The task environment includes those elements or groups that directly affect a corporation and, in turn, are affected by it. These are governments, local communities, suppliers, competitors, customers, creditors, employees/labor unions, special-interest groups, and trade associations. A corporation’s task environment is typically the industry within which the firm operates. Industry analysis (popularized by Michael Porter) refers to an in-depth examination of key factors within a corporation’s task environment. The natural, societal, and task environments must be monitored to detect the strategic factors that are likely in the future to have a strong impact on corporate success or failure. Changes in the natural environment usually affect a business corporation first through its impact on the societal environment in terms of resource
availability and costs and then upon the task environment in terms of the growth or decline of particular industries.