External Analysis, The General Environment, PESTEL

The purpose of this second AFI paper is for you to provide …
Your firm/industry of analysis must come from the list in Appendix A of your Syllabus. You will focus on the same firm/industry for all five AFI papers that you will submit during this course. Use the example as a guide for your paper.

Please cite and refer to your sources using a standard reference style.

Because feedback on parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 of your paper is so important I require that you submit your papers in the .DOCX format (e.g., Microsoft Word). While Canvas Turnitin will accept PDF files, it will not allow me to give you comments in the body of your text. In a similar manner if you are using the Pages word processing program on a Macintosh Canvas Turnitin will not be able to immediately process your paper and I will have great difficulty in opening it (you can readily save a Macintosh Pages word processing document as a .DOCX document). If you fail to save and submit in the proper format this will result in:
1) a 20% penalty;
2) a delay in grading; and
3) no feedback other than a simple number score.AFI Paper 2:

AFT PAPER 2

External Analysis, The General Environment, PESTEL

[Your firm/industry of analysis must come from the list in Appendix A of your Syllabus,

You will focus on the same firm/industry for all five papers. Use the example as a guide for your

paper.

Please cite and refer to your sources using a standard reference style]

What is the name of the firm that you are examining and what industry would you place it in?

[insert your answer here]

Describe the industry that this organization is in

1. Who are some of the existing firms or players in this

industry? [insert your answer here]

2. What technologies are being used in this

industry? [insert your answer here]

3. Who are the customers for this industrys

goods/services? [insert your answer here]

4. What business models (chapter 5) exist in this industry [show me the money/revenue]?

[insert your answer here]

Do a PESTEL analysis on this industry (not on your firm, do it on the industry)

1. Political How does/might the political environment effect your firms

industry? [enter your answer here]

2. Economic How does/might the economic environment effect your firms

industry? [enter your answer here]

3. Social How does/might the social environment effect your firms industry?

[enter your answer here]

4. Technological How does/might the technological environment effect your firms

industry?

[enter your answer here]

5. Environmental How does/might the environmental concerns effect your firms

industry?

[enter your answer here]

6. Legal How does/might the legal environment effect your firms

industry? [enter your answer here]

If you were a manager in this industry, what two or three factors in the general environment

would most concern you and why?

[insert your answer here

I. Financial Services & FinTech

Regulatory capital, switching costs, platform networks, fintech disruption

Banks

• Bank of America
• JPMorgan Chase
• Wells Fargo

Investment & Asset Management

• Goldman Sachs
• Charles Schwab

Payments & FinTech

• Visa
• PayPal

II. Technology & Platform Ecosystems

Network effects, ecosystem lock-in, data advantage, antitrust exposure

• Microsoft
• Apple
• Alphabet (Google)
• Amazon
• NVIDIA
• Salesforce
• Uber
• DoorDash
• Airbnb

III. Consumer Brands & Retail

Brand equity, differentiation, supply chain management, discretionary demand

Apparel & Lifestyle

• Patagonia (private)
• Levi Strauss & Co.
• Lululemon Athletica

Food & Beverage

• Dominos
• Dunkin
• Pizza Hut
• Coca-Cola
• PepsiCo
• Chipotle
• Mondelez
• Tyson Foods

General Retail

• Costco
• Kroger
• Albertsons
• Target
• Home Depot

IV. Hospitality, Travel & Experience Economy

Asset-light models, franchising, cyclical exposure, brand portfolios

• Marriott International
• Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
• Hilton Worldwide
• Airbnb
• Disney
• Live Nation
• WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)

V. Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

Patient protection, reimbursement risk, regulatory intensity

• HCA Healthcare
• Merck
• Walgreens Boots Alliance
• Pfizer
• Johnson & Johnson
• UnitedHealth Group
• AbbVie
• Moderna

VI. Industrial & Capital-Intensive Manufacturing

Scale economies, cyclical demand, supply chain complexity

• Caterpillar
• John Deere
• Nucor
• Boeing
• 3M

VII. Energy & Utilities

Commodity exposure, ESG pressure, capital allocation intensity

• ExxonMobil
• NextEra Energy

VIII. Automotive & Transportation

Vertical integration, electrification transition, global supply chain

• Tesla
• Harley-Davidson

IX. Logistics & Infrastructure

Network density, fixed-cost leverage, fuel sensitivity

• FedEx
• UPS
• Union Pacific

X. Sports & Specialty Products

Brand community, niche positioning, discretionary demand

• Callaway Golf Company

Strategic Coverage Benefits

With this expanded and categorized list, we aim to have students to have exposure to:

• Highly regulated vs lightly regulated industries
• Commodity vs differentiated markets
• Platform vs pipeline business models
• Asset-heavy vs asset-light models
• Network effects vs scale economies
• Patent-driven vs brand-driven advantage
• Duopolies (Boeing/Airbus, railroads)
• Oligopolies (banking, airlines, defense)

Fragmented industries (restaurants, retail)

WRITE MY PAPER