Segments & Elements of General Environment

• Demographic segment

  • population size
  • age structure
  • geographic distribution
  • ethnic mix
  • income distribution
• Economic segment

  • inflation rates
  • interest rates
  • trade deficits or surpluses
  • budget deficits or surpluses
  • personal savings rate
  • business savings rates
  • gross domestic product
• Political / Legal Segment

  • Antitrust laws
  • Taxation laws
  • Deregulation philosophies
  • Labor training laws
  • Educational philosophies and policies
• Sociocultural segment

  • women in workforce
  • workforce diversity
  • attitude about the quality of work life
  • shifts in work and career preferences
  • shifts in preferences regarding product and service characteristics
• Technological segment

  • product innovations
  • applications of knowledge
  • focus of private and government-supported R&D expenditures
  • new communication technologies
• Global segment

  • important political events
  • critical global markets
  • newly industrialized countries
  • different cultural and institutional attributes
• Sustainable physical environment

  • 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