BUS602: Marketing Management

Analyzing the external environment involves tracking conditions in the macro and micro marketplace that, although largely uncontrollable, affect the way an organization does business. The macro environment includes economic factors, demographic trends, cultural and social trends, political and legal regulations, technological changes, and the price and availability of natural resources. Each factor in the macro environment is discussed separately in the next section. The micro environment includes competition, suppliers, marketing intermediaries (retailers, wholesalers), the public, the company, and customers. We focus on competition in our discussion of the external environment in the chapter. 

When firms globalize, analyzing the environment becomes more complex because they must examine the external environment in each country in which they do business. Regulations, competitors, technological development, and the economy may be different in each country and will affect how firms do business. To see how factors in the external environment such as technology may change education and lives of people around the world, watch the videos "Did You Know 2.0?" and "Did You Know 3.0?" which provide information on social media sites compared to populations in the world. Originally created in 2006 and revised in 2007, the video has been updated and translated into other languages. Another edition of "Did You Know?" (4.0) focused on changing media and technology and showed how information may change the world as well as the way people communicate and conduct business.

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Did You Know 2.0?

To see how the external environment and world are changing and in turn affecting marketing strategies, check out "Did You Know 2.0?"

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Did You Know 4.0?

 To see how fast things change and the impact of technology and social media, visit "Did You Know 4.0?"

Although the external environment affects all organizations, companies must focus on factors that are relevant for their operations. For example, government regulations on food packaging will affect PepsiCo but not Goodyear. Similarly, students getting a business degree don't need to focus on job opportunities for registered nurses.