BUSM40000D Integrated Industry Project

PEST, the acronym for P (political, governmental, legal), E (economic), S (social, cultural, demographic, environmental), T (technological) is used to describe different macroenvironmental factors that impact the business operation or performance.

Porter's Five Forces is a framework for analyzing the competitive environment for an industry. Five forces are Threat of New Entrants, Threat of Substitute Products or Services, Rivalry of Existing Competitors, Bargaining Power of Customers and Bargaining Power of Suppliers.

The below resources can help you to understand the industry and identify supplier, buyer and competitors.

To start your competitive analysis, you may want to analyze and investigate your competitors in interested area. Here are some strategies to start with:

• Create a list of companies/competitors in your interested industry and area by searching company directories;
• If your competitors are public companies, learn about them by reading their annual reports and financial reports;
• Search newspapers and magazines to find out business news about your competitors;
• Google your competitors' names to learn about their products/services;
• Don't forget to look at social media platforms to learn about your competitors' latest updates, marketing activities and etc.