Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

Hi, Matthew,

For the international scene, a mainstay is PEST (or PESTLE if you add legal and environmental):

https://www.netmba.com/strategy/pest/

For your PEST, pay close attention to the Social piece - including cultural and religious issues is very key.

Another area of importance in an international firm is encompassed in Porter's Five Forces analysis. Supply chain issues (supplier power) and barriers to entry are key issues too. Substitute technologies - in particular, replacing old technologies that have been part of the culture - is a good issue to consider. And competitive rivalry is key in any analysis.

https://www.businessballs.com/portersfiveforcesofcompetition.htm

PEST naturally leads to SWOT analysis because PEST identifies threats and opportunities outside the firm. So add strengths and weaknesses and you have a completed SWOT:

https://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/

When you are looking internationally, the P out of the 4 P's to pay attention to is "Place" - this being the distribution channel definition (although I think of this P as placement which is more about the position you occupy in a customer's mind - here we'll use it as "place" as I sometimes see it). The question is, "How do I get my products to the customers?"

As you look at the international landscape, you have to realize that each of these analyses have to be completed for each region of interest, since they change from region to region.

I hope this helps.

Wayde