Chapter The External Environment © 2015 by McGraw-Hill Education This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part Learning Objectives Describe the three tiers of environmental factors that affect firm performance List and explain the five factors in the remote environment Give examples of the economic, social, political, technological, and ecological influences on a business Explain the five forces model of industry analysis and give examples of each force Give examples of the influences of entry barriers, supplier power, buyer power, substitute availability, and competitive rivalry on a business List and explain the five factors in the operating environment Give examples of the influences of competitors, creditors, customers, labor, and direct suppliers on a business External Environment • The factors beyond the control of the firm that influence its choice of direction and action, organizational structure, and internal processes The Firm’s External Environment Comprised of following Components: • • • Remote environment Industry environment Operating environment Remote Environment • Economic, social, political, technological, and ecological factors that originate beyond, and usually irrespective of, any single firm’s operating situation Ex 4.1 The Firm’s External Environment Remote Environment • • • • • Economic Factors Social Factors Political Factors Technological Factors Ecological Factors Economic Factors Prime interest rates Inflation rates Trends in the growth of the gross national product Unemployment rates Globalization of the economy Outsourcing Social Factors Present in the external environment:    Beliefs & Values Attitudes & Opinions Lifestyles Developed from:       Cultural conditioning Ecological conditioning Demographic makeup Religion Education Ethnic conditioning Three Profound Social Changes • • • • Entry of large numbers of women into the labor market Accelerating interest of consumers and employees in quality-of-life issues Shift in the age distribution of the population Cutting across the above three issues is concern for individual health 10 Ex 4.9 Forces Driving Industry Competition 21 Threat of Entry Common Barriers to Entry • • • • • • Economies of Scale Product Differentiation Capital Requirements Cost Disadvantages Independent of Size Access to Distribution Channels Government Policy 22 Powerful Suppliers A supplier group is powerful if: • • • • • It is dominated by a few companies and is more concentrated than the industry it sells to Its product is unique or at least differentiated, or if it has built-up switching costs It is not obliged to contend with other products for sale to the industry It poses a credible threat of integrating forward into the industry’s business The industry is not an important customer of the supplier group 23 Powerful Buyers A buyer group is powerful if: It is concentrated or purchases in large volumes The products it purchases from the industry are standard The products it purchases from the industry form a component of its product and represent a significant fraction of its cost It earns low profits The industry’s product is unimportant to the quality of the buyers’ products or services The industry’s product does not save the buyer money The buyers pose a credible threat of integrating backward • • • • • • • 24 Substitute Products • • • By placing a ceiling on the prices it can charge, substitute products or services limit the potential of an industry Substitutes not only limit profits in normal times but also reduce the bonanza an industry can reap in boom times Substitute products that deserve the most attention strategically are those that are subject to trends improving their price-performance trade-off with the industry’s product or produced by industries earning high profits – – 25 Jockeying for Position Intense rivalry occurs when: • • • • • • • Competitors are numerous or are roughly equal Industry growth is slow, precipitating fights for market share that involve expansion The product or service lacks differentiation or switching costs Fixed costs are high or the product is perishable, creating strong temptation to cut prices Capacity normally is augmented in large increments Exit barriers are high Rivals are diverse in strategy, origin, and personality 26 Industry Analysis & Competitive Analysis Key questions to ask: What are the boundaries of the industry? What is the structure of the industry? Which firms are our competitors? What are the major determinants of competition? 27 Industry Analysis & Competitive Analysis (contd.) • • An industry is a collection of firms that offer similar products or services Structural attributes are the enduring characteristics that give an industry its distinctive character • Concentration refers to the extent to which industry sales are dominated by only a few firms • Barriers to entry are the obstacles that a firm must overcome to enter an industry 28 Problems in Defining Industry Boundaries The difficulty in defining industry boundaries stems from three sources: • The evolution of industries over time creates new opportunities and threats • Industry evolution creates industries within industries • Industries are becoming global in scope 29 Power Curves • • Power curves depict the fundamental structural trends that underlie an industry This is a new tool that helps strategic managers assess industry structure – the enduring characteristics that give an industry its distinctive character 30 Operating Environment • Factors in the immediate competitive situation that affect a firm’s success in acquiring needed resources 31 Operating Environment (contd.) Also called competitive or task environment • Includes competitor positions and customer profiling based on the following factors: – – – – • Geographic Demographic Psychographic Buyer Behavior Also includes suppliers & creditors and HRM 32 HR: Nature of the Labor Market Access to personnel is affected by factors: • • • • Firm’s reputation as an employer Local employment rates Availability of people with the needed skills Its relationship with labor unions 33 Emphasis on Environmental Factors • • • • • Differing external elements affect different strategies at different times and with varying strengths Only certainty is that the effect of the remote and operating environments will be uncertain until a strategy is implemented Many managers, particularly in less powerful firms, minimize long-term planning Instead, they allow managers to adapt to new pressures from the environment Absence of strong resources and psychological commitment to a proactive strategy effectively bars a firm from assuming a leadership role in its environment 34 Key Terms • • • • • • Barriers to entry Eco-efficiency Ecology Economies of scale External environment Industry • • • • • • Industry environment Operating environment Pollution Product differentiation Remote environment Technological forecasting 35 ... forecasting helps protect and improve the profitability of firms in growing industries It alerts strategic managers to impending challenges and promising opportunities The key to beneficial forecasting... the foreground of strategic thought and business planning • The cornerstone of Porter’s work first appeared in the Harvard Business Review, in which he explains the five forces that shape competition. .. that provide similar products and services 19 How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy • • • • The essence of strategy formulation is coping with competition Intense competition in an industry is