Competitive forces are very important to companies, particularly those that operate in many different countries. However, the importance of each competitive force might vary depending upon the industry. For instance, legal and regulatory forces limit many of the activities of cigarette firms. While rising prices might impact the purchase of luxury goods, necessities such as diapers and antibiotics will not experience as much of an impact, as people require them whether the prices are high or not. With this in mind, examine the impacts that economic forces, political forces, legal and regulatory forces, technological forces, and sociocultural forces have upon Exxon Mobil, General Motors, and Procter

& Gamble. Rate each of these factors on a scale of 1 – 5 , with 5 being most important and 1 as least important.

Based on these three companies, which environmental variable do you think would be the highest priority for each company and why? And which environmental variable do you feel would be most important for marketers?