Project Summary: I have article from my classmate and I just want to make a comment about it for each summary that I posted. plz write one comment for each summary. 1- The impact of a companys external environment on its success cannot be over-emphasised. A business is influenced both by its internal and external environment and it must be sensitive to both in order to achieve substantial growth. However, the level of control which a company has over both environments differs greatly. While a company is able to control its internal environment, the same cannot be said of its external environment. All of the factors that defined a business external environment are beyond its control. A good framework for analysing a companys external environment is the PESTEL model. The factors of the model comprises of the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. These factors cannot be influenced by any organization but business organizations have to consistently monitor each of these factors. A better illustration of this can be found in the News Story which reports about the expected decline in quarterly sales of Apple since 2003. The same external environment that has supported the growth of Apple over the years is now a major factor attributed to the expected sales decline. Apples CEO-Tim Cook reported that Apples sales are expected to decline in the quarter because of a strong dollar over other major currencies. As a result of this, Apple products are becoming more expensive across the world. Various markets across the world are beginning to respond to this price increases and making Apple products unaffordable. Apple is also finding it difficult to woo non-iphone users to Apple. This constitutes a shift in social factor. As less people buy Apple products, the Apple brand becomes more exotic than before and it will have more relevance to social class than before. Both of these factors constitute factors of the external environment in which Apple operates. These economic and social factors in play have resulted in the expected decline of Apples sales since 2003. Therefore companies must continue to assess these external factors and also be able to determine the trend ahead of time. This environmental analysis becomes a crucial part of managements day-to-day decision making and in formulating strategy. Reference The Wall Street Journal (2016). Apple Reports First Quarter Sales Drop Since 2003 as iPhone Stumbles. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-reports-first-quarterly-sales-drop-since-2003-1461702629 2- http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/07/investing/gap-old-navy-banana-republic-sales-stock/index.html?iid=SF_LN The Gap is currently competing in the Apparel Stores industry, against other popular companies such as American Eagle, Abercombie & Fitch, and Nordstrom. As of recently, Gap has been struggling in the market, with its store sales steadily dropping. This is due to younger consumers preferring a style in which Gap has struggled to adapt to, which falls into the social factor of the PESTEL analysis. Recently, Old Navy, Gap's leading retailer, has seen its sales increase in the past few months since younger consumers are less interested in logo apparel. This change in fashion trends has shown to benefit Gap. By continuing to observe the social and cultural trends in the market, Gap will be able to get back on track to be one of the leading apparel store firms in the industry. plz get it done in 3 hours plz cuz the due date will be in 4 hours