Improving long-term strategic planning: An analysis of STEEPLE factors identified in environmental scanning brainstorms

Given an understanding of factors that drive change in a firm's external environment is an important element of strategy development, some form of environmental scan to identify factors tends to be included. This paper presents findings from an analysis of environmental scans conducted by 76 manufacturing firms. Firm's senior decision makers brainstormed factors using the standard STEEPLE framework to prompt participants to consider social, technological, economic, ethical, political, legal, and environmental factors.