Timber King Is a New Midwest Company in the Portable Saw Mill Industry

To provide an external analysis can be concluded as a must-do for a company.   The overall understanding opportunities or threats will allow for the following: self-awareness to take place for the strategic manager, the ability to understand what the public is looking for in regards to products and customer service, and the availability for marketing needs for company growth externally.  Understanding the current situation as a result of the analysis is critical for strategizing because it allows for response to the opportunities or threats.
 

In understanding that an external analysis is a critical part to the strategic management process, the procedure can create challenges for some companies.   First, in order a company to be successful in marketing, the strategic manager should be aware of the competition.   The research for such comparison can become a time sensitive matter because could take days or weeks to complete depending on the level of detail.   Second, survey question or focus group contributors could suggest lack of participation due to the lengthy questionnaires or inconvenient locations or time constraints.  Lastly, a firm could become discouraged of the analysis process because of the cost.   It is an upfront expense that may appear to lack return on investment.  

A company’s potential impact on organizational performance must be understood by the perspective on the environment.   These environments can be described as either pleasant or hostile.  The key element is the idea of environmental uncertainty, which is defined as the amount of change and complexity of the environment (p.66).   For a pleasant scenario, an environment would require slow change to those participating in the external analysis; thus, creating an environment that appears more stable.   A hostile environment is subject to greater insecurity because resources are more difficult to obtain and manage.   The complexity and amount of change can create competition of other...