STR/581

ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN 7

Strategic Plan; Environmental Scan

Regina Snedecor

STR/581 STRATEGIC PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION

May 7, 2017

ALEJANDRO MEDINA

Environmental Scan

Environmental Scan refers to reviewing of external factors that affect a business. The main aim of this environmental scan is to identify and consult sources outside the firm. These sources are usually uncontrollable though critical in decision-making processes. The main idea behind this business is to allow the consumer to purchase products directly from the producer using the internet as a platform. The technological advancements have been the driving factor for online sales and marketing.

For this to be successful, an environmental scan has to be in place throughout the formation and running of the business. The major environmental scan components that will apply to this particular business will include evaluating of the business’ external environment, assessing the company’s general situation and assess the organization's industry operating environment (Bakhru, 2015). When working in a very competitive industry, the short and long-term goals of the organization must be clearly defined and established during every step of the business. Specifically, the primary purpose of the firm would be to develop a niche market for itself and a unique product that will satisfy the needs of this niche market. For example, the company may choose to deal in fashion items and accessories hence the goal would be to establish a niche market for such products and their unique needs.

However, for the company to achieve such a goal, it must create and implement a comprehensive strategy that will facilitate the target attainment. The plan may include advertising and marketing techniques aimed at reaching the specific audience. For example, the use of social media and strategies such as the search engine optimization (SEO) may significantly help with the targeting of the particular niche market. With regards to evaluation, the same tools can be evaluated to establish their effectiveness in the attainment of the overall goal. That is, for social media and SEO, instruments such as Google analytics can significantly assist with determining the impact of the company’s online activities as far as the overall goal is concerned. Additionally, the way the actual business will implement will determine whether the firm will be successful in the long run (Rockville, 2015). For instance, the business must have an efficient website, which will be easy to access and use for the consumer. Therefore, the actual design of the online store has to be nicely done, with the principal features that support the actions of the user online. For example, the website must have an integrated payment system, including a shopping cart that calculates the shopper’s total purchases and supports credit card payments.

Finally, the analysis is also important in the strategic management process as the business can gain valuable insights into this process. For example, different products can be analyzed to determine the product that will comprehensively address the needs of the selected niche. Additionally, the various wholesale companies can be pitted against each other to find out the ones with the best quality products at the most reasonable rates. At this step, the research on logistics such as shipping may help the company determine the most convenient method for getting the product from the wholesaler to the consumer upon purchasing.

The ever-increasing competition in the industry will consequently lead to the company adopting an innovative strategy that will assist it in its efforts to remain on top of the game; this prompted us to do an environmental scan of the company’s external environment. The competition pricing policy, their advertisement, products they offered, proximity to our startup company, customer service and customer feedback; this gave us a clear insight of the kind of competition to expect and the way to conduct our business with the best practices that will likely put us ahead of the game. Considering; the recent economic difficulties in the country, our analysis saw it fit to start on a small profit margin as we had earlier anticipated; this saw us taking a cut of the prices of products so as not to be kicked out of the business before we even start.

We saw fit to have our own company’s website where the customers can check for the company’s details and products online so as to know what exactly to expect from the enterprise. Also, it was also evident that the growth of social media necessitated for the opening of Twitter and Facebook accounts so as to connect easily with people in the social media (Landry, 2016). The legal system of the central government and the local authorities both are applied to the local authorities’ issue out licenses and collect taxes whereas the national government has some rules that govern our interaction with the members of the public.

Innovation is important in the industry as the business that fails to create new approaches and ideas to solve the common problems they face are in most cases left behind regarding competition. The business will, for this reason, sought to be a trendsetter in the industry to avoid the consequences that come with lack of innovation. New services will, therefore, be consistently created, in addition to the constant improvements made to the existing products and services offered by the business (Traylor, 2016). However, in cases where the competition appears to have the edge on new goods and services, the business will ensure it catches up by not only keeping up with the trends in the industry but also by adjusting the newly developed services and products to align them with the company’s goals and objectives. Specifically, the innovations tailored to the likes and preferences of the specific users of the website for online shopping.

Both the external and internal environment of a company is crucial to the company’s success and is interrelated. The personal circumstances of a company have to be conducive for the employees and should be in hand with the legal requirements of the enterprise.

The company will not produce cheap goods so that to sell products at lower prices to increase sells and do projects as this will be unethical. The company will not also engage in false advertising to attract more cell, and the external environment will always dictate our operations.

The organization's industry operating environment consists of factors such as the bargaining power of suppliers; it, therefore, describes the capability power of buyers, the threat of substitute products or services, and the degree of rivalry among existing competitors. The suppliers bargaining power was fairly good thus this prompts goods of fair prices. The buyers found to like bargaining so much; this made us come with quite some strategies to try to ensure that our business won’t entirely run on losses. The degree of the rivalry was fairly good thus the company will cope fairly well with its competitors.

In conclusion, the success of any business venture is based primarily on a thorough environmental scan, and the scan should be a continuous process carried not only at the start of the firm but also throughout the existence of the business.

References

Bakhru, R. N., Wiebe, D. J., McWilliams, D. J., Spuhler, V. J., & Schweickert, W. D. (2015). An environmental scan for early mobilization practices in US ICUs. Critical care medicine, 43(11), 2360-2369.

Landry, C. (2016). OA policies in Canada: A quick and dirty environmental scan. Open Shelf.

Rockville, M. D., Maurer, M., Dardess, P., Carman, K. L., Frazier, K., & Smeeding, L. (2015). Guide to Patient and Family Engagement: Environmental Scan Report. 2012. URL: http://www. ahrq. gov/research/findings/final-reports/ptfamilyscan/ptfamilyscan. pdf [accessed 2015-01-17][WebCite Cache].

Taylor, E. A., Fischer, S. H., Gracner, T., Tejeda, I., Kim, A., Chavez-Herrerias, E., & de la Guardia, F. H. (2016). Developing a Strategic Program for Chilean Health Information Technology: Environmental Scan and Key Informant Interviews. Rand health quarterly, 6(1).