PEST, PESTLE or STEP is an innovative analytical business tool that is now being used widely all around the world today. This helps the managers and even the business owners in taking into account the external factors in the business and learning how they can impact the performance of the company both at the present time and in the future as well. With the PEST, STEP, STEEPLE, STEEPLED or STEEPLIED analysis, whatever you wish to call it, you will be able to understand the big picture of the environmental factors that have an effect on the operations and the overall condition of your company. When you understand what your environment is all about, you can definitely take advantage of the opportunities that might come your way and minimize the threats at the same time. This is truly important for all business since it is certainly difficult to detect both the threats and the opportunities that might fall into your organization’s way. PEST analysis can protect your strategic and business plans in order for you to gain a more detailed planning scheme. Now, PEST stands for political, economic, social and technological. We are going to give focus on the latter.
As we all know, technology is a vital component in today’s business world. Computers, pieces of software and such can provide great assistance for our everyday needs. If we are able to use technology to our own advantage, rest assured that our business can be more competitive. There are a lot of businesses that are established right now and most of them have the potential in beating us in the market. If you surrender to your rivals, you lost your customers and most definitely your credibility as an employer or business owner. So how do you use the technological PEST aspect to your advantage? It is important that you take a look at your organization and consider some of the most significant points.
The first is to determine whether technology enables you to create products or services that are useful and cost effective. You should also determine whether technology offers your business as well as the consumers so that you can have more innovative products or services including high technology mobile phones or even internet banking. There are some instances when new technologies can change distribution through books via the internet, auctions, flight tickets and others. Technologies also offer better methodologies on how companies communicate with their customers. This can be through banners and customer relationship management.
The technological aspect of PEST enables us to acknowledge the technological advances and how they can change the way businesses operate. In technological analysis through PEST, you will have to take a look into the maturity of the technology, the technology developments that are in competition with the ones that you are using, the research funding and even the technology laws or legislation. In addition to that, you have to think about the information technology which includes internet as well as local and global communications. Technological PEST is indeed helpful for businesses that make use of technology to make their projects and operations more effective.