Contextual Application Paper - External The contextual application paper is an individual assignment. Students should NOT discuss with others or advise others about this assignment. Any unauthorized collaboration (collusion) on this assignment will be considered as cheating and will be subject to an academic discipline. The deliverable to me is a paper that demonstrate your understanding and analyses in clear and well-organized manner. The paper should be no more than eight (8) pages including a separate cover page (double space & 12 font size). Please include citations of all your references in a separate Reference Page (APA style). Reference and appendix pages are not counted toward the page imitation. Here is what you need to do. First, pick a company that you are interested in researching. Second, identify news articles from reputable business newspapers and magazines that are relevant to the company (and the company’s industry). Find articles that describes certain trends and phenomena in the external environment. Third and last, analyse the external environment of the company or industry using the frameworks and researching findings in the second step. Your overall goal is to identify opportunities and threats arising in the external environments. Here are additional guidelines for the assignments: a) The paper must be based on articles that are: a. relevant (clearly relate the articles to what we have discussed in class) b. timely (within the last 24 months) c. from a reputable business publication such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and Economist. b) Avoid excessive use of bullets, indent space, and direct quotes. The paper should be left-aligned with the 1-inch margin on four sides of the paper. c) You need to use minimum of ten news articles in your writing. d) You need to include in-text citations. Also, include a separate references page at the end and list all the citations in APA style (there should be at least ten (10) citations. e) Insert important tables, figures, and charts in the body of text if they can easily fit in a page. If those (tables, figures, and charts) are too large to fit in a page, then include them in a separate appendix section. Tables, figures, and charts have to be your own creation unless recreating them on your own is near impossible or impossible. Use of tables, figures, and charts are highly recommended. At a minimum, your paper should include the following three tables (not counted toward the page limit). 1 PESTEL Elements References in in-text citation style What is happening? Potential effects on the company or industry (O/T)? Political Political Economic Economic Social Technological Economic Legal Legal Table 1. General Environmental Analysis Summary (Extend the table as you need) Table 2. Five Force Analysis Five Forces References in in-text citation style Current Status Implications (Opportunities and Threats) Suppliers Buyers Th.

1. Contextual Application Paper - External
The contextual application paper is an individual assignment.
Students should NOT discuss with others or advise others about
this assignment. Any unauthorized collaboration (collusion) on
this assignment will be considered as cheating and will be
subject to an academic discipline.
The deliverable to me is a paper that demonstrate your
understanding and analyses in clear and well-organized manner.
The paper should be no more than eight (8) pages including a
separate cover page (double space & 12 font size). Please
include citations of all your references in a separate Reference
Page (APA style). Reference and appendix pages are not
counted toward the page imitation.
Here is what you need to do. First, pick a company that you are
interested in researching. Second, identify news articles from
reputable business newspapers and magazines that are relevant
to the company (and the company’s industry). Find articles that
describes certain trends and phenomena in the external
environment. Third and last, analyse the external environment
of the company or industry using the frameworks and
researching findings in the second step. Your overall goal is to
identify opportunities and threats arising in the external
environments.
Here are additional guidelines for the assignments:
a) The paper must be based on articles that are:
a. relevant (clearly relate the articles to what we have discussed
in class)
b. timely (within the last 24 months)
c. from a reputable business publication such as the Wall Street
Journal, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and Economist.
b) Avoid excessive use of bullets, indent space, and direct
quotes. The paper should be left-aligned with the 1-inch margin
on four sides of the paper.
c) You need to use minimum of ten news articles in your
writing.

2. d) You need to include in-text citations. Also, include a
separate references page at the end and list all the citations in
APA style (there should be at least ten (10) citations.
e) Insert important tables, figures, and charts in the body of text
if they can easily fit in a page. If those (tables, figures, and
charts) are too large to fit in a page, then include them in a
separate appendix section. Tables, figures, and charts have to be
your own creation unless recreating them on your own is near
impossible or impossible. Use of tables, figures, and charts are
highly recommended. At a minimum, your paper should include
the following three tables (not counted toward the page limit).
1
PESTEL Elements
References in in-text citation style
What is happening?
Potential effects on the company or industry (O/T)?
Political
Political
Economic
Economic

3. Social
Technological
Economic
Legal
Legal
Table 1. General Environmental Analysis Summary (Extend the
table as you need)
Table 2. Five Force Analysis
Five Forces
References in in-text citation style
Current Status
Implications
(Opportunities and Threats)
Suppliers
Buyers

4. Threats of New Entrants
Threats of Substitutes
Industry Rivalry
Table 3. Competitor Analysis Summary
Competitors
References in in-text citation style
Future Objectives, Current Strategy, Assumptions, Capabilities,
Response
Implication
Firm A
Firm B
Firm C

5. Firm D
Firm E
MGT 431:Conceptual Application Paper Evaluation
A. CONTENT (80 POINTS)
1. Properly incorporating discussion of external environment
element using analytical frameworks/tools (30 points)
2. Research showing appropriate breadth and depth (20 points)
3. Proper Identification of Opportunities and Threats from the
analysis (10 points)
4. Efforts (quantity) to visualize ideas and research findings in
tables, figures, and charts. (10 points)
5. Quality of tables, figures, and charts (10 points)
SUB-TOTAL __________________
B. WRITING (20 POINTS)
1. Organization (Well-organized; headings used throughout;
easy to follow from data to conclusions) – 5 points
2. Clarity of Writing (High quality writing throughout; fully
edited) – 5 points

6. 3. Grammar & Spelling – 5 points
4. References in APA or MLA – 5 points
SUB-TOTAL
________________
TOTAL _________________
External Environment
Chapter 2
1
Three components of External environmentsType of
AnalysisFocusGeneral EnvironmentFocused on the future
Industry EnvironmentFocused on factors and conditions
influencing a firm’s profitability within an industry Competitor
EnvironmentFocused on predicting the dynamics of
competitors’ actions, responses and intentions
2
General environment Segments
(or Pestel)
Demographic
Economic
Political/Legal

7. Sociocultural
Technological
Global
Physical Environment
3
Population size
Age structure
Geographic distribution
Ethic mix
Income distribution
Etc.
General environment Segments
(or Pestel)
Demographic
Economic
Political/Legal
Sociocultural
Technological
Global
Physical Environment
4
Inflation rates
Interest rates
Personal savings rate
Business savings rates
GDP
Budget deficit or surplus
Etc.
General environment Segments
(or Pestel)
Demographic

8. Economic
Political/Legal
Sociocultural
Technological
Global
Physical Environment
5
Taxation laws
Antitrust laws
Deregulations
Labor laws
Educational policies
Etc.
General environment Segments
(or Pestel)
Demographic
Economic
Political/Legal
Sociocultural
Technological
Global
Physical Environment
6
Workforce diversity
Shift in work or career preference
Shift in preference in products or service
Attitudes about quality of life
Etc.
General environment Segments
(or Pestel)

9. Demographic
Economic
Political/Legal
Sociocultural
Technological
Global
Physical Environment
7
New communication technologies
Product innovation
Internet speed
Speed of technology diffusion
Etc.
General environment Segments
(or Pestel)
Demographic
Economic
Political/Legal
Sociocultural
Technological
Global
Physical Environment
8
Important political events
Global market trends
Newly industrialized countries
Differences in culture and institutionalization
Etc.

10. General environment Segments
(or Pestel)
Demographic
Economic
Political/Legal
Sociocultural
Technological
Global
Physical Environment
9
Minimizing environmental footprints
Renewable energy efforts
Energy consumption
Pollution (water, soil, air)
Climate change
Etc.
Industry environment & porter’s five forces
10
Competitive Rivalry within an industry
Bargaining power of suppliers
Threats of substitute products
Threats of new entrants
Bargaining power of customers
Industry environment & porter’s five forces

11. Supplier power increases when:
Suppliers are large and few
No suitable substitute products
Many small buyers
Importance of suppliers’ goods
High switching costs.
Threats of forward integration
11
Industry environment & porter’s five forces
Barriers to entry is high when:
Economies of scale
Product differentiation
Capital requirements
Switching costs
Access to distribution channels
Government policy
Expected retaliation
12
Industry environment & porter’s five forces
The threat of substitute products increases when:
Low switching costs
Lower price of the substitute product
Substitute product’s quality and performance are equal to or
greater than the existing product.
13
Industry environment & porter’s five forces

12. Buyer power increases when:
Large and few buyers
Large purchase
Low switching cost
Backward integration
14
Industry environment & porter’s five forces
Industry rivalry increases when:
Numerous or equally balanced competitors
Slow growth or decline of an industry
High fixed costs
Low switching costs
High strategic stakes
High exit barriers
15
Competitor Analysis
Strategic group
Market/Resource commonality