Applying SWOT and STEEPLE to a Business

Answer The external environment is the set of factors outside a business that affect it but which it cannot control, ✓ such as economic conditions, laws, technology and social attitudes. ✓ definition plus examples. No case study needed for a define question.

Advantage A SWOT would set Solvia’s in-house trained installers and 4.6 satisfaction score against the two cities it has never entered, showing clearly where its best growth chance lies. ✓✓ Disadvantage It is a snapshot, and with the grant scheme under review and two rivals arriving in eighteen months, Solvia’s analysis could be out of date within a year of being written. ✓✓ both halves name the firm and use a figure. That is the four marks.

Threat 1 The grant scheme covering a quarter of installation cost is under review, so if it ends the effective price to customers rises sharply and demand could fall away quickly. ✓✓ Threat 2 Two national rivals have entered in eighteen months, and larger firms may undercut Solvia’s prices, which are already higher because it refuses the cheapest suppliers. ✓✓ both are outside Solvia’s control and both are followed through to a consequence.

Paragraph 1 — define and link STEEPLE examines external factors a business cannot control. The ones that matter most to Solvia are political, economic, technological and legal. Paragraph 2 — the pressures, with balance Politically and economically the environment is hostile: grants covering a quarter of cost may end, and three years of rising rates make borrowing dearer for customers who mostly finance their systems. However, Solvia still grew from 4,100 to 6,200 installations through those same rate rises, which suggests demand is not driven by cost alone. Paragraph 3 — the opportunities, with balance Technologically, improving batteries raise the value of each installation, and social pressure for verified sourcing rewards a firm that already publishes its suppliers. But better batteries also date existing stock, and ethical sourcing keeps Solvia’s input costs above rivals who buy from the cheapest source. Paragraph 4 — the legal factor New annual recertification is a cost every competitor faces, but Solvia employs its installers directly, so it absorbs the cost rather than passing it to subcontractors. Paragraph 5 — conclusion with limitations On balance the environment is turning less favourable in the short term but more favourable in the long term, so Solvia should prepare for a world without grants rather than assume they continue. The case study does not say how likely the review is to end the scheme, or how much cheaper the rejected suppliers were, and both would change how urgent that preparation is. every paragraph argues two ways, and the conclusion separates short from long term.