STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

3. External Analysis

Hints:

A. You don’t need to have a lot of content between section title 3 and section title 3.1. Just

a few paragraphs here to introduce to readers what you will do/what the basic

arguments are in the “external analysis” section.

B. Scope of your external analysis: Primarily at domestic level (US and possibly Canada),

but still there may be some factors at global level.

C. Unit of your external analysis should be the industry. In other words, you should

analyze the environment that the whole industry is facing. In other words, always say

“the industry’s XXX” instead of “Waste Management’s XXX”, please. (But please read

the Company’s 10K Annual Reports because a lot of information regarding the

Company is actually applicable to the whole industry too.)

3.1 General Environmental Analysis

Hints:

A. Again, one or more bridging paragraph(s) needed here (i.e., before section title 3.1.1).

B. Read the documents in zip file “DOC_016_Knowledge_Base_for_part_1”. The documents

will give you some clues on what factors in each segment could have impact on our

industry and/or relevant industries. Also refer to the sample report for some hints.

C. The key conclusion of 3.1 should be about how the focal industries are going to change

in response to the predicted changes of the factors you proposed. The structure of your

analysis for each segment should be:

a. A few sentences about what factors, in each segment, that may have significant

impact on our industry and related industries.

b. For each segment (i.e., 3.1.1, 3.1.2, …), please analyze in the following sequence:

i. Identify the factors that could have significant impact on our focal

industry (directly or indirectly). Use a few sentences briefly describe

them;

ii. For each factor use 1-2 paragraphs discussing general relationship

between the factor and our focal industry (and related industries) based

on historical data/information,

iii. Investigate the trend of the factor (e.g., increasing/decreasing,

more/less important, etc.) in near future; and

iv. Propose the expected resulting change of our focal industry.

c. Please start your analysis on those factors using “the first factor in this segment

is….”, “the second factor…” to make your analysis logical and organized.

D. The unit of the whole Section 3.1 should be industry!!! Do NOT talk about firm level

analysis such as “demographic factors of Waste Management Inc is…”

E. Length suggestion for whole section 3.1: at least ten pages (APA writing style)

3.1.1 Demographic Segment

Hint:

You are expected to analyze the impact of demographic factors on our industry and

related industries. You need to some historical (longitudinal) data to show the

correlation and also estimate the future trend.

Topics you may discuss include changes in population and demographic characters,

and so on. Please read knowledge base articles for more details.

3.1.2 Economic Segment

Hint:

Topics you may discuss include the impact of economic development (and fluctuation)

on the growth of our industry (directly and indirectly); Please read knowledge base

articles for more details.

3.1.3 Political/Legal Segment

Hint:

This is about the direct and indirect impact of political and legal environment on our

industry. Possible topics include political climate, regulations and laws, and their

evolution over time and resulting impact on the industries in question. Please read

knowledge base articles for more details.

3.1.4 Socio-Cultural Segment

Hint:

Socio-cultural environment refers to the societal and cultural values of a population

and their changes related to our industry. For example, the public’s attitude toward

renewable energy, environment protection and sustainability, and so on may have

impact on the industry prospect. Please read knowledge base articles for more details.

3.1.5 Technological Segment

Hints:

This is about the technological development in general and its impact on our industry

and related industries. Please read knowledge base articles for more details.

3.1.6 Global Segment

Hint:

This is about the status quo of globalization of our industry and the future trends of

our industry because of the increasing globalization. You can start with the following

aspects: globalization of the market (i.e., international trade); globalization of the

production and outsourcing; and also localization and community engagement as

anti-globalization advocate. Please read knowledge base articles for more hints.

3.1.7 Summary of General Environmental Analysis

Hint:

A. You should try to integrate the different segment together besides a good

summarization.

B. Offer some implications of your analysis.