PESTLE analysis
PESTLE is an acronym that stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors. Sometimes this framework is also referred to as PEST or STEEP.
Political – government policies including foreign trade, tax, regulation, political issues such as corruption
Economic – state of the economy including labor and unemployment, inflation, economic growth, consumer spending
Social – population trends and population demographics (age, sex and gender, family structure, literacy, education), consumer buying habits, cost of living, standard of living, ethnic, religious, social trends
Technological – R&D activity, technology related to production, distribution, communication, investment in technology
Environmental – pollution, sustainability, recycling, raw materials and energy resources
Legal – laws, regulations and standards related to intellectual property, consumer rights, advertising, safety, equal opportunities
A simple search for PESTLE will yield very useful results.
Blog entry - How to Conduct a PESTLE Analysis