BUSI 4940 Chapter 2 Study Guide
Questions with Actual Detailed
Answers.
A firm's competitive actions and responses are influenced by the conditions in the three parts of
its external environment. What are the 3 parts? - Answer the general environment, the
industry environment, and the competitor environment
What are the 7 general environment segments of the external environment? - Answer -
demographic segment
-economic segment
-Political/Legal segment
-Sociocultural segment
-Technological segment
-Global segment
-Sustainable physical environment segment
What are the elements of the demographic segment? - Answer -Population size
-Age structure
-Geographic distribution
-Ethnic mix
-Income distribution
What are the elements of the economic segment? - Answer -Inflation rates
-Interest rates
-Trade deficits or surpluses
-Budget deficits or surpluses
-Personal savings rate
-Business savings rates
-Gross domestic product
What are the elements of the political/legal segment? - Answer -Antitrust laws
-Taxation laws
-Deregulation philosophies
-Labor training laws
, -Educational philosophies and policies
What are the elements of the sociocultural segment? - Answer -Women in the workforce
-Workforce diversity
-Attitudes about the quality of work life
-Shifts in work and career preferences
-Shifts in preferences regarding product and service characteristics
What are the elements of the technological segment? - Answer -Product innovations
-Applications of knowledge
-Focus of private and government-supported R&D expenditures
-New communication technologies
What are the elements of the global segment? - Answer -Important political events
-Critical global markets
-Newly industrialized countries
-Different cultural and institutional attributes
What are the elements of the sustainable physical environment segment? - Answer -Energy
consumption
-Practices used to develop energy sources
-Renewable energy efforts
-Minimizing a firm's environmental footprint
-Availability of water as a resource
-Producing environmentally friendly products
-Reacting to natural or man-made disasters
Can firms directly control the general environment's segments? - Answer No. What a
company seeks to do is recognize trends in each segment of the general environment and then
predict each trend's effect on it.
What is the industry environment? - Answer the set of factors that directly influences a firm
and its competitive actions and responses: the threat of new entrants, the power of suppliers,
the power of buyers, the threat of product substitutes, and the intensity of rivalry among
competing firms.
Questions with Actual Detailed
Answers.
A firm's competitive actions and responses are influenced by the conditions in the three parts of
its external environment. What are the 3 parts? - Answer the general environment, the
industry environment, and the competitor environment
What are the 7 general environment segments of the external environment? - Answer -
demographic segment
-economic segment
-Political/Legal segment
-Sociocultural segment
-Technological segment
-Global segment
-Sustainable physical environment segment
What are the elements of the demographic segment? - Answer -Population size
-Age structure
-Geographic distribution
-Ethnic mix
-Income distribution
What are the elements of the economic segment? - Answer -Inflation rates
-Interest rates
-Trade deficits or surpluses
-Budget deficits or surpluses
-Personal savings rate
-Business savings rates
-Gross domestic product
What are the elements of the political/legal segment? - Answer -Antitrust laws
-Taxation laws
-Deregulation philosophies
-Labor training laws
, -Educational philosophies and policies
What are the elements of the sociocultural segment? - Answer -Women in the workforce
-Workforce diversity
-Attitudes about the quality of work life
-Shifts in work and career preferences
-Shifts in preferences regarding product and service characteristics
What are the elements of the technological segment? - Answer -Product innovations
-Applications of knowledge
-Focus of private and government-supported R&D expenditures
-New communication technologies
What are the elements of the global segment? - Answer -Important political events
-Critical global markets
-Newly industrialized countries
-Different cultural and institutional attributes
What are the elements of the sustainable physical environment segment? - Answer -Energy
consumption
-Practices used to develop energy sources
-Renewable energy efforts
-Minimizing a firm's environmental footprint
-Availability of water as a resource
-Producing environmentally friendly products
-Reacting to natural or man-made disasters
Can firms directly control the general environment's segments? - Answer No. What a
company seeks to do is recognize trends in each segment of the general environment and then
predict each trend's effect on it.
What is the industry environment? - Answer the set of factors that directly influences a firm
and its competitive actions and responses: the threat of new entrants, the power of suppliers,
the power of buyers, the threat of product substitutes, and the intensity of rivalry among
competing firms.
