Analysis of the Impact of the Macro Environment on the Pharmaceutical Assignment

Analysis of the Impact of the Macro Environment on the Pharmaceutical Industry - Assignment Example â€Å"Changing market forces and growing public expectations† (Wilson, 2000, p.12) have added business ethics to the mix. The external environment includes both competitive and industry factors. Interestingly, Johnson et al (2008) expect all competitors to be within the same industry when this might not be the case. Equally, not all industry players compete in the same markets. Thus the diagram reflects the less-than-tidy reality of players who exist within any industry, yet compete across industry boundaries and within different competitive environments, falling outside the rational approach to strategy. The underlying factor is the organization’s ability to control the external environment. An organization has influence in the competitive arena, using marketing tools to influence others, but no control over the macro (PESTEL/STEEPLE) factors and must react to changes when they happen. Strategy traditionally focused on rational future planning, what Whittington (2001) calls â€Å"classical† and Mintzberg and Waters (1985), â€Å"deliberate† strategy. But the effects of changing macro factors fall within Whittington’s (2001) â€Å"systemic† and Mintzberg and Waters’ (1985) â€Å"emergent† strategy as such changes cannot be predicted and consequently would not feature in any strategic planning. In analyzing the external environment, de Kluyver and Pearce (2009 p.59) use global tectonics, defined as â€Å"the process by which developing trends in technology, nature, and society† change the external environment. Three tectonics are identified: