Sociological trends - demographic changes, trends in the way people live, work, and think Political factors - both big and small 'p' political forces and influences that may affect the performance of, or the options open to the organisationĮconomic influences - the nature of the competition faced by the organisation or its services, and financial resources available within the economy Initially the acronym PEST was devised, which stands for: The same checklist can also be applied inside an organisation. can be assessed by breaking it down into what is happening at Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal and Industry levels. The external environment of an organisation, partnership, community etc. Over the years this has become known as PEST with the additional letters are: Ecological factors, Legislative requirements, and Industry analysis (Aguilar, 1967). Aguilar who discusses ‘ETPS’ - a mnemonic for the four sectors of his taxonomy of the environment: Economic, Technical, Political, and Social. The earliest known reference to tools and techniques for ‘scanning the business environment’ is by Francis J. The term PEST has been used regularly in the last 20 years and its true history is difficult to establish. By understanding your environment, you can take advantage of the opportunities and minimise the threats. PESTELI Analysis is a useful tool for understanding the “big picture” of the environment in which you are operating, and the opportunities and threats that lie within it. This form of analysis can be undertaken by reviewing the organisational (external) environment using the PEST-analysis (sometimes known as STEP-analysis), extended to the PESTELI checklist described below. Undertaking this form of strategic analysis therefore is to diagnose the key issues that the organisation needs to address.

In particular, assessing the impact of political, economic, socio-cultural, environmental and other external influences upon health care policy, proposals and organisational programmes is becoming a recognisable stage of health service strategic development and planning mechanisms.

Recent political and economic developments and associated changes in the practice and delivery of health and social care have led managers and professionals to recognise the importance and links between problem solving and decision-making skills. The impact of political, economic, socio-cultural, environmental and other external influences Understanding Organisations: The impact of political, economic, socio-cultural, environmental and other external influences

Political landscape definition