J.B. Hunt Business
The industry I chose is manufacturing.
Examine one of the six PESTEL factors in relation to your chosen industry. In your opinion, why do you believe this PESTEL factor is the most important to your chosen industry?
I believe the most important factor in relation to manufacturing is the technological factor. Innovation and automation are two huge concepts in manufacturing and are shaping the manufacturing business today. The technological changes seen over the last few years are remarkable. Machines can be operated remotely, taking the hazard out of the work. Cloud computing is streamlining processes and reducing costs for companies. Employees are better trained due to augmented reality. Technology is re-shaping the manufacturing business.
Describe one advantage and disadvantage of the PESTEL analysis for strategic planning.
Conducting a PESTEL analysis can help a company to see possible business opportunities and fully exploit them. One disadvantage of this would be the complexity and lack of structure in decision making. It is difficult to assess some factors, such as political.
If you were a manager in a global organization, how would you use the technological factor of innovation to gain a competitive advantage?
Innovation can be a great way to gain a competitive advantage, especially in global manufacturing. We could use the Internet of Things to reduce operations costs and create new revenue streams. Harley-Davidson used this in a manufacturing facility to reduce the production time from 21 hours to 6 hours! The IoT can help monitor production remotely and even predict needed maintenance of machinery. I would use this to streamline both my
production process as well as my supply chain. In doing so, my manufacturing company could gain a competitive edge on the competition.
