External and Internal Environmental Analysis By- Josalyn Dietrich External and Internal Environmental Analysis Complete  the external environmental scan for your organization.  Perform  an internal competitive environmental scan for your organization. Write  a summary of no more than 1,400 words that does the following:  Identifies and analyzes the most important external environmental factor in the remote, industry, and external operating environments The remote external environment is the “economic, social, political, technological, and ecological factors that originate beyond … any single firm’s operating situation,” ( Pearce & Robinson, 2013).The most important factors for this business is the social and technological aspects of the business. The social implications to be considered here include the privacy that most people value when it comes to their finances. Many people have expressed that they are uncomfortable with the idea of letting other people have access to their financial information. This can be a huge factor because in order to be a bookkeeper, there is no degree that is required. Hiring an accountant or a professional tax preparer, there are certain levels of certification that are needed to hold these titles, so it gives the client a sense of security. It would be in the owner of a bookkeeping business’ best interest to attain a variety of certifications or other ways to gain credibility with the potential client base. The technological aspect of the remote environment is mostly concerned with the software the business will be using to keep track of the finances for the company, and how the financial information will physically get to the bookkeeper. Luckily, there is one main software system that most small business are willing to use or are already attempting to use. For this situation, the bookkeeping business will need to become an expert in this software and be able to have access to each different section of this program, whether it is on a hard drive or cloud based. The second factor that will need to be addressed is the fact that the bookkeeper will need to either attain the supplemental documentation (receipts, check carbon copies, etc.) physically or electronically. Many people that are running a small business on their own do not have an electronic way of tracking receipts and checks because there has not been a need for it in the past because of the small scale on which they have been doing business. This has created a sort of resistance to moving to electronically attaining the financial documentation because the business owners just have a bag of receipts. This can potentially limit the target market to owners that are physically located in the same city as the bookkeeping business. The industry environment refers to the “general conditions for competition that influence all businesses that provide similar products and services,” (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). The most important factor within the industry .

1. External and Internal Environmental Analysis
By- Josalyn Dietrich
External and Internal Environmental Analysis
Complete
the external environmental scan for your organization.
Perform
an internal competitive environmental scan for your
organization.
Write
a summary of no more than 1,400 words that does the
following:
Identifies and analyzes the most important external
environmental factor in the remote, industry, and external
operating environments
The remote external environment is the “economic, social,
political, technological, and ecological factors that originate
beyond … any single firm’s operating situation,” (
Pearce & Robinson, 2013).The most important factors for this
business is the social and technological aspects of the business.
The social implications to be considered here include the
privacy that most people value when it comes to their finances.
Many people have expressed that they are uncomfortable with
the idea of letting other people have access to their financial
information. This can be a huge factor because in order to be a
bookkeeper, there is no degree that is required. Hiring an
accountant or a professional tax preparer, there are certain
levels of certification that are needed to hold these titles, so it
gives the client a sense of security. It would be in the owner of

2. a bookkeeping business’ best interest to attain a variety of
certifications or other ways to gain credibility with the potential
client base.
The technological aspect of the remote environment is mostly
concerned with the software the business will be using to keep
track of the finances for the company, and how the financial
information will physically get to the bookkeeper. Luckily,
there is one main software system that most small business are
willing to use or are already attempting to use. For this
situation, the bookkeeping business will need to become an
expert in this software and be able to have access to each
different section of this program, whether it is on a hard drive
or cloud based. The second factor that will need to be addressed
is the fact that the bookkeeper will need to either attain the
supplemental documentation (receipts, check carbon copies,
etc.) physically or electronically. Many people that are running
a small business on their own do not have an electronic way of
tracking receipts and checks because there has not been a need
for it in the past because of the small scale on which they have
been doing business. This has created a sort of resistance to
moving to electronically attaining the financial documentation
because the business owners just have a bag of receipts. This
can potentially limit the target market to owners that are
physically located in the same city as the bookkeeping business.
The industry environment refers to the “general conditions for
competition that influence all businesses that provide similar
products and services,” (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). The most
important factor within the industry of the external environment
is the low barriers to entry. As stated in the previous section,
because of the technological aspect of the remote environment,
the industry is limited to the competitors that work within the
same city of the bookkeeping business. Because of the target
market, small business owners, who are the very general target
market for this bookkeeping business, are very active within the
city with networking groups or business coaching. The business
owners, especially in business coaching, are there because they

3. value their time and are looking for ways to maximize it, which
is what this bookkeeping business is providing. The competitive
aspect of this industry is fairly low, because it is so heavily
word of mouth, networking oriented, and very location specific.
By being involved as an owner of a small business, it creates a
sort of common ground and a sense of loyalty and credibility
with a huge reach not only to the people in the business
coaching but also to other people that they might meet who are
in a similar situation. There are, of course, other businesses that
do the same type bookkeeping work, but because it is a one
person job, there are much more businesses in the city than any
one person can handle. So while these other businesses are
considered the competition, it is also in the business’s best
interest to use these other businesses for referrals of clients that
they just don’t have the time to take on.
The operating environment is “the competitive situation that
affects a firm’s success in acquiring needed resources or in
profitably marketing its goods and services,” (Pearce &
Robinson, 2013). In the case of this bookkeeping business, there
are no actual resources, physical location needs, or personnel
requirements because it is a single person doing the work
electronically. The most important factor in this environment is
the price competitiveness and knowing what the customer
profiles are. The business owners are currently able to do the
services the bookkeeping business is looking to provide on their
own. The pricing needs to be considerate of the fact that these
are small businesses, most likely on small budgets, and that the
price needs to reflect the amount of income that the small
business owner can bring in by spending time on their work
instead of making entries in their accounting software. Also, the
time spent at the end of the year to get the accounting in order
to send to accountants is almost completely eliminated along
with the stress that comes from the last minute scramble.
Identifies and analyzes the most important internal strengths
and weaknesses of your organization: include an assessment of

4. the organization's resources
Internally, the most important weakness is the lack of
experience and clientele from the new bookkeeping business.
The client is putting a lot of trust into a person keeping track of
their financials and being new to the industry can be a deciding
factor against a new bookkeeper for potential clients. That
being said, the most important strength is the flexibility that not
having a full schedule of clients provides. It is often
advantageous to be able to work with a client to adapt to what
their specific needs are in order to accommodate them, whereas
a more established firm might not have that flexibility.
Assesses the organization's competitive position and
possibilities
The owner of this bookkeeping business is new to bookkeeping
independently, but has worked with several different types of
businesses as an employee. Through this experience, there have
been a few mentors that are available and willing to help with
questions, but who are also willing to pass on smaller,
manageable clients that require less work than the mentor wants
to take on. An example of this would be a client that only would
require this mentor to work about an hour a month, which for
them isn’t worth taking on a new client for, which this mentor
then passes on to the new bookkeeping business. For the new
bookkeeper, it might take two hours a month, but would cost
less per hour since there isn’t as much experience that this
owner is bringing to the table. While this seems a disadvantage
at first glance, this is actually a huge selling point because it is
less expensive now for the client. The owner also has the
opportunity to work in an automatic yearly raise to adjust for
the cost of living or inflation, plus the owner also has another
year of experience under their belt. From the client’s point of
view, this is reasonable because they can agree that if they are
happy with the services they would be willing to pay a small
amount more. In addition, each new client, however small, adds
to the new bookkeeper’s client base and the more experience

5. with a variety of businesses the better.
Analyzes the structure of the organization and how this affects
organizational performance
Due to the nature of the business, the organizational structure is
fairly straightforward. There is one person as owner, manager,
and employee. Beyond this, there needs to be a system of other
businesses that can assist the bookkeeping business on areas
that the owner is not an expert in. One major one is an
accountant and tax preparer. Having another small business as a
partner that will provide the necessary audits throughout the
year, manage the state and federal taxes as they are due, etc.
will provide the client with a complete service to handling all of
their finances, as opposed to being limited by the lack of
certifications.
We have to review this-
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2nd one- By Dena
External and Internal Environmental Analysis
More and more Americans today are realizing that there are
limitations to Western medicine and science. They are becoming
increasingly concerned about the long term vulnerabilities and
problems that can be created by prescribed medicines as well as
cost of health care and distrust toward pharmaceutical
companies. In 2012, the Nation’s health dollar was $2.8 trillion
in which 32% of this total was spent on Hospital Care, 20% on
Physicians and Clinical Services, and 14% to Other (Health
Programs, Medical Products, Personal Care, and Government
Health Activities).
(CMS.gov Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
Today, Americans are in search of how they can control his or
her preventions, responses, and expenditures toward illnesses

6. and medical care. In 2010, legislation passed The Affordable
Care Act, effective January 1, 2014, in which allowed Title VI
Transparency and Program Integrity to enable patients to have
more control over his or her decision making by providing more
information regarding healthcare services and providers.
(DOL website)
Since then the National prevention Council was created in
which developed the National Prevention Strategy educating the
benefits of prevention for health.
“Preventing disease requires more than providing people with
information to make healthy choices. While knowledge is
critical, communities must reinforce and support health, for
example, by making healthy choices easy and affordable. We
will succeed in creating healthy community environments when
the air and water are clean and safe; when housing is safe and
affordable; when transportation and community infrastructure
provide people with the opportunity to be active and safe; when
schools serve children healthy food and provide quality physical
education; and when businesses provide healthy and safe
working conditions and access to comprehensive wellness
programs.” (NHS write-up)
Comprehensive medical care is moving out of the hospital
environment and is becoming more personalized, focusing on
proactive and prevention services through the perspective of
health and wellbeing. Wellness is a concept that is described as
the holistic outlook of health that is centered on an individual’s
physical, social, and mental well-being which is the core
capability delivered from Step of Faith Health and Wellness.
In order for Step of Faith to be both successful and competitive
within the changing perspectives of healthcare, an analysis of
their external and internal companies’ environment is required.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze Step of Faiths most
important external and internal strength and weakness, their
competitive positioning, and
the structure of the company and how this affects their
performance.

7. External environmental factors are essential to identify when
determining and analyzing threats, constraints, and
opportunities. When researching these interrelated factors the
most important to take in consideration are the social, political,
and competitive positioning. These factors are more direct
toward influencing Step of Faiths prospects within the health
and wellness industry. The most vital threat to the company is
the social impact due to the socioeconomic status (SES) of the
surrounding environment. SES is best used to describe the
factors of a person’s lifestyle in which includes his or her
education, income, and occupation.
(Website)
SES studies need to be considered because there is
documentation that reflect the relationship between the different
levels of SES’s effects with healthy foods, medical care, and
physical activity opportunities. Economic and social
circumstances do affect an individual’s health status, the lower
an individual is on the social ladder is more susceptible him or
her are to risks of illnesses.
According to Website,
“Low SES may result in poor physical and/or mental health by
operating through various psychosocial mechanisms such as
poor or "risky" health-related behaviors, social exclusion,
prolonged and/or heightened stress, loss of sense of control, and
low self- esteem as well as through differential access to proper
nutrition and to health and social services.” Step of Faith is
based out of Cincinnati, Oh in which researching the surround
areas census and demographic is essential toward understanding
the potential social impacts.
Cincinnati’s total population is 296,943 in which 142,672 are
males and 154,271 are females. This is an important factor
because when compared, woman are 29% more likely to seek,
report, and be treated for physical and mental health problems
than the equated 17% of men when studied. (Better Or Worse: A
Longitudinal Study Of The Mental Health Of Adults In Great

8. Britain, National Statistics, 2003) Out of the total population
for Cincinnati 50,638 of those individuals occupation is within
management, business, science, and arts; 33,917 are sales and
office; 28,433 are service occupations; and 16,031 are
production, transportation, and material moving occupations. In
the Cincinnati area, 18% are either dropouts or was not enrolled
and not graduated, 82% of individuals 25 years and older have a
high school diploma, and 30% of the population has a bachelor
degree or higher. Research of the Cincinnati area also indicated
that out of 132,591 household incomes, 22,496 are less than an
annual salary of $10,000. The annual median household income
within the Cincinnati area is $33, 681, whereas 72, 145
households exceed the annual median, 37,950 households are
below the annual median. Lastly, the poverty status is totaled at
62,534 individuals and income in the past 12 months below
poverty level was 13,738 people.
Politically, the activation of the Affordable Care Act plays an
important factor when analyzing external factors for Step of
Faith. The benefit of this act for Step of Faith is the fact that it
influences employers to participate in wellness programs by
initiating incentives for promoting healthier workplaces.
According to DOL website
, “The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS),
Labor and the Treasury are jointly releasing proposed rules on
wellness programs to reflect the changes to existing wellness
provisions made by the Affordable Care Act and to encourage
appropriately designed, consumer-protective wellness programs
in group health coverage. Evidence shows that workplace health
programs have the potential to promote healthy behaviors;
improve employees' health knowledge and skills; help
employees get necessary health screenings, immunizations, and
follow-up care; and reduce workplace exposure to substances
and hazards that can cause diseases and injury.”
Competitively, within the Cincinnati area, research indicates
that there are six other listed dedicated health and wellness
facilities. Other facilities listed are either divisions or services

9. provided by a hospital or fitness center. Out of the other six
competitors there is only one that extends holistic health and
wellness services such as Step of Faith.
According to Website
, “The World Health Organization estimates 65% – 80% of the
population use holistic naturopathic medicine as a primary form
of health care.” This information is beneficial toward
understanding the demand from the consumers, where Step of
Faith stands against potential competitors, and using the
information to create opportunities.
Step of Faith is a small business and is operated by Dr. Denise
Lackey. There are advantages for operating as a small business
and maintaining a small company structure. By doing this, it
allows Step of Faith to have the advantage of being able to
change their tactics or plans easier and faster than larger
companies. Creativity and decisions are made quicker because
there are fewer people involved within the process. Another
advantage is that it allows Step of Faith to remain personal with
their customers. Dr. Lackeys message that she shares on the
company website relays her personal inspirations and motives
behind her belief and commitment toward health and wellness.
She relays a message of care and one on one services and
education toward holistic health and wellness in which fits the
small businesses advantages.
In summary, the purpose of this paper was to analyze Step of
Faiths most important external and internal strength and
weakness, their competitive positioning, and the structure of the
company and how this affects their performance. When
analyzing their external strength and weaknesses, the social
factor could be seen as a weakness however; their political and
competitive position is Step of Faiths strengths. Regarding
internal weaknesses and strengths, being a small business could
be reported as both, however; due to the message that is
communicated from Dr. Lackey this is considered a strength for
Step f Faith. Finally, Step of Faiths internal structure is a lean
structure which has fewer employees, fewer management, more

10. adaptability, and more flexibility which allows for more
concentration on the customers than the business.
References:
http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-
Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-
Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsHis
torical.html
http://www.acs.edu.au/info/natural-health/mental/social-
influences.aspx
http://www.ohiocities.com/counties-in-ohio/hamilton-county-
oh/city-of-cincinnati-ohio-census/
http://www.naturalhealers.com/natural-health-
careers/article/holistic-health
-career-boom
http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/law/
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/initiatives/prevention/strategy/r
eport.pdf
http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-
Systems/Statistics-Trends-an
d-
Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/Downloads/PieChartSources
Expenditures2012
.pdf

11. http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fswellnessprogram.html
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jcnc/2012/596749/
Pearce, J. A. & Robinson, R. B. (2013).
Strategic Management: Planning for Domestic and Global
Competition
(13thed). New York, NY: McGraw Hill
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3rd one- By Jag
External and Internal Environmental Analysis
Every business should conduct and environmental analysis to
identify the environmental factors and how these factors has a
direct impact on their business.
Environmental analysis at Pfizer is the measuring how the
company is doing relatively to its competitors or other
businesses within the industry and identifying ways to improve
the business to ensure its growth into the future. At Pfizer, an
environmental analysis includes conducting an external and
internal analysis of company, SWOT analysis to identify the
internal strengths and weaknesses of the company including an
assessment of the organization’s resources.
The environmental analysis also includes an assessment of the
organization’s competitive position and possibilities along with
analyzing the Pfizer’s organizational structure and performance.
Pfizer’s External Environment Analysis
There are a number of external factors that can affect the way
on how a business operates.

12. Pearce and Robinson divided these factors into three broad
categories, the remote environment, the industry environment,
and the operating environment.
Remote Environment.
“The remote environment comprises factors that originate
beyond, and usually irrespective of, any single firm’s operating
situation: (1) economic, (2) social, (3) political, (4)
technological, and (5) ecological factors” (Pearce and Robinson,
2013, p. 87).
Pfizer, a leader of research and development, needs to invest
more in advanced technology so that it can bring new products
into the market much quicker than its competitors.
Pfizer has great economic strength due to its size as a global
company and does many mergers and acquisitions which give
Pfizer greater access to market share.
Pfizer corporate social responsibility is to change the world.
Pfizer is building partnerships with communities throughout the
world so that the health systems can be strengthen, increase
access to medication, and finding sustainable solutions to health
challenges.
Pfizer will generate competitive advantage over its competitors
and thus greater market share.
Industry Environment.
Pearce and Robinson define the industry environment as “the
general conditions for competition that influence all businesses
and provide similar products and services” (Pearce and
Robinson, 2013, p. 97).

13. The state of competition of the industry depends on the five
forces identified by Pearce and Robinson.
These five forces are new entrants, industry competitors,
substitute products, powerful suppliers, and powerful buyers.
These factors collectively determine the company’s survival and
its profit potential.
Analysts estimated global biotech industry revenue for publicly-
held companies at $89.8 billion in 2012, up from 83.4 billion in
2011 and $80.6 billion in 2010. Revenues of publicly-held
biotech companies in the U.S. were $63.7 billion in 2012, up
from $58.8 billion in 2011, and down from $61.6 billion in 2010
(Plunkett, August 2013).
Operating Environment.
“The operating environment, also called the competitive or task
environment, comprises factors in the competitive situation that
affect a firm’s success in acquiring needed resources or in
profitably marketing its goods and service” (Pearce and
Robinson, 2013, p. 111).
The most important factors identified by Pearce and Robinson
are “the firm’s competitive position, the composition of its
competitors, its reputation among suppliers and creditors, and
its ability to attract capable employees” (p. 111).
Pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and more involved in
genetically engineered or “biotech” drugs that represented
approximately 10% of the total global prescription drugs
market, and about 20% of the U.S. prescription market.
Pfizer release Sutent, a drug used to treat cancerous kidney and
stomach-lining tumors in 2006.

14. Sutent was later found to be a treatment for pancreatic tumors
and renal cell carcinoma (Plunkett, August 2013).
Internal Analysis
A SWOT analysis is used to conduct a company’s internal
strength and weaknesses.
“SWOT is an acronym for the internal Strengths and
Weaknesses of a firm, and the environmental Opportunities and
Threats facing that firm.
SWOT analysis is a technique through which managers create a
quick overview of a company’s strategic situation” (Pearce and
Robinson, 2013, p. 149).
Pfizer’s Strengths.
“Strength is a resource or capability controlled by or available
to a firm that gives it an advantage relative to its competitors in
meeting the needs of the customers its serves” (Pearce and
Robinson, 2013, p. 1151). In a SWOT analysis conducted by
Pfizer, Pfizer has gained much strength large mergers and
acquisition deals enable Pfizer to sustain leadership; the
acquisition of King Pharmaceuticals enhancing Pfizer’s position
in pain market; and strong commercial infrastructure provide
Pfizer marketing partner of choice status (Pfizer Inc., 2014).
Pfizer’s Weaknesses.
“Weakness is a limitation or deficiency in one or more of the
firm’s resources or capabilities relative to its competitors that
create a disadvantage in effectively meeting customer needs”
(Pearce and Robinson, 2013, p. 1151). In a SWOT analysis
conducted by Pfizer, Pfizer has weaknesses that restricted Pfizer
from growth.
Such weaknesses include heavy reliance on Lipitor affecting
top-line growth and dependency on a blockbuster portfolio
exposing Pfizer’s growth to generic erosion (Pfizer Inc., 2014).

15. Assessment of Organization’s Resources
Pfizer annual budget on research and development is
approximately $7 to $8 billion for research programs with
specific goals. Major pharmaceutical companies are challenged
to invest heavily in research and development in order to
execute better research results while at the same time reducing
costs. As of early 2013, Pfizer was down to 78 projects in
development
(compared to 118 projects in early 2011), and it announced
plans to reduce R&D spending to between $6.5 billion and $7
billion in 2013. Previously the firm might have had hundreds of
projects ongoing in its labs at any one time. This is typical of
the cost-cutting going on at many of the world’s leading drug
firms (Plunkett, October 2013).
Organization’s Competitive Position and Possibilities
A firm must find ways to achieve competitive advantage over its
competitors.
Pfizer has many competitors in the pharmaceutical industry such
as Johnson & Johnson, Roche Holding AG, Novartis, Merck,
GlaxoSimthKline, Bayer, and Bristol-Meyers. Pfizer’s Chairman
and CEO Ian Read describe the results of Pfizer as “solid
financial performance” that gave him “confidence in the
competitive position of our commercial businesses” in 2014
(SEC.Gov, 2014).
Organization’s Structure and Performance
An organizational structure is important because it defines how
the organization is structured to conduct its business. The
organizational structure tells you the charter of the organization
and the values it believes in.
Any business needs to know the best way to organize people,
tasks, and resources in order to execute the strategy more
effectively.

16. According to Pearce and Robinson (2013) “Organization
structure refers to the formalized arrangements of interaction
between and responsibility for the tasks, people and resource in
an organization” (p. 321).
In its first-quarter 2014 8-K report filed with the SEC, Ian
Read, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We
recently implemented our new commercial structure, and I see
each segment as comprised of an attractive mix of marketed
products and new product opportunities with strong
management teams and financial discipline. I believe this new
commercial structure and the additional financial transparency
for each segment will foster a heightened level of strategic
focus and discipline within each business. The new commercial
structure will facilitate appropriate focus and investment,
whether in pursuit of developing innovative new products or
further strengthening brands with high physician and patient
loyalty. With this new commercial structure, our strategic
priorities for the company and our shareholders remain focused
on driving innovation, productively allocating capital and
enhancing a strong culture of ownership and accountability”
(SEC.gov, 2014).
Conclusion
Companies such as Pfizer need to conduct an environmental
analysis on their businesses both the internal and external
environment factors.
One way to do this is to conduct a SWOT analysis.
The SWOT analysis will identify Pfizer’s strengths and
weaknesses and opportunities and threats.
Having identified these, Pfizer needs to assess it organization
resources to see if the company can accommodate the necessary

17. changes in order to take the company into the future. These
changes might resulting in a new organization structure that can
function more effective and efficiently.
Pfizer needs to invest in advanced technology to bring new
products into the market and with its corporate social
responsibility in communities will allow Pfizer to capture
growth and greater market share.
References
Pearce, J. A. & Robinson, R. B. (2013).
Strategic Management: Planning for Domestic and Global
Competition
(13thed). New York, NY: McGraw Hill
Pfizer Inc. SOWT Analysis. Web Link:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/bsi/pdfvi
ewer/pdfviewer?sid=4c477afa-0442-40b0-8088-
12058fcb52a7%40sessionmgr4005&vid=6&hid=4109
Plunkett Research, Ltd. (October 2013). Market Research and
Trends.
Biotech and Orphan Drugs Pick Up the Slack as Blockbuster
Mainstream Drugs Age. Web Link:
http://www.plunkettresearchonline.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.c
om/ResearchCenter/Trends/display.aspx?Industry=15&Index=9
Plunkett Research, Ltd.
(August 2013).
Market Research and Trends.
Major Drug Companies Bet on Partnerships with Smaller
Biotech Research Firm.
Web Link:

18. http://www.plunkettresearchonline.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.c
om/ResearchCenter/Trends/display.aspx?Industry=15&Index=11
SEC.gov. (2014). Pfizer. Web Link:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78003/0000078003140
00027/pfe-03302014xex99.htm