In order to develop effective strategies, it is critical to understand the marketplace environment. In this assignment, you will explore the relationship between marketplace positioning based on environmental factors.

Throughout this course, you will work on a strategy audit for a selected organization. In Module 1, you selected an organization for your course project activities and completed a market position analysis for your organization.

In this module, you will conduct a comprehensive external environmental scan of your business unit, including a five forces analysis, to identify the relevant trends that pose opportunities or threats to your business. These will serve as inputs for a final strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis that will be due in Module 4: Assignment 2.

There are many elements that can go into an environmental scan, and your analysis will depend on the nature of your business unit, product portfolio, target market, and other factors related to the scope of your business.

Your environmental scan should include some or all of the following elements:

• Economic factors and trends
• Political factors and trends
• Regulatory and legal factors and trends
• Societal factors and trends
• Technological factors and trends
• Geographic factors and trends
• Porter’s five forces that consists of the following aspects:
  • Threat of new competition
  • Threat of substitute products or services
  • Bargaining power of customers (buyers)
  • Bargaining power of suppliers
  • Intensity of competitive/industry rivalry

Although your analysis will be tailored to your specific business, be sure to cover the following:

• A thorough five forces analysis of your industry
• The key factors and trends in any other areas affecting your industry
• A preliminary classification of the external factors and trends as either opportunities or threats which will be the inputs for the final SWOT analysis