Your response posts should seek to expand the discussion and not simply focus on how much you "like" or "agree" with the post

Your response posts should seek to expand the discussion and not simply focus on how much you "like" or "agree" with the post. And do not use the post words. No resources needed post 1: Why is it important for a firm to study and understand the external environment? (100 words needed) Firms need to study and understand the external environment for a few reasons. In order to be successful a company must know the environment that they are working in. External factors will change the way a company operates and behaves in order to meet consumer and market demands. For example, if interest rates go up or down, if social issues change, and therefore changing consumer behavior, or if the government puts in new regulations. This being said there are different categories of the external environment a company needs to look at and be aware of when doing business. They are the economic environment, legal environment, competitive environment, technological environment, social environment, and the global environment. Each one of these external factors will affect how a business moves forward, and it will be up to management to asses these factors and decide how to deal with them. Post 2 Why is it important for a firm to study and understand the external environment? (100 words needed) The external environment is important to study because it is what shapes the market that the business is in. All the external factors determine the prices at which people will buy the product and if the demand is there. The external factors can be the economics, social construct, weather, and location of the area. Most are self-explanatory, but weather and location of the area tends to escape people's understanding. An example of weather is like ski and winter sport shops selling merchandise. Once it starts getting warmer, the chances of selling the product goes down, and so a lot of them will have sales to get rid of last season's merchandise to make way for the new ones in the fall. If a person starting this business does not study the weather for a seasonal business, the chances of success will decrease significantly. Same thing with location of the area. Sporting good stores not next to areas with sport water will not sell life jackets and fishing gear as well as a place that has lakes in the area. The literal environment in a sporting goods store can determine which merchandise sells. If the company does not pay attention to details like that, they will lose money in purchasing merchandise that will not sell. Post 3 Why is it important for a firm to study and understand the external environment? (100 words needed) An external environment of a firm would include their general environment, industry, and direct and indirect competitors. It is important for a firm to study and understand each of these external environments for their company to be successful. By looking at the general environment a company will ensure that the product or service that they are offering is what their customers are needing/buying and that the company is not missing any opportunities to expand their operations. In addition, by looking and planning a company can see how new regulations will affect them and how they will react in the future. A company would be wise to study and understand their industry environment because they can see whether they hold the power or whether their suppliers or buyers hold the power. A firm should also understand how easy/difficult it is for other firms to enter the market causing more competition. The last area is the competitor environment. It would be wise for a firm to study both direct and indirect competitors because both can shift the competition that is experienced by the firm. For example, an indirect competitor can change their services/products and enter the same market as the firm. If the firm has not considered this possibility, it will be caught by surprise. Firms should study their direct competitors to ensure they are still offering their products at the best price to their target market/customers. If they are not, they need to have a plan of how to react to these situations.