Strategic plan evaluation

Internal and External Environment Analysis

Business environment will always change owing to increased globalisation and evolving markets. These changes set forth challenges for businesses to succeed and remain in operation. Therefore, every organization is compelled to continually improve its operational strategies to be able to thrive in the ever-changing business world. Understanding the business environment is an integral element when in need of discerning opportunities and threats associated with the business. For businesses to understand their environment, they are required to conduct an internal and external analysis of their environment. The internal analysis involves analyzing elements within the company, such as, business strengths and weaknesses, while external analysis entails examining factors outside the business that affect the business, for example, federal laws and competition. Similarly, for Hoosier Media Inc. to improve its business operations, there is a need to conduct an internal and external analysis of its business environment.

Economic, legal, and regulatory forces and trends are examples of external factors affecting Hoosier Media Inc. Some of the economic effects that are affecting Hoosier Media Inc. include fiscal and monetary policies and demographic changes. Fiscal policy refers to the government's actions of taxing and spending, while monetary policy deals with interest rates and supply of money circulating in the country. Government taxing and spending are continually changing, and the same case is happening to interest rates, in an attempt to stabilize the economy. In return, businesses are compelled to pay more for taxes and interest rate, therefore cutting on their profit margins (Pakkanen, 2012). Hoosier Media Inc. is a victim of these trends. Demographic changes refer to changes in the population that reads its newspapers. Owing to advances in technology, the people reading print and online newspapers have changed, thus impacting sales.

Legal factors affecting Hoosier Media Inc. refer to how the law impacts its business operations and consumer behavior. Some of the legal factors affecting Hoosier Media Inc. include profit margins, product transportation, and feasibility of particular markets. Owing to strict laws and regulations on taxing and other levies (Rizal, Suhadak, Mawardi, 2017), Hoosier Inc. has been forced to cut more on its profit to meet the demands, in return a reduction of their profit margins. Laws on newspaper transportation, for example, insurance policies for both humans and vehicles, impact how Hoosier Media Inc. circulate its papers. The attempts to vie into new markets are curbed by laws and regulations of that particular area, thus making it difficult to acquire new markets for its newspapers.

Ever-Evolving technology has presented businesses with a new revenue stream, such as online advertisements. To maintain relevance and competition in the industry, companies are expected to adapt to the changes that come with the new opportunity. Adjusting to change involves incorporating new ways of doing things, therefore improve business operations. By having its online ads revenue increase, Hoosier Media Inc. portrayed that it adapts well to change.

E-commerce has become an integral element in the business world. Currently, almost all businesses transact via the internet, thus increasing their profit margins, as well as, market share (Pakkanen, 2012). Hoosier Media Inc. should consider investing more into its E-commerce, especially now when the internet connection is readily available to many readers. Majority of newspaper readers access them through the internet; thus, this is a viable market to reach out. Additionally, the company should consider using social media platforms to increase its sales and revenues.

Abiding by the set laws and regulations by both the federal and the local governments provide businesses with a calm working environment. Thus, this should be the primary external consideration by Hoosier Media Inc. Abiding by the set laws and regulations entails paying all necessary levies and setting organizational policies as required by the law. Therefore, preventing unnecessary lawsuits and delays in business operations (Rizal, et al., 2017). Businesses that follow and obey the law can operate without interruptions from law authorities, therefore, ensuring a continuous flow of operations.

Summarily, understanding the business environment is vital for any business if it wishes to remain relevant and competitive. As a way of understanding the business environment, both an internal and external analysis of the business environment must be conducted. Hoosier Media Inc. has one primary opportunity, that is, it has the chance to increase its revenue if it emphasizes on online streams of revenues, for example, online advertisements and E-commerce. Some of the major challenges that Hoosier Media Inc. is facing include changing market trends, use of improved and new technologies, and changing government policies. With an understanding of the business environment, it is possible for businesses to discern threats and opportunities that the business could be facing. Therefore businesses will be able to take necessary action to respond to the opportunity or threat promptly.

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