As any management student or management textbook will affirm, there are numerous tools and techniques available for gathering and analysing the results of a review of external environments. A common tool is PEST (and its derivatives) as noted below:

• PEST (Political, Economic, Social, Technical)

• PESTEL (same as in PEST + Environmental, Legal)

• PEST-CM (same as in PEST + Customers, Markets)

• STEEP (Social, Technical, Economic, Environmental, Political).

While all these recording tools can be helpful, in this chapter we will focus on some of the key features to be understood, and offer a simple format for recording both, internal and external features.

The simple tool for recording the significant internal and external environmental features applicable to an organization is a SWOT analysis strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) are internally focused, while the opportunities (O) and threats (T) are external to the organization. A basic format for this is shown in Figure 1.1.