Chapter 3
The External Assessment
Strategic
Management:
Concepts & Cases
11th Edition
Fred David
Ch 3 -1
External Strategic
Management Audit
Identify & Evaluate factors beyond
the control of a single firm
– Increased foreign competition
– Population shifts
– Information technology
Ch 3 -2
Key External Forces & the Organization
Competitors
Suppliers
Distributors
Creditors
Key Customers Opportunities
External Employees &
Forces
Communities Threats
Managers
Stockholders
Labor Unions
Special Interest Groups
Products
Services
Ch 3 -3
Performing External Audit
Long-term orientation
Measurable
External
Factors Applicable to
competing firms
Hierarchical
Ch 3 -4
I/O Perspective Firm Performance
Industry Properties
Economies of Scale
Barriers to market entry
Product differentiation
Level of competitiveness
Ch 3 -5
Social, Cultural, Demographic
& Environmental Forces
U.S. Facts
•Aging population
•Less Caucasian
•Widening gap between rich & poor
•2025 = 18.5% population >65 years
•2075 = no ethnic or racial majority
Ch 3 -6
Key Social, Cultural, Demographic &
Environmental Variables
Childbearing rates
Number of special interest groups
Number of marriages & divorces
Number of births & deaths
Immigration & emigration rates
Ch 3 -7
Political, Government & Legal
Forces
Globalization of Industry
• Worldwide trend toward similar
consumption patterns
• Global buyers and sellers
• E-commerce
• Technology for instant currency transfers
Ch 3 -8
Competitive Forces
Identifying Rival Firms
•Strengths
•Weaknesses
•Capabilities
•Opportunities
•Threats
•Objectives
•Strategies
Ch 3 -9
Competitive Forces
7 Characteristics of most
Competitive U.S. Firms:
1. Market share matters
2. Understand what business you are in
3. Broke or not, fix it
4. Innovate or evaporate
Ch 3 -10
Competitive Forces
7 Characteristics of most
Competitive U.S. Firms:
5. Acquisition is essential to growth
6. People make a difference
7. No substitute for quality
Ch 3 -11
The Five-Forces Model of Competition
Potential development
of substitute products
Bargaining power Rivalry among Bargaining power
of suppliers competing firms of consumers
Potential entry of new
competitors
Ch 3 -12
The Global Challenge
Faced by U.S. Firms --
•Gain & maintain exports to other
nations
•Defend domestic markets against
imported goods
Ch 3 -13
Industry Analysis: The External Factor
Evaluation (EFE) Matrix
Summarize & Evaluate
Economic Demographic Governmental
Social Environmental Technological
Cultural Political Competitive
Ch 3 -14
Ch 3 -15
Ch 3 -16
Industry Analysis EFE
Total weighted score of 4.0
• Organization response is outstanding to threats
and weaknesses
Total weighted score of 1.0
• Firm’s strategies not capitalizing on opportunities
or avoiding threats
Ch 3 -17
Industry Analysis: Competitive Profile
Matrix (CPM)
Identifies firm’s major competitors
and their strengths & weaknesses
in relation to a sample firm’s
strategic positions
Ch 3 -18
Gateway Apple Dell
Wt Rating Wt’d Ratin Wt’d Rating Wt’d
CSF’s Score g Score Score
Market share 0.15 3 0.45 2 0.30 4 0.60
Inventory sys 0.08 2 0.16 2 0.16 4 0.32
Fin. position 0.10 2 0.20 3 0.30 3 0.30
Prod. Quality 0.08 3 0.24 4 0.32 3 0.24
Cons. Loyalty 0.02 3 0.06 3 0.06 4 0.08
Sales Distr 0.10 3 0.30 2 0.20 3 0.30
Global Exp. 0.15 3 0.45 2 0.30 4 0.60
Org. Structure 0.05 3 0.15 3 0.15 3 0.15
Ch 3 -19
Gateway Apple Dell
Wt Rating Wt’d Ratin Wt’d Rating Wt’d
CSF’s (cont’d) Score g Score Score
Prod. Capacity 0.04 3 0.12 3 0.12 3 0.12
E-commerce 0.10 3 0.30 3 0.30 3 0.30
Customer Serv 0.10 3 0.30 2 0.20 4 0.40
Price
0.02 4 0.08 1 0.02 3 0.06
competitive
Mgt. 0.01 2 0.02 4 0.04 2 0.02
experience
Total 1.00 2.83 2.47 3.49
Ch 3 -20
