External factors
Political
Economic
Socio-cultural
Technological
Environmental
Competitive
Political
This is any action taken by the government eg government laws to ban smoking which forced many pubs to introduce outside smoking areas.
Economic
This is the current state of the economy that will influence business eg, if the economy is in a recession, the rate of unemployment, the interest rate, the exchange
Socio-cultural
This looks at 2 areas.
The cultural trends and buying habits of the market, such as soap powder companies reduced the size of their bottles as the average family size was shrinking and so too the size of homes or kitchens
Population trends such as demographics eg if the population is growing through an increase in birth rate the govt will plan for a rise in demand schools
Technological
This is the latest developments with technology eg the use of CAD in designing training shoes means it is easy to have a design office in one country and a manufacturing plant in another country, eg China
Environmental
This involves action and laws that promote the upkeep of the environment eg the need to recycle waste has led to introduction of bins with separate compartments
Competitive
This is the actions of competitors that force a firm to react eg Tesco launching the successful self-service tills has forced many other supermarkets to follow.
Role of business in society
Sectors of industry
Sectors of economy
Sectors of industry
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Quanternaly
Primary
This is the sector that is responsible for the extraction (lifting) of raw materials from the land, eg farming, mining
Secondary
This sector involves the assembling of goods or raw materials to make or manufacture man-made goods
Tertiary
This service is involved in providing services such as banking
Quaternary
This sector consists of those industries providing information services, such as computing, ICT, consultancy (offering advice to businesses) and R&D (research, particularly in scientific fields).
Sectors of economy
Private sector
Public sector
Third sector
Private sector
This is the part of the economy that is owned and controlled by a private firm (AG Barrs) or an individual (Local newsagent). Their main aim is to make a profit.
Public sector
This is the part of the economy that is owned, controlled and funded by the government, eg education, NHS, police, fire brigade, army, BBC. Their main aim is to help society with a specific area such as health or education.
Third sector
This is the part of the economy that is undertaken for voluntary purposes. Examples are charities, Oxfam, which are ran for non-profit. Their main aim is to support a cause that is not being covered fully in the public sector.
