a. Utilize a
macroeconomic forecast of economic indicators from the external remote
environment that will affect your chosen organization in the future and should
be considered part of strategic planning.

b. Analyze
the non-economic factors in the external remote environment:

1) Social
and Cultural

2) Political

3) Technological

4) Demographic

d. Develop
an assessment of the organization’s external industry environment using
Porter’s “Five Forces”, including an assessment of the future forces
and trends in the industry.

e. Identify
strengths and weaknesses in the organization’s operating environment that can
be leveraged to capitalize on the emerging opportunities or minimize the
threats that you identified thus far. Make sure to present a competitive
assessment on how specific key competitors compare to the firm on the criteria
you believe are most associated with marketplace success. Also be sure to
assess the firm’s key customer/market segments, and the key needs/demands of
each (in particular look to see how these needs/demands might be evolving based
upon some of your earlier research into future trends).

f. Considering
all of your external assessment findings, summarize the top three to four
strategic opportunities and/or threats that are most important to consider in
your later development of long-term objectives.