HI6006: Strategic Tools - PESTEL, Porter's 5 Forces, and SWOT Analysis

This essay provides a detailed analysis of three key strategic tools: PESTEL, Porter's Five Forces, and SWOT. The PESTEL framework examines the external environment through political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors, illustrating its application with the example of Apple Inc. Porter's Five Forces framework assesses industry competitiveness by analyzing competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, the threat of substitution, and the threat of new entrants, using Nestle as a case study. The SWOT analysis focuses on internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats, demonstrated through the example of Google. The essay references academic sources and provides practical examples to explain how these tools are used in business strategy development and decision-making.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
Analysis of the PESTEL Framework
PESTEL Analysis is a framework which is used for the purpose of external
environment analysis of an organization based on six different factors including, political,
economic, legal, social, technological, environmental and legal. This framework provides a
view of the entire environment in which the organizations operate. The different aspects of
PESTLE Analysis are important for understanding the environment of the industry. The
importance of these are different with respect to the industry in which the organization
operates (Moutinho and Phillips 2018). The five factors of PESTLE analysis are as discussed
by,
Political factors are mainly related to the extent up to which the government is able
to influence the operations of an organization. The effects of the policies formulated by the
government on the economy of the country and the industry is important for the organization
and the regulations that are formulated by them. The trade tariffs, fiscal policies of the
government affect the ways by which the organizations plan their operations. These factors
affect the business and the economic environment of the various countries (López-Gamero
and Molina-Azorín 2016).
Economic factors are the determinants of the performance of the economy of a
particular country. The economy of the country in which the organization operates has major
effects on the regulations that are formed by them. A rise in the inflation rate of the economy
can affect the prices of the services and products that are offered by the company. The buying
power of the customers will also be affected by the economy of the country. This will affect
the revenues of the organization in the specific area.

2
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
Social factors are used to scrutinize the social condition of the particular country. The
major determinants of social factors include, demographics, cultural trends and the analytics
of the population.
Technological factors are related to the innovations that are made in the various
technologies related to operations of organizations in the industry. These changes mainly
refer to the automation related activities, the awareness related to technology among the
citizens (Ho 2014).
Legal factors include the internal and external sides of the organization. The various
laws that affect the operations of the organization are analysed in the legal factors of the
Pestle analysis.
Environmental factors are related to the changes in the surrounding environment of
the organizations. This aspect is crucial for the various industries as the effects of
organizational operations on the environment are important to be analyses.
Example – The PESTLE analysis of Apple is related to the discussion of the political,
economic, legal, social, technological and environmental that affect the operations and
profitability of the organization. The government policies affect the various costs related
labour, manufacturing and taxes to be paid. The economy of the country affects the buying
power of the various customers of the countries. The spending of the consumers in the
country and the number of young people affect the sales of Apple. The technological
awareness of the citizens of the country will also affect the ways which Apple offers its
products to the various customers. The rules and regulations of the country affect the policy
formation of Apple (Khan, Alam and Alam 2015). The environmental issues that are facing
Apple is related to the disposal of the used products which further affect its operations in the
various countries.

3
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
Figure 1 – Source - (Khan, Alam and Alam 2015)
Analysis of the Porter’s Five Forces Framework
Porter’s Five Forces Framework is considered to be a simple and powerful tool which
can be used for understanding the competitive environment of the business organizations.
The five forces of Porter’s Framework are discussed as follows,
Competitive rivalry – This force is related to the strength that the competitors of the
organization have in the industry. The intense rivalry in the industry affects the prices of the
services and products offered by the organization.
Supplier power – This power is related to the number of suppliers that the
organization has in the particular country of region. The larger number of suppliers decreases

4
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
their power and lower number of suppliers increases their power in the industry (E. Dobbs,
M., 2014).
Buyer power – This power deals with the number of buyers present in the business
environment. The more number of buyers implies that the prices of products will be decided
by the buyers and not the organization.
Threat related to substitution – This force mainly relates to the number options that
the available for the customers in the particular business environment. The more number of
options further exerts more pressure on the prices of the services and products of the
company (Wang and Zhang 2015).
Threat related to new entrants in the market – This force is mainly related to the
ability of the new organizations to enter the market where an organization already has its
operations. The high ability of new organizations to enter the industry, has negative effects on
the operations of organizations that is already present in the industry. On the other hand, the
high costs related to the entry in the market can be easier for the organizations to operate in
the environment (Porter and Kramer 2018).
Example – The Porter’s Five Forces analysis of Nestle has proved that the threats of
new entrants is high for the industry in which it operates. The substitutes of the products that
are offered by Nestle are readily available in the market and this depicts that the threat is high
for Nestle. The power of buyers of this company is high and power of suppliers is low. The
rivalry levels are also quite high (Obeidat et al. 2015).

5
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
Figure 2 – Source - (Porter and Kramer 2018)
Analysis of SWOT Framework
SWOT analysis is well-known in the industry for providing detailed analysis of the
internal environment of the organizations. The analysis consists of different parts like,
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This framework is important for the
strategic planning related activities of the various organizations.
Strengths – The strengths of the organization include, the various factors like,
marketing mix of the company, the USP of the organization and the market share of the
organization. The management style of the company, the demands of the services and
products of the company and the brand value of the organization are also a major part of the
strengths of the organization (Paul, Yeates and Cadle 2014).

6
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
Weaknesses – The weaknesses are related to the utilization of resources in a proper
manner and the financial position of the organization. The ways by which the company loses
to its competition and weak distribution channels are major weaknesses. The lack of loyalty
of the stakeholders can also act as a major weakness.
Opportunities – The possibility of innovation and the expansion related opportunities
of the organization are also important for the proper functioning of the organization in the
industry. The niche markets of the company are also important opportunities (Blockeel et al.
2016).
Threats – The increase in the competition of the organization and the changes in the
pricing of other organizations are huge threats to the operations. The weak control of credits
of the company can also impact the successful operations of the organizations. The outdated
technologies that are used by the organizations can be threat to the operations.
Example – The SWOT analysis of Google can be helpful in analysing the internal
environment of the company. The strengths will include the leading position of the company
in the industry and the huge revenues gained from the various advertising. The weaknesses
will include, the falling rates of advertisements and the excessive levels of secrecy
maintained by the company. Opportunities will include the diversification related plans of the
organization in the near future. The cloud computing related opportunities will also be
discussed under this factor. The competition that is provided to the organization from social
media companies like Facebook can also act as an important threat for the operations of
Google (Obeidat et al. 2015).

7
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
Figure 3 – Source - (Obeidat et al. 2015)

8
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
References
Blockeel, C., Drakopoulos, P., Santos-Ribeiro, S., Polyzos, N.P. and Tournaye, H., 2016. A
fresh look at the freeze-all protocol: a SWOT analysis. Human reproduction, 31(3), pp.491-
497.
E. Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry
analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), pp.32-45.
Ho, J.K.K., 2014. Formulation of a systemic PEST analysis for strategic analysis. European
academic research, 2(5), pp.6478-6492.
Khan, U.A., Alam, M.N. and Alam, S., 2015. A critical analysis of internal and external
environment of Apple Inc. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and
Management, 3(6), pp.955-961.
López-Gamero, M.D. and Molina-Azorín, J.F., 2016. Environmental management and firm
competitiveness: the joint analysis of external and internal elements. Long Range
Planning, 49(6), pp.746-763.
Moutinho, L. and Phillips, P., 2018. Strategic analysis. In Contemporary Issues in Strategic
Management (pp. 46-79). Routledge.
Obeidat, M., North, M., Richardson, R., Rattanak, V. and North, S., 2015. Business
intelligence technology, applications, and trends. International Management Review, 11(2),
p.47.
Paul, D., Yeates, D. and Cadle, J. eds., 2014. Business analysis. British Computer Society.
Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R., 2018. Creating shared value. In Managing Sustainable
Business (pp. 327-350). Springer, Dordrecht.

9
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TOOLS
Wang, F. and Zhang, X.P.S., 2015. The role of the Internet in changing industry
competition. Information & Management, 52(1), pp.71-81.