60 Examples of External Factors

John Spacey, May 23, 2021

External factors are things that are beyond an organization's control that influence its strategy and decision making. This includes competition, markets, customers, technological change, economic conditions, politics, regulations, social and cultural change. It is common to identify external factors as part of strategic analysis, problem solving and decision making. Several frameworks exist for achieving this such as swot analysis that categorizes external factors as threats and opportunities. The following are common types of external factors.

Attitudes	Barriers to Entry (new competition)
Business Models	Business Risks
Capital (e.g. new machines)	Consumer Devices
Consumer Trends	Costs
Customer Experience	Customer Needs
Customer Perceptions	Demand
Demographics	Design Practices
Direct Competition	Disasters
Distribution (e.g. ecommerce)	Economic Problems
Efficiency (e.g. energy efficiency of new vehicles)	Elections
Environment (e.g. air quality)	Environmental Regulations
Exchange Rates	Factor Markets (input supply)
Financial Conditions	Fiscal Policy (government spending)
Government Policy	Growth Rates (industry or economy)
Indirect Competition	Information Security (threats and vulnerabilities)
Infrastructure	Interest Rates
Interests	Know-how (of competition)
Labor Regulations	Lifestyles
Market Structure	New Materials
Operating Models	Opinions
Political Stability	Practices
Price Competition	Productivity Rates
Protests	Psychographics
Research & Development	Revenue Models
Social Structure	Strike Actions
Styles	Subcultures
Subsidies	Supply Chain Disruptions
Taxes	Technology Culture
Technology Platforms	Trade Barriers
Trade Wars	Values