Business Inspiration Tips

HOW TO USE STEEP TREND ANALYSIS IN BUSINESS STRATEGY One of the most popular tools in foresight is the  STEEP trend analysis framework . “Future trends” can be a large, unwieldy subject because nearly everything that’s changing creates the future in some regard. One way to better understand what’s changing is to break down the various trends by category. One such group of categories is referred to as  STEEP , or  Social ,  Technological ,  Economic ,  Ecological , and  Political  trends. Here are the type of trends that go into STEEP analysis. SOCIAL TRENDS Since the future is really about how people will be living differently around the world, we start with the capture and analysis of trends in society. This involves any assessment of who people are, how they live, their health, and other trends about daily life. Some prominent indicators include: Demographics Marriage rates Morbidity and mortality Housi...

What is STEEP Analysis? The STEEP analysis is often conducted by firms to get a detailed overview on what external factors determine the trends. It also helps to predict what might happen in the future. STEEP is basically an acronym which stands for Social, Technological, Economical, Environmental, and Political. It is also known around the world as  PEST , PESTEL,  PESTLE , STEPJE, STEP, STEEPLED, and LEPEST. Social:  The social developments include factors like consumer behavior demographics, religion, lifestyles, values, and advertising. Technological:   The technology aspect of STEEP analysis focuses highly on technological advancements. It includes factors like innovation, communication, energy, transport, research and development, patent regulations and life-cycle of products. Economic:  The economic condition is strongly associated with the consumers’ buying position. In this step, factors such as interest rates, international trade, taxes, sa...

An Introduction To SCRS The ultimate goal of any business analysis effort is the proposal of actionable solutions to real business problems. When faced with complexity and a myriad of problems, it’s not always clear how to go about proposing a solution. The  Strategy, Current State, Requirements & Solution  (SCRS) technique provides a pathway for finding solutions. It recommends analyzing these four basic components: strategy, current state, requirements, and suggested solutions. The SCRS approach encourages analysts to present practical and feasible business solutions that flow from the current strategy and are in tune with the business’ overarching vision and goals. Think of SCRS as an action plan for solving business problems. With this background in mind, let’s look at the four aspects of SCRS to understand what makes it effective: Strategy:  The first aspect of the SCRS approach involves considering the business vision, objectives...

CATWOE Analysis Every business owner or manager knows what it is like to try to solve a problem. Solving problems is a daily activity for those in any line of business, as it is the solving of problems that usually leads to the best outcomes. If you were to simply ignore the problems in your business, for example, you would quickly be passed by the competition and your company would be a thing of the past. You already have some degree of problem solving experience and knowledge thanks to your background in business, but using tools like CATWOE Analysis can help you improve how you deal with the major problems that you may face in the months and years to come. A Holistic Approach Problems in business are often complex, and they can be difficult to unravel if you only look at one or two components at a time. Usually, in order to get to the heart of the matter and truly solve a problem once and for all, you need to look deeper at what is lying below the surface in order t...

CATWOE: Building a Problem-Solving Checklist  Rafiq Elmansy 3 years ago "> Problem solving is the main target of design thinking methods, and the previously discussed   design thinking methods that are used in solving problems tend to work through a number of steps in order to reach a final solution for the problem. However, in particular situations, solving the problem isn’t the main target of meetings or discussions. Stakeholders simply would like to explore the problem and all the factors that relate to it in order to decide whether or not to take further actions. Some design thinking tools, such as a  cause-effect diagram , may be used for exploring problems, but this tool is designed to solve problems. Its steps and implementation time takes this into account. At this point, what managers need is a checklist that can give an insight about the problem without planning to solve it, such as the CATWOE. In the 1960s, Peter Checkland, a system engineering p...

Best Analytical Tools for Business Analysis   PESTLEanalysis Contributor  Mar 19, 2015 Business Analysis is a set of tasks and techniques used as a connection between stakeholders. These help them to understand the firm’s structure and policies. The process can also recommend solutions which help to attain business goals. In order to apply  Business Analysis  effectively, analysts employ different analytical tools. I will discuss all the  tools that are commonly used by business analysts . Some of these are more common than the others. Depending on the nature of business and problem, you can use one or more of these tools. Analysts often use SWOT, PEST, MOST and Heptalysis before facilitating business changes. Some of the other tools are de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats, CATWOE, Five Whys, MoSCoW, SCRS, and VPEC-T. Below, I have provided brief explanations for each of these  business analysis tools . SWOT Analysis This is often used in the in...

WHAT IS PESTLE ANALYSIS? PESTLE Analysis  is an analytical tool for strategic business planning. PESTLE is a strategic framework for understanding external influences on a business. TAKE A PEEK There are many macro-environment factors that effect strategic planning: New laws, tax changes, trade barriers, demographic change. Macro-environment factors includes all the factors that influence an organization, but are out of its direct control. Macro-environment factors tend to have a long term impact. PESTLE stands for "Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental" and is used for business and strategic planning, marketing planning, organizational change, business and product development and research reports. By understanding these external environments, organizations can maximize the opportunities and minimize the threats to the organization. PESTLE analysis answers 6 key questions: Political - What are the political factors that are likely ...

 WHAT IS PESTLE ANALYSIS? PEST ANALYSIS SWOT ANALYSIS  MARKETING  BUSINESS Understanding Pest Analysis with Definitions and Examples   PESTLEanalysis Contributor  Dec 31, 2013 Aside from the company’s internal resources and industry factors, there are several other macro-economic factors that can have a profound impact on the performance of a company. In particular situations such as new ventures or product launch ideas, these factors need to be carefully analyzed in order to determine how big their role in the organization’s success would be. One of the most commonly used analytical tools for assessing external macro-economic factors related to particular situation is  PEST Analysis . What is PEST Analysis? PEST is an acronym for  Political, Economic, Social and Technological . This analysis is used to assess these four external factors in relation to your business situation. Basically, a PEST analysis helps yo...

What is PESTLE Analysis? A Tool for Business Analysis What is PESTLE Analysis?  PESTLE analysis, which is sometimes referred as  PEST analysis,  is a concept in marketing principles. Moreover, this concept is used as a tool by companies to track the environment they’re operating in or are planning to launch a new project/product/service etc. Close PlayvolumeTruvid00:26Ad PESTLE  is a mnemonic which in its expanded form denotes P for Political, E for Economic, S for Social, T for Technological, L for Legal and E for Environmental. It gives a bird’s eye view of the whole environment from many different angles that one wants to check and keep a track of while contemplating on a certain idea/plan. The framework has undergone certain alterations, as gurus of Marketing have added certain things like an E for Ethics to instill the element of demographics while utilizing the framework while researching the market. There are certain questions that one need...

Marketing Marketing news, blogs, case studies, podcasts, forums and marketing careers and jobs, with our dedicated team of marketing experts and the resources of Marketing magazine, the leading Australian marketing publication. What is VPEC-T analysis? VPEC-T  stands for Values, Policies, Events, Content and Trust.  Green and Bate propose this as a framework for thinking about activities involving the exploitation of information in companies: Value  represents what the company, the users, everyone involved (and that turns out to be important as we'll see later) is looking to gain from an information system. Policies  are controls that limit how the information is handled.  The policies may have internal or external origins. Events  are things that happen in a business that trigger a chain of actions that lead to the business serving its customers, collecting its income, managing its staff and generally meeting its obligations. Content  comprise...

MOST Analysis – Mission, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics All businesses operate under some kind of general business plan, which is intended to outline the overall goal of the business. Obviously, making money is the standard goal for a for-profit business, but the business plan needs to get into the specifics of how you are going to make that happen. Often, the biggest difference between a company that is successful and one that falls short is the quality of the business plan they start out with right from the beginning. A good business plan can go a long way toward success down the road. You can download  business strategy  books, templates and checklists from our website. However, once the business is up and running, it is easy to lose track of that plan or purpose for the business. There is so much to do on a daily basis that it is easy to forget about the plan and get lost in the details of the daily routine. This is a dangerous mistake for any busine...

SWOT Analysis | Example | Limitations & Advantages March 7, 2018 by  zkjadoon SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool employed to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats included in any business venture, project or even in any particular situation.  Actually,  first time  it was used by  Albert Humphrey , who performed a research project in 1970 at Stanford University.  SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is a special game changer technique that lets one to plan ahead for his business by keeping the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the particular field in mind. Well! At first, you might think this technique to be as complicated as the Periodic Table, but believe us, it’s a lot simpler than cramming that whole thing up. The credit of creation of this technique goes to  C. Roland Christensen ,  William D ,  Edmund P,   Learned and Kenneth Andrew...