STEEP Analysis: Soft Drink Industry
Factors, other than those internal, affect an organization’s strategic options. It is therefore important for every industry to build a picture of how these organizations affect the process of planning. The STEEP analysis provides a tool through which decision-makers can build the industry image and as such develop safeguards within its strategic objectives. The soft drinks industry although diverse is driven by a few strong players including coca-cola, Pepsi, and Cadbury Schweppes (Pepsi CO 1; Michael,86). To fully comprehend the soft drink industry, STEEP analysis is used in this paper to evaluate the key elements including Social factors, Technological factors, Economic factors, Ecological factors, and lastly, political factors.
In general, the factors which influence the strategic decision within the soft drink industry are cross-cutting and diverse. Ranging from minor consumer behavior to the sophisticated aspects of meeting jurisdictional requirements, soft drink manufacturers find themselves having to carefully review the landscape of factors that impact their performance (Rainie 23). Innovation, technology, as well as politics also play an active role in dictating the direction to be adopted by players in the soft drink industry. With the major players already enjoying global presence, they find themselves having to deal with respective local players within the countries of operation and hence the need for strong marketing campaigns. The STEEP analysis breaks down the elements into chunks easily understandable and addresses within strategic plans of respective organizations.
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