A Steeple!
STEEPLE is in fact the title of a very useful strategic tool for a future ready business (FRB). It’s an acronym!
S – social trends and discontinuities
T – technological developments and disruptors
E – environmental issues
E – economic factors
P – political influences
L – legal aspects of the company’s environment
E – ethical issues
It requires the company to analyse their external world and identify those issues that are most likely to affect them over different time periods.
The issues can be mega trends like population growth and international migration or sector specific like new products.
Once identified you need to be laser-like in tracking the key issues and develop actions to mitigate risk and/or identify opportunities.
The analysis needs to be part of the strategic planning cycle and be refreshed on an annual basis.
It feeds into all the other strategic processes.
The key issues tracked can feed into the development of new business ideas and allow the company to identify new business models in both its existing and new sectors.
In the document below there are examples of the mega-trends from which your company issues can be derived.
Would you use STEEPLE analysis to track the external world?