Case Study:
Unilever
Research and analyze secondary data including
1) the firm's website (e.g., Investor Relations, About Us, etc.),
2) their 2015 10-K (Google this), and
3) business databases including industry data such as IBISWorld, BizMiner, and company data, such as Business Source Complete, LexisNexis, etc.
1. PESTEL Analysis Conduct PESTEL analysis to identify the most important external forces in the general/macro-environment affecting the company and industry. Which present or future threats or opportunities are important to the firm?
Political Forces (e.g., tax policies such as tax incentives by the government that may be favorable to the firm, financial bailouts by government, impact of monetary policy and fiscal policy on the industry, lobbying/political action group pressures that ma impact the firm, etc.)
2. Economic Forces (GDP growth rates, levels of employment, interest rates, Price stability, currency exchange rates, etc. See IBISWorld for Economic Drivers)
3. Socio-cultural Trends (Demographic trends, AND the attitudes and preferences/what is important to society and the firm's primary market (e.g., U.S. and other key countries the firm targets)
Technology/ Innovation & Emerging Trends
4. Ecological/Environmental Sustainability (Think of pollution, depletion of world resources, disasters caused by companies such as BP's oil spill. This segment may overlap with both sociocultural attitudes toward alternativeenergy sources, environmental regulations, and technological developments.)
5. Legal (e.g., identify 3-4 most significant regulations impacting the industry, state laws impacting your firm, etc.)