Political Factors Affecting Burger King’s Business
Political conditions are determinants of business performance. This part of the PESTEL/PESTLE analysis identifies governmental influence on firms’ remote or macro-environment. In Burger King’s case, the following are the main political external factors:
Governmental support for globalization (opportunity)
Political stability in major markets (opportunity)
Governmental support for e-commerce (opportunity)
Governments continually support globalization. Burger King can take advantage of this condition through global expansion. Also, the external factor of political stability helps reduce challenges to the company’s growth and expansion. In addition, Burger King can improve its e-commerce capabilities. In this part of the PESTEL/PESTLE analysis, the external factors present significant opportunities for Burger King to grow and expand internationally.
Economic Factors Important to Burger King
Economic conditions directly affect Burger King’s remote or macro-environment. This part of the PESTEL/PESTLE analysis outlines the economic changes and trends that influence business performance. The following are the main economic external factors that affect Burger King:
Expanding international trade agreements (opportunity)
Economic stability of the U.S. (opportunity)
High economic growth in developing markets (opportunity)
As countries implement more and expanded international trade agreements, Burger King can grow through global supply chain enhancements. Also, U.S. economic stability enables the company to gradually grow in the country. In relation, Burger King has the opportunity to rapidly expand in developing economies. These conditions show that, in the political dimension of the PESTEL/PESTLE analysis model, Burger King must focus on external factors that present opportunities for growth and expansion, especially in developing economies.
Social/Sociocultural Factors Influencing Burger King’s Business Environment
Burger King must always account for sociocultural influences in its remote/macro-environment. The social trends and changes and their effects on consumers and employees are considered in this part of the PESTEL/PESTLE analysis. The main sociocultural external factors affecting Burger King are as follows:
Increasing consumer diversity (opportunity)
Higher health consciousness (threat & opportunity)
Increasing support for animal rights (threat & opportunity)
The increasing population diversity presents the opportunity for Burger King to innovate its products to attract consumers of various backgrounds. Higher health consciousness threatens demand for Burger King’s products, which are sometimes criticized as unhealthful. However, the company has the opportunity to improve the healthfulness of its products. Animal rights advocacy continues to attract attention, threatening the main products of Burger King. Still, the firm can implement new supply chain policies to address concerns on animal rights and welfare. This part of the PESTEL/PESTLE analysis points to Burger King’s opportunities to improve despite the threats linked to sociocultural external factors.
Technological Factors in Burger King’s Business
Burger King’s business partly relies on technologies. In this dimension of the PESTEL/PESTLE analysis, technologies and related trends are considered in terms of their influence on the remote or macro-environment of the firm. The following are the major technological factors affecting Burger King:
Higher availability of automation technologies (opportunity)
Higher popularity of mobile technologies (opportunity)
Low R&D activity in the quick service restaurant industry (opportunity)
More automation technologies are now available for businesses. Burger King can apply these technologies to improve operational efficiency. Also, the company can tap mobile users to gain a bigger market share. Relative to the low R&D activity in the fast food restaurant industry, Burger King has the opportunity to boost its R&D investments to improve performance. In this part of the PESTEL/PESTLE analysis, Burger King has major opportunities for performance improvements based on technological external factors.