Be sure to reference your textbook to indicate your sources.

1. Why is it important for a firm to study and understand the external environment? Provide an example in which a company did not study the external environment enough and faced negative outcomes as a result.

2. What is the external environmental analysis process? What does the firm want to learn when using this process?

3. What are the six segments of the general environment? Compare and contrast the segments. Explain why you selected the segments that you did.

4. How do the five forces of competition in an industry affect its profit potential?

5. What is the importance of collecting and interpreting data and information about competitors? What practices should a firm use to gather competitive intelligence and why? Provide an example of information you would want as a competitor to a business. Explain and document your reasoning.

6. Why is it important for a firm to study and understand its internal environment?

7. What are the four criteria used to determine which of a firms capabilities are core competencies? Why is it important for these criteria to be used? Be sure to cite your sources.

8. What is value chain analysis? What does a firm gain when it successfully uses this tool?