Discuss in a 3560 words:
Understand that the external environment is composed of a firm's market and customers, its industry and competitors, and general environmental factors like demographics, economics, politics, and technology.
Describe detailed steps in the process for conducting an external environmental assessment.
List some techniques that a business can use to determine what its customers value.
Apply the acquired knowledge of customer value preferences to the planning of competitive strategies.
Understand the concept of an industrial value chain, in contrast with a business's internal value chain