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The External Environment and Competitive Stance

Apply key tools to assess the internal and external business environments.

  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    8 hours

Look at macro environments, risk and opportunities, and assess the competition

In this short course, we examine the macro environment using strategic tools. These will set the scene for exploring competitive stance and the strategy clock.

What topics will you cover?

  • Assessing the environment and the competition via a range of tools, including PEST analysis, industry lifecycle, and Porter’s 5 Forces
  • Competitive stance including segmentation, differentiation, positioning and competitor analysis

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Assess the internal and external business environment
  • Synthesise threats and opportunities for strategy development
  • Explore organisations’ competitive behaviour

Who is the course for?

This course is for students interested in exploring key tools for strategic decision-making.

Please note that the staff described in the ‘Who will you learn with?’ section below may be subject to change.

Who will you learn with?

Tega is an Assistant Professor and Course Director for BA International Business course at Coventry Business School

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992
  • Location

    Coventry

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control

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