MGMT1101 ASSIGNMENT:
Environmental & Industry Analysis
Assignment Overview
The ability to construct a PESTEL Analysis and a Porters Five-Forces Plus One Analysis is essential to making
informed decisions that impact strategic planning. A key theme of Introduction to Management focuses on
the relationship between the external environment and organizational performance. An important function
of any manager is the ability to analyze external environmental conditions and the level of competition
within a particular industry/market in an effort to make informed decisions and think strategically. This
assignment provides students with an opportunity to examine a variety of external environmental and
industry factors, and the role they play in decision-making.
Scenario (address the following scenario for your assignment)
• Good Trade Co. (a Canadian coffee company with two locations in Calgary): Imagine you are a
management consultant who has just been hired by Good Trade Co.
• Good Trade Co. is a social-enterprise coffee company that works directly with farmers and students
in Colombia and is looking to expand into Vancouver BC (British Columbia). You have been hired to
assess the Canadian external environment in Vancouver BC as it relates to the Food & Drink
industry and provide important information to help Good Trade Co. decide whether they should
expand into Vancouver.
• Your job is to construct a PESTEL Analysis and a Porter’s Five-Forces Plus One Analysis to help Good
Trade Co. make an informed decision.
Assignment length: 4 pages of content double-spaced (MAXIMUM 1000 words – 4 pages) NOT including
the title page and reference page.
Assignment weighting: 57 points (15%)
Research
Research is required throughout:
• This is a research assignment and therefore you are required you to conduct research, which
involves the use of existing data to form your responses (e.g., electronic articles, websites,
other market research available, etc.). In addition to our course textbook, you are required to
use a minimum of FOUR different sources for your PESTEL Analysis and FOUR different
sources for your Porter’s Five-Forces Analysis to gather information and inform your
understanding of the external environment as it relates to the specific scenario provided in this
assignment.
• Although research is required, you are also expected to include your own original thoughts
and insights within your analysis while using research to support your claims. Your insights
will add relevance to the research you provide and will help create a meaningful examination of
the external environment and the degree of competition within it.
RESEARCH CRITERIA
ALL research used must be RELEVANT to the assignment topic and scenario. For example do NOT include a resource on the education system or employment rates in Bangladesh or Polar Bears in
Alaska if the assignment scenario is addressing the hospitality industry in Alberta. Any non-relevant
research sources that are used will be considered a breach of the college academic honesty and
integrity policy and the assignment will receive a ZERO grade.
In addition, any resource that is used must be ACCESSIBLE for instructor review. This means the full
document must be available to the instructor when reviewing the sources provided on your reference
page.
Students must illustrate that they have extracted meaningful information from the sources used and
did NOT simply draw from an article introduction or abstract. Use of sources that are not relevant or
where the full document cannot be accessed and reviewed (e.g., journals, paid subscriptions, restricted
access to article abstract, etc.) will result in an automatic ZERO grade on the assignment and will be
subject to the college’s formal academic dishonesty process
Resources to use for research
The PESTEL Analysis falls into the general environment, which represents the “macro” level and includes
the broad political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental, and legal conditions that may
affect the organization. Managers must consider these conditions as they plan, organize, lead, and control.
(*Refer to Chapter 2 and Chapter 4 [page 118] in the course textbook. Also, be sure to refer to the
resources in the course modules and watch the video tutorial I’ve provided).
The Porter’s Five-Forces Plus One Analysis is used to gain a clearer understanding of the specific
competition within a particular market/industry. E.g., Competition within the sportswear industry,
competition within the automobile industry, competition within the restaurant industry, etc. The Porters
Five Forces Analysis is a competitive analysis which helps inform decisions made by managers.
(*Refer to Chapter 4 [page 123 – 124] in the course textbook. Also, be sure to refer to the resources in
the course modules and watch the PESTEL and Porter’s video tutorials that are provided).
Use the following resources when conducting research to construct your PESTEL and Porter’s Five-Forces
Plus One Analysis. *Note: You are not limited to these resources as I simply provided these to help you
get started:
• Google (simply begin typing key words into the search engine to begin your research process)
• Google News (make sure your research is specific to the region and industry provided in the
assignment)
• Bow Valley College library commons data base (this was addressed in the course research tutorial
you completed)
• Statistics Canada: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/start
• Statista: https://www.statista.com
• Alberta Government: https://www.alberta.ca/index.aspx
*Note: I suggest you begin your process using Google search. Please ensure that any resource you
select for research is considered to be "academically credible." Academically credible research is a
credible source that is unbiased, is backed up with evidence, and has bene published within the last
seven years. For further details regarding what makes a research source credible, refer back to the
research tutorial you completed earlier in the course.
PESTEL ANALYSIS
Construct a PESTEL Analysis focussing on Vancouver, British Columbia as this is where your client is
looking to expand. Make sure you address all six conditions within your PESTEL which include political,
economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental, and legal conditions to better understand threats
and opportunities regarding expanding within Canada.
*Your PESTEL should be written in BULLET FORMAT. Each point you make within your PESTEL should be
written in concise full sentence format and should contain research with proper in-text citations.
PESTEL Synopsis (7 marks)
A synopsis is simply a summary/an interpretation of “something”. In two – three paragraphs create a
synopsis of your PESTEL. Do NOT simply summarize your entire analysis. Your synopsis should address key
facts you have uncovered and why these are more relevant than others as it relates to Good Trade Co. In
addition, discuss which information is less relevant and why it might be considered less important.
Important Guidelines
1. Refer to Chapter 2 and Chapter 4 in our Fundamentals of Management textbook. Although a
minimum of FOUR additional sources are required for EACH analysis (PESTEL and Porter’s), the
textbook should be the primary resource you use to inform your understanding of key concepts to
help you make relevant connections between theory and application.
2. Assignment should be 4 pages of content (MAXIMUM of 1000 words – 4 pages) double-spaced
(2.0 line spacing) NOT including the title page and reference page.
3. Structure: Follow the assignment structure template provided in the dropbox in D2L as it illustrates
the specific structure you are to use when setting up your assignment (e.g., title page, headings,
subheadings, etc.).
4. Title page: Properly structured as per APA guidelines. Include title of assignment, name of the
course, your first and last name, student ID number, instructor’s first and last name, date of
submission, and the specific word count of your paper.
5. APA format: Assignment format must follow APA 7th ed guidelines (e.g., Times Roman or Calibri font
style, 12 font size, double-spaced [2.0 line spacing], etc.) - https://apastyle.apa.org/.
6. A zero grade will be given for work that is copied, plagiarized, or illustrates academic dishonesty
of any kind, and further disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with the academic policy.
7. Proofread your assignment for correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure
(English language usage)