INT 220 | Week 3 Environmental Scan

Part 1 • Read the Environment

Why environmental scanning matters in international business

A firm crossing a border does more than enter a new customer market. It enters a different political system, economy, society, technology environment, legal system, and physical environment. Those external conditions can change whether a strategy is possible, what it costs, how quickly it can be implemented, and what risks the firm must manage.

PESTLE is a scanning tool. Its purpose is not to create six equally long lists. Managers use it to notice important external signals, compare their likely impact, and decide which forces deserve attention first.

PPolitical

EEconomic

SSociocultural

TTechnological

LLegal

EEnvironmental

Your goal: use the PESTLE app as a refresher, then meet Venturea before you apply the framework to your assigned country. You will still examine all six dimensions, but you must decide which one is the primary environmental concern for Venturea.

PESTLE AppOpen App in New Tab

If the embedded app does not load in your browser, use the “Open App in New Tab” button above.

Part 2 • Meet the Client

Meet Venturea Inc.

For this consulting exercise, you are working for Venturea Inc., the host company used later in the Four Lands project. You do not need the full Four Lands case yet. The profile below gives you only the company information needed to make this environmental scan more concrete.

Venturea Inc. • Renewable energy • Headquarters: Colorado, United States

About Venturea

Venturea is a Colorado-based renewable energy company developing solar, wind, and energy-storage solutions. The company positions itself around clean-energy innovation and is looking beyond the U.S. market as it expands its international footprint.

ClientVenturea Inc.

IndustryRenewable energy

OfferingsSolar, wind & grid storage

Our Vision

Venturea envisions renewable energy becoming a normal part of how businesses, communities, and countries meet their energy needs—not a niche alternative.

Our Commitment

InnovationAdvance renewable-energy technologies and solutions.

SustainabilityCreate solutions with both economic and environmental value.

Global ImpactExpand access to clean-energy solutions across international markets.

Why this matters for your scan: political and legal conditions do not affect every company in the same way. As you research your assigned country, keep Venturea’s technologies, foreign ownership status, need for permits and grid access, exposure to energy policy, and reliance on intellectual property in view.

Part 3 • Your Consulting Brief

Your country has been assigned

Assigned market

Assigning…

This assignment is stored in this browser so refreshing the page will not change it.

Scenario: You have landed a consulting gig with Venturea Inc. Your task is to determine what legal and political barriers this U.S.-based renewable energy company may encounter if entering your assigned country and to develop a general strategy for dealing with them. As you identify barriers, determine whether they are specific to renewable energy, apply particularly to foreign firms, or affect firms more broadly.

Student name *

Client firm

Client home country

Industry

Part 4 • Apply PESTLE

Quick PESTLE scan

Record one meaningful signal for each dimension. Keep these concise; the deeper analysis begins after you choose the primary force.

Political signal *

Economic signal *

Sociocultural signal *

Technological signal *

Legal signal *

Environmental signal *

Which PESTLE force is primary for this client in this country? *

Why should this force receive managerial attention first? *

Research starting points

Use current, credible sources. AI can help locate leads, but it is not a substitute for opening and checking the source.

Country Commercial Guides World Bank Data OECD Economic Outlook

Evidence standard

A barrier should be specific enough that a manager could act on it. “Political instability” is too broad by itself. Identify the law, regulation, policy, restriction, government practice, or concrete risk and explain its business consequence.

Part 5 • Investigate Barriers

Political & Legal Barrier Audit

Identify at least three barriers. For each one, distinguish what the barrier is, who it affects, which level of government creates or administers it, and why it matters to Venturea.

1

Barrier One

Barrier *

Type *

Government level *

Who is affected? *

Source organization/title *

Evidence and business impact *

Direct source URL *

2

Barrier Two

Barrier *

Type *

Government level *

Who is affected? *

Source organization/title *

Evidence and business impact *

Direct source URL *

3

Barrier Three

Barrier *

Type *

Government level *

Who is affected? *

Source organization/title *

Evidence and business impact *

Direct source URL *

Part 6 • Make the Call

Your Consulting Recommendation

What are the most important barriers? *

Are the barriers so great as to keep the firm out altogether? *

No — enter

Enter with conditions

Yes — stay out

Defend your entry judgment *

Do different levels of government pose different political or legal barriers? *

General strategy for dealing with the barriers *

Part 7 • Verify Your Work

Research & AI Accountability

AI rule: AI may help you explore the country, generate search terms, identify possible barriers, or locate sources. Do not paste an AI answer into the form. Open the underlying sources, verify important claims, and make the final judgment yourself.

One AI-generated lead or claim you checked *

What did your independent source confirm, change, or complicate? *

What part of the recommendation represents your judgment rather than AI output? *

Final Step

Download and submit your consulting report

Review your work, then download the Word-readable report. Open the downloaded file to make sure it looks correct, and upload it to the Week 3 Brightspace assignment.

Your draft is stored only in this browser. Downloading the report does not submit it automatically to Brightspace.