Wood Group Plc

Wood Group Plc

Wood Group Plc

The external environment is basically comprised of all elements that determine what company needs to compete in its respective industry. In this part of paper, a presentation of external environment and consequent analysis will be carried out employing PEST analysis.  

a.    PEST Analysis

PEST Analysis is called by many names (STEP, PESTEL etc) yet it still uses same principles of examination. Specifically, it looks at political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological elements of environment. This too essentially places importance on how these elements influence organisation. (Blair and Hitchcock, 2001, 99) Usually, use of this analytical tool is for planning and strategy creation of company specifically to find a way to complement these plans with findings of this analysis. More importantly.

i.    Political Factors

UK political environment basically encourages trade in its territory. It is generally accepted that any trade is allowed in said region provided that it does not oppose public policy, public order, or any existing law in land. This is reinforced with inclusion of UK in European Union and World Trade Organisation. This is especially true in their operations in France where company is charged of grave abuse and breaking of expressed labour laws.   

ii.    Economic Factors

United Kingdom is one of hubs of commerce in Europe. Consumers are not limited to locals as a considerable number of tourists flock streets on a regular basis. This is similarly true in context of retail business, particularly in area of fashion and apparel. consumer base tends to require numerous types of oil based on existing climate of region.

iii.    Socio-Cultural Factors

In context of social and cultural aspects of environment, common UK consumer tends to be loyal to a particular brand. Quality of product is a must in every transaction but could easily be defeated by a fairly competitive pricing strategy from a competing brand. Recent observations also indicate that preference on trendy styles over classics tend to manifest among UK consumer. This is seen in case of Wood Group over years as it struggled to gain a greater market share. This shows that UK consumer places high value on their money.  

iv.    Technological Factors

In area of technology, a good number of population is able to access in internet. This means that some of trading organisations are able to make most of their operations and widen their scope with use of e-commerce. This is seen in leading retail companies like BP. Thus, online marketing and purchases made through net is becoming one of competitive advantages held by leading retail companies in UK.

b.    Analysis of External Environment of Wood Group

The environment in UK, specifically its retail environment, appears to be highly attractive. Companies have support of government with minimal barriers of entry. problem in this regard is fact that there is some level of difficulty in penetrating retail market, especially for new entrants, as there are existing monoliths that are willing to drive them out of business as quickly as they ...