ramesh Naoickyer
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
1. What does the acronym STEEPLE analysis stand for?
Ans) STEEPLE analysis is an analytical framework used to examine the opportunities and
threats of the external environment (social, technological, economic, environmental, political,
legal, and ethical environments) on business activity.
5
Ramesh Naoickyer
Ans) STEEPLE
The unemployment rate measures the proportion of a country's workforce not in official
employment. Governments aim to deal with the problems of unemployment because
there are social costs of high unemployment (which present threats to businesses).
Business cycle refers to the fluctuation in the level of business activity overtime. Countries tend
to move through the cycle of booms, recessions, slumps, recovery and growth.
6
Ramesh Naoickyer
6. How does the legal environment provide both opportunities and threats to businesses?
7. How does the legal system present both opportunities and threats for businesses?
Legal - Opportunities Legal - Threats
Competition legislation Laws ensure Consumer protection legislation -
that anti-competitive practices are Laws exist that make it illegal for
prohibited to protect customers businesses to provide false or is leading
and smaller businesses from firms with
descriptions of their products and
monopoly power
services
Social and environmental protection Employee protection legislation
legislation Laws exist to prevent or -These laws protect the interests and
reduce the consumption of demerit safety of worker
goods, e.g. tobacco, petrol, alcohol,
gambling and illegal drugs.
7
Ramesh Naoickyer
10. How does the Technologies present both opportunities and threats for businesses?
Ans
8
Ramesh Naoickyer
11. How changes in STEEPLE factors affect a business’s objective and strategy?
Changes in trends, social norms, public opinion, views on ethics can affect the
company’s products, business activities, and the way they market their products
Changes to legal or political factors may force businesses to change the way they
operate to comply with new laws or regulations
Changes to technological factors could result to the company adopting newer
technology or machinery to increase efficiency or keep up with industry standards
Changes to environmental factors could force companies to adapt to scarce raw
materials, frequent natural disasters, etc.
Changes to economic factors (economic growth, interest rates, etc.) could affect the
costs of operations of the business, spending attitude of consumers, etc.
• Price reductions to sustain or increase sales. People become more price sensitive during a
recession, so lower prices will be very welcome by potential customers.
• Non-pricing strategies (such as repackaging, special offers or special after-sales care) to sustain
or revitalize the volume of sales.
• Branding to maintain sales as customers become or remain loyal to a brand irrespective of
changes in price or their incomes.
• Outsourcing production overseas where costs are lower to help the business to gain a
competitive price advantage, thereby reducing the impact of a recession in the domestic
economy.
Ans) Unemployment refers to the number of people in the workforce who are willing and able
to work but cannot find employment.
Types of unemployment
• Frictional unemployment occurs when people change jobs as there is usually a time lag
between leaving a job and finding or starting another.
Seasonal unemployment is caused by periodic and reoccurring changes in demand for a
product, e.g. beach resorts tend to suffer from a lack of tourists during the winter months.
• Technological unemployment results from the introduction of labour-saving (capital
intensive) technologies, which can cause mass-scale unemployment.
• Regional unemployment refers to the different unemployment rates in different areas of a
country. Remote rural areas tend to have higher levels of unemployment than busy urban
districts.
• Structural unemployment occurs when the demand for products produced in a particular
industry continually falls, resulting in structural and long term changes in demand.
• Cyclical unemployment (or demand deficient unemployment) is caused by a lack of
demand in the economy. It is the most severe type of unemployment as it tends to affect all
industries.
14. Explain the protectionist measures taken by Government which influence the
businesses.
10
Ramesh Naoickyer
11
Ramesh Naoickyer
• Customs duties - taxes on foreign imports, which help to raise government revenue and give
domestic businesses a relative price advantage.
• Stamp duty - a tax paid when commercial or residential property is bought. It tends to be
progressive, so the higher the property value the greater the tax rate tends to be.
External costs:
An external cost is the cost incurred by an individual, firm or community as a result of an
economic transaction which they are not directly involved in. External costs, also called
'spillovers' and 'third party costs' can arise from both production and consumption.
Examples of External costs are passive smoking, air and noise pollution, packaging waste and
global warming. Climate change has been blamed for the increase in natural disasters such as
tsunamis and hurricanes.
Social costs: Social cost is the total cost to society. It includes private costs plus any external
costs.
Examples of Social costs: Air pollution, littering and risks of passive smoking
Private costs: Private cost is the cost borne by an individual or firm directly involved in a
transaction.
17. Distinguish between Deflationary fiscal policy and expansionary fiscal policy
Deflationary fiscal policy is used when the economy experiences high rates of economic growth
and inflation, so needs to be slowed down via a combination of higher taxes and reduced
government expenditure policies.
Expansionary fiscal policy is used to boost business activity, perhaps to get the economy out of
a recession. This is done by a combination of tax cuts and increased public sector spending,
there by creating business opportunities.
12
Ramesh Naoickyer
20 How different businesses are affected by different external factors and to varying
degrees?
This will largely depend on factors such as:
• The size of the business - Smaller and newer firms tend to be less able to cope with external
shocks to the business environment.
• The ability of management - Experienced and skilled managers are able to predict and
successfully react to changes in the external environment and potential crises.
• The degree of brand loyalty - Businesses with a loyal customer base are less exposed to the
threats of competition, so are less affected by external changes such as fluctuations in the
exchange rate.
• The diversity of the firms operations - Firms that have a diversified product portfolio and
have overseas operations are more able to handle changes in the external environment. By
contrast, firms that specialize in one or two products in a specific market are more vulnerable to
external threats.
13
Ramesh Naoickyer
• The level of a firms gearing - Gearing refers to the extent to which a business relies on
external borrowing. Businesses that are highly geared are more defence less if there are adverse
changes in the external business environment, e.g. if interest rates increase.
Definitions:
Economic growth measures changes in the Gross Domestic Product of a country over time. It
occurs if there is an increase in GDP for two consecutive quarters.
Ethics are the moral values and judgements (of what is right) that society believes businesses
ought to consider in their decision-making.
The exchange rate is the value of a country's currency in terms of other currencies.
Inflation occurs when the general price level in an economy continuously rises. It is measured
by changes in the cost of living for the average household in a country.
Interest rate is a measure of the price of money in terms of the amount charged for borrowed
funds or how much is offered on money that is saved.
Protectionist measures are any measure taken by a government to safeguard its industries from
overseas competitors. They are a threat to businesses trying to operate in foreign markets.
14